Quang Trung multi-storey house, a mark of the past

(Baonghean.vn) -LTS:Quang Trung multi-storey house is the first urban area built after the peace in the North. It was once a symbol of Vietnam - Germany friendship, the pride of Nghe An. Before the urban area is demolished to build a new one in a modern, convenient direction, we will post a series of articles and photos recording the events and people related to this multi-storey house.

In February 1966, poet Thach Quy wrote the poem "Bricks of Vinh Citadel" which includes the following passage:

Is there any city like this city?

Not yet seen tall buildings but already dazzling pink

See the pink smile in the rubble?

To this day, according to many, this is still one of the best poems written about Vinh city. The people's wish was simple:

While the West is still here, Vinh still has rubble.

No more Westerners, rubble turns into tall buildings

Quyet mountain embraces the power plant

The way to the library is through the pine trees.

5th floor, building A6, Quang Trung apartment complex.

But it was not until May 1, 1974 that we were able to start rebuilding the city. I still remember that on that day at the 12/9 theater, the Nghe An People's Committee solemnly held a groundbreaking ceremony to rebuild the city. The location for the ceremony to lay the first brick to build the city was arranged at the southeast corner of building A1 of the Quang Trung apartment building. The first brick was laid by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction Do Muoi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the German Democratic Republic Dieter Doring and Comrade Nguyen Sy Que, Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, along with thousands of people joyfully welcoming the groundbreaking ceremony of the first new urban area in the North at that time.

Recall that right after January 1973, the Paris Agreement on Vietnam was signed, the countries in the socialist system divided themselves to help Vietnam rebuild the country such as: the Soviet Union helped build Hanoi, China helped build Thai Nguyen and Viet Tri, Romania helped build Nam Dinh, North Korea helped build Ha Bac, Poland helped build Hai Phong, Czechoslovakia helped build Thanh Hoa.

On May 5, 1973, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam sent a diplomatic note to the Government of the German Democratic Republic officially requesting assistance in rebuilding Vinh city. On May 22, 1973, the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic decided to send a delegation of officials from the Ministry of Construction to Vietnam to survey the situation.

On October 22, 1973, the agreement for the GDR to help rebuild Vinh city was signed in Berlin between Prime Minister Pham Van Dong and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the GDR.

Talking about the early days of rebuilding the city, everyone remembers the first German experts who came to Vietnam to work. The German Democratic Republic sent the best planning staff to Vinh city to survey and start working. The delegation led by Dr. Karlheinz Schlesier and architect Hans Grotewohl was responsible for creating a master plan for the city, in which the Quang Trung high-rise building was considered the highlight of a closed-function model urban area with flower gardens, schools, and kindergartens.

On the Vietnamese side, the Nghe An Planning and Design Institute was supplemented with a number of architects, construction engineers, and planning experts from the Ministry of Construction to coordinate the implementation of the project. The overall planning was quickly agreed upon by both sides, the Quang Trung urban area will include 36 high-rise buildings, two schools, four kindergartens, and four nurseries.

At that time, because there was no elevator, the two sides agreed to build only 5 floors, using stairs. "Residential units" in the apartment complex were closed apartments with living areas from 20 to 40m2 with ancillary areas including kitchen, toilet, shower, and balcony. The houses were arranged from units, each unit was 5 floors high, each floor had 4 apartments. The prescribed living area for each person at that time was very limited at 4m2/person.

The design of Quang Trung residential area caused much controversy between German and Vietnamese planners at that time. The result of those concerns and dedication was an architecture and planning that was considered scientific, meeting the living needs of the residents here.

According to the planning of Quang Trung high-rise apartment complex, it includes both the land to the East and West of Quang Trung Street. The entire planning area is located on an area of ​​about 30 hectares, divided into 5 groups of houses. The East includes 3 groups, group A includes 6 houses, group B includes 5 houses, group C includes 9 houses, a commercial center, a primary school, two kindergartens, two nurseries. The West includes two groups, group D includes 9 houses; group E includes 6 houses, a primary school, a hotel construction area (3), two kindergartens, two nurseries with a total of 2,480 apartments, providing accommodation for 15,600 people.

At that time, when embarking on the detailed design of the apartment, there were fierce arguments between German experts and Vietnamese architects and engineers. The German side wanted the toilet and kitchen facilities to be located right at the entrance, but the Vietnamese side said that this was not suitable for the living habits of the people. The German side proposed building a basement to prevent dampness and humidity, to store motorbikes and bicycles, while the Vietnamese side said that the security situation did not allow it. Finally, in order to start construction on May 1, 1974, the German experts and the Vietnamese side agreed to build houses A1 to A4 in the planning area as models of the Institute of Civil Design, Ministry of Construction, and the remaining houses according to German designs.

The implementation period of the agreement was 5 years, but due to insufficient counterpart funds and construction materials, at the end of 1978, the two states agreed to sign a supplementary agreement, extending the implementation period of the agreement by two years to December 31, 1980. At the end of the agreement, the Quang Trung apartment complex had just completed the entire East side and one house in the West of group D.

Residents who are still 'loyal' to Quang Trung apartment complex cannot help but feel regretful when they learn that this project is about to be demolished. But deep down, everyone understands that this is the inevitable law of social development.

The entire East of Quang Trung is a complete residential area consisting of 21 5-storey houses with infrastructure of internal roads, electricity, water supply, drainage, green trees, playgrounds, primary schools, kindergartens, commercial centers... Quang Trung multi-storey houses were once the pride of the people of Nghe An, as the first urban area in the North built after the restoration of peace.

Now, after 40 years of existence, it is time for the old, degraded Quang Trung apartment complex to be demolished and replaced with a more modern planning. Planners and residents of the Quang Trung apartment complex all believe that the architectural space structure for construction and development of the Quang Trung urban area is still an ideal model, still has its original value and is a scientific basis for continuing to adjust, supplement and develop the city's planning in the future.

N@T

Photo: Hazone