The old chimney built of red bricks is located on the campus of Pullman Hanoi Hotel. Photo: Qinghai Location of Pullman Hanoi hotel, formerly Tam Tile Factory or La Tuilerie Tonkinoise. The factory is equipped with presses to produce bricks and tiles; there are two chimneys 50m high, built according to European standards to draw air into the double tunnels of the kiln, each 100m long. The factory was built by Mr. Nguyen Van Giem, also known as Nam Giem. During its heyday, more than 600 workers worked here. The factory was shut down during World War II and reopened in 1956, and later became a state-owned enterprise.
Entering the renovation period, the factory and land were invested with foreign FDI capital to build one of the first five-star hotels in Hanoi but still retain a chimney. In the project of building the hotel, the designers once intended to destroy both chimneys of the brick factory. Fortunately, in the end, “historical evidence” was kept to decorate the hotel due to the demolition party, after the demolition of the first one, the price was too high for the other. Perhaps this is also a “destiny”, not a human effort.
Today, the more than hundred-year-old chimney looks so small and simple compared to the majestic buildings or the splendor and prosperity of Hanoi Capital. However, this evidence has contributed greatly to making Pullman Hanoi Hotel well known to many people, especially for those who love Hanoi and want to keep the old beauty in the heart of the city, which contains both cultural and cultural elements. history in the same space.
Priceless Values
There is a man named Martin Rama who fights tirelessly for the preservation of ancient Hanoi. He has a photo book “Hanoi a roaming place” taken and written by him, while implementing the project “Sustainable Urban Development in Hanoi – Sustainable Development of Hanoi Capital” initiated and chaired by him. The project aims to advise the city on how to develop the new and preserve the old. Anyone who loves Hanoi like Martin loves how to keep the beauty of Asia mixed with French architecture, the look of Russian onions, ancient China and a little bit of the wet rice civilization rising low and high, in the heart. City…
Today, Hanoi in particular and Asian cities in general have made rapid development steps, many commercial centers have been built but still lack a high-class commercial center that can combine shopping. with cultural and historical elements in the same space. In London (UK) has a Covent Garden, San Francisco (USA) has a beautiful Ghirardelli area.
Many investors find demolishing old houses and building new ones as the cheapest way and according to the wishes of people with money. But the cultural values ​​hidden in each brick or wall with hundreds of years old cannot be calculated in money. According to Martin Rama, an important principle that needs special attention is to prioritize in-situ resettlement for the original residents of Hanoi. He said that Hanoi is inherently attractive and unique not only because of its uniqueness in architecture and landscape… but also by its residents. Every Hanoian is already a cultural entity with great attraction, this value cannot be calculated in money…
Returning to Pullman Hanoi and its durable old chimney, I secretly wish, if only investors were like this hotel owner, understanding what cultural and historical elements are in the same space to be next to. The construction of the new building still preserves some of the old features. Currently, the Cat Linh underground station of the Nhon UMRT line – Hanoi station, with an entrance next to the Pullman hotel on Cat Linh street is under construction and gradually formed. We, the people of the Capital and tourists can completely go to Pullman by French-style subway and hope that 100 years later, there is still a historic chimney.
With another UMRT project, Line 2, section Nam Thang Long – Tran Hung Dao, international visitors can go directly from Noi Bai airport to Hoan Kiem lake, connecting from the modern place to the “sacred and sacred” place. pompous”. On that UMRT line, there is underground station C9 (Hoan Kiem station) which will be a link between the past – present – future, contributing to the construction of the capital of a thousand years of civilization, bright – green – clean – beautiful… The construction The metro station in Hoan Kiem Lake area not only develops transportation infrastructure, contributing to socio-economic development, it is also a way to bring tourists from all over the world to the heart of the capital. do, is the current hyphen with the thousand-year cultural values ​​of Thang Long – Dong Do – Hanoi. The story of the chimney column that survives the construction of a monumental structure is a good example of the success of an approach that respects the past. The capital of Hanoi has thousands of years of civilization, through a long history we have countless stories like that, the heritages carry with them layers of cultural and historical sediments that need to be enhanced and brought to life. new colors over time.

Quang Binh Tourism industry welcomes visitors on the Charter train. This is the second Charter train return to Quang Binh by the Unesco Hanoi Travel Club and the Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company. Train Charter Hanoi – Quang Binh departs from Hanoi Railway Station on the evening of April 29 and arrives in Quang Binh on the morning of April 30, bringing with 250 tourists. In the complicated context of the Covid-19 epidemic, Hanoi Railway Station, Dong Hoi Station, the tour group and the tour guides have strictly followed the rules of disease prevention and control such as: sterilization of the entire train, train stations, passenger cars, wearing masks, hand disinfection when entering the platform and before getting on the car … Tourists strictly follow wearing a mask and check their temperature before visiting Quang Binh. In addition, the tourist attractions have actively coordinated with businesses and travel agencies to coordinate delegations of visitors, limit the concentration of people at the same time, monitor the health of tourists. According to the Department of Tourism, this is a new and unique tourism product, built by the travel agencies of Unesco Hanoi Travel Club to provide visitors with many interesting experiences on new generation carriages.

Hanoi Old Quarter area with many relic works, old houses, old villas built before 1954. Photo: MINH HA As an area with many works containing historical, cultural and architectural values ​​of Hanoi, the urban subdivision planning H1-1C focuses on conserving and embellishing spaces and works, especially public works. relics, old houses, villas built before 1954. Decision 1357 / QD-UBND, dated March 19, 2021 of the People’s Committee of Hanoi, approving the planning project of urban area H1-1C, scale 1 / 2,000, within the administrative boundaries of 11 wards of Hoan district. Sword, including: Hang Ma, Cua Dong, Hang Trong, Hang Gai, Hang Bong, Cua Nam, Tran Hung Dao, Trang Tien, Hang Bai, Phan Chu Trinh and Ly Thai To. This is an old urban area with many works of historical, cultural and architectural value, built mainly in the French colonial period, located in the area of ​​conservation, renovation and development restriction. Urban zoning planning H1-1C has boundaries: The North borders the southern border of the Old Quarter and the area of ​​Hoan Kiem lake and the surrounding area; the West borders on Le Duan street, Hanoi station (coinciding with the administrative boundaries of Hoan Kiem and Dong Da districts); to the south are the residential areas of Tran Hung Dao ward, Nguyen Du, Han Thuyen and Tran Hung Dao streets (which coincide with the administrative boundary between Hoan Kiem district and Hai Ba Trung district); East: border with Tran Quang Khai, Tran Khanh Du, Hoan Kiem lake area and surrounding area. The total area is about 202.8 ha; population scale up to 2030 is 48,800 people. The plan is divided into two areas, in which the area of ​​Hanoi station and the vicinity, with a total area of ​​about 19.78 ha, population size of about 5,200 people, is implemented under a separate project. The rest of the H1-1C urban area has a total area of ​​183.02 hectares, a population of about 43,600 people divided into six planning plots for development control. Regarding land use planning, the public land area of ​​the city and district is about 38.68 ha, including medical, cultural, hospital, medical station, cultural palace, movie theater … on the basis of now available. Traffic land is about 45.42 ha. Land for greenery, sports, water surface is about 0.93 ha, formed on the basis of squares and existing water-surface trees, including flower gardens of Hang Trong, Quan Su, Tao Dan, Uncle Co, Tran. Nguyen Han; gymnasium and greenery system connected with greenery on the water surface of Hoan Kiem lake, Red river, Thong Nhat Park. The plan clearly states, due to the lack of greenery land, so the greenery land criteria should be balanced on the scale of the planning structure; exploiting the space of green parks, flower gardens, sports outside the Red River beach, areas according to the general planning on construction of Hanoi capital which has been determined to develop parks, trees, and general sports. of the city to meet the demand for greenery and sports in the area. Land for high schools, junior high schools, elementary schools and kindergartens is planned on the basis of the existing land fund and supplemented from the land fund in the list of locations for relocation and functional conversion. Also due to limited development of land, architectural planning criteria such as construction density, building height can be considered higher than specialized design standards if safety solutions are available. , fire prevention and fighting, in accordance with Vietnam’s construction regulations. The additional floors are only used for administrative purposes and other suitable functions; encourage the exploitation of underground space and the first floor to build playgrounds, flower gardens … The housing land group of 55.04 ha is determined mainly on the existing basis, according to the planning, it will be renovated, embellished or rebuilt, fully supplemented with the transport system and technical infrastructure. to control the landscape architectural space in the direction of reducing and low-rise construction density, preserving and exploiting ancient or French colonial architectures, preserving typical cultural values. For old apartment buildings and dormitories, the renovation and reconstruction will be carried out according to a separate project on the principle of self-balance of population. Notably, the renovation and reconstruction of old apartment buildings and dormitories in the area in the direction of encouraging migration to other high-rise apartment buildings in Hoan Kiem district or within the city; converting the function of land use to commercial, service or rental apartments; reduce construction density and be consistent with regional planning and architectural management regulations. In terms of spatial organization, the urban landscape architecture is preserved according to the structure of the French colonial “garden city” with a checkerboard-shaped road network, about 150 meters on each side with the north, south and east sub-axes – west. On the basis of this space network, the group of high-rise buildings, most of which are offices, public works with large land scale, are concentrated on large streets such as Hai Ba Trung, Tran Hung Dao .. The rest of the space is villas interspersed with middle and low-rise building groups with smaller land scale, high construction density creating adjacent house structure. The plan also sets out requirements for the organization and protection of the landscape. Specifically, important landscape axes need to protect the vision on the street axes; preserving and promoting valuable works, improving space to restructure typical “garden city” space. Particularly streets bearing street house features will be improved space to create typical commercial streets. For plots, add planned social infrastructure, control the construction density in the direction of gradually decreasing to less than 75% and manage according to separate regulations to limit the risk of distortion in the neighborhood …

Currently, 2 tunneling machines have completed the test and commissioning. Auxiliary works such as installation of air compressor station, water supply station, mortar mixing station, ventilation will be completed in the end of April.

In order to officially put into operation, the Hanoi Urban Railway Management Board has cooperated closely with the consultant, contractors and related parties to ensure the quality of tunneling machines and related work. assessment before construction.

It is known that, compared to conventional tunneling methods, TBM drilling method is said to minimize the impact of traffic, occupy less area or affect surrounding constructions. Because soil can be collected and transported after excavation, this method causes less dust, vibration and noise compared to other tunneling methods. This construction method is environmentally friendly.