The Influence of French Colonial Rule on Lao Architecture with a Focus on Residential Buildings

Abstract

During the French colonial period in Lao PDR (from 1893-1953), France integrated its architectural elements into traditional Lao architecture and modified them to suit the climate. The French colonial style continues to make a modest impact in most major towns and cities. The harmonious combination of traditional Lao architecture and French colonial influences shows the true values and wealth of a city's characteristics. These unique architectural styles and motifs are valuable to the area's heritage; many of these styles are still conserved today, especially in Luang Prabang, which was designated as a World Heritage city in 1995. Some historical buildings have been adapted according to social and economic factors. However, as elsewhere in Indochinese countries, the provincial French design was modified to suit the hot and humid tropical climate. The design of colonial villas, in turn, began to influence subtle changes in the design of Lao urban dwellings. This paper discusses the development of traditional Lao architectural styles that have been experienced in Lao PDR, analyzes the process of change, emphasizes the importance of compatibility between traditional house form and the French colonial house, and studies the factors influencing the transformations of traditional housing.

Cultural evolution in Vietnam’s early 20th century: a Bayesian networks analysis of Hanoi Franco-Chinese house designs

“…French troops captured the citadel of Gia Dinh in 1859, defeating the last Vietnamese dynasty Nguyen and paving the way for its establishment of French Indochina (initially comprising Annam, Tonkin, and Cochinchina) in 1887. Under French imperialism, the Cornudet Law that was passed by its government in 1919 stipulated the rules for urban planning and development in its colonies, such that contemporary Western construction techniques would take into account the native aesthetics and humid tropical climate (Le, 2013;Nguyen, 2014;Vongvilay, Shin, Kang, Kim, & Choi, 2015). This style, made famous by the French architect Ernest Hebrard, comes to be known as the Indochine style-which is an effortless fusion of traditional Vietnamese and grand European elements for both aesthetics and practical purposes (Le, 2013).…”

“…The current research first and foremost carries a huge implication for the application of Bayesian analysis in the study of culture and social anthropology. Its methodology diverges from the mainly qualitative approach of the literature on Franco-Chinese influence in Southeast Asian architecture as well as in Vietnam (Dinh & Groves, 2006;Hartingh et al, 2007;Herbelin, 2016;Le, 2013;Nguyen, 2014;Nguyen, 2016;Phan et al, 2017;Tran Hau Yen The, 2011;Tran & Nguyen, 2012;Truong, 2012;Vietnam Associations of Architects, 2003;Vongvilay et al, 2015;Walker, 2011). It also supplements the computational movement toward Bayesian-based research on cultural evolution in Asia (Higham & Higham, 2009;Kumar et al, 2008;Lee & Hasegawa, 2011;Long & Taylor, 2015;Thouzeau, Mennecier, Verdu, & Austerlitz, 2017).…”

Cultural Evolution in Vietnam’s Early 20th Century: A Bayesian Networks Analysis of Franco-Chinese House Designs

“…French troops captured the citadel of Gia Dinh in 1859, defeating the last Vietnamese dynasty Nguyen and paving the way for its establishment of French Indochina (initially comprising Annam, Tonkin, and Cochinchina) in 1887. Under French imperialism, the Cornudet Law that was passed by its government in 1919 stipulated the rules for urban planning and development in its colonies, such that contemporary Western construction techniques would take into account the native aesthetics and tropical humid climate (Le, 2013;Nguyen, 2014;Vongvilay, Shin, Kang, Kim, & Choi, 2015). For Indochina, Governor-General Maurice Long set up the Hanoi urban planning department, headed by the famed French architect Ernest Hebrard.…”

“…All of the technical measurements indicate convergence of the posteriors. Hartingh et al, 2007;Herbelin, 2016;Le, 2013;Nguyen, 2014;Nguyen, 2016;Phan et al, 2017;Tran, 2011;Tran & Nguyen, 2012;Truong, 2012;Vietnam Associations of Architects, 2003;Vongvilay et al, 2015;Walker, 2011). Through the Bayesian networks analysis, the study shows that, despite a small volume of data and a coding of highly representative variables, it is nonetheless plausible to find the impacts of certain cultural elements on the aesthetics, architecture decisions of people at that time.…”

Vernacular Architecture of Buginese:

“…Historically, house structures of the stage type have been found in almost all parts of the world, including places with high rainfall, tropical climate conditions, and high humidity (Michiani & Asano, 2017). Moreover, the construction of stilt houses is part of the long history of several countries in Asia, notably in Southeast Asia and specifically in Indonesia, where the designs are classified based on two main categories: maritime and agricultural (Chen, Ariffin, & Wang, 2015;Michiani & Asano, 2017;Vongvilay et al, 2015). The dominance of these designs of the period was believed to be based on the idea of macro-and micro-cosmology (Smith, 2005;Kramrisch, 1991;Beilharz, 2004).…”