Culture
Hoan Kiem Lake is very special and unique in Vietnam thanks to having located in historical position associated with a famous legend which is Spiritually imbued and convenient for walking and thinking in deeply also.
1.History
During French colonial period, the French applied their experiences in planning modern urban in order to enhance the value of Hoan Kiem Lake. They dredged lakes, made embankment, grew trees, combined lakes into gardens and squares in order to create some new functions for them.
At first, all had been used only by the French, but it was opened to public then. In the early years of liberation, Hoan Kiem Lake was truly a Hanoi citizen waking place, the stop spot for a few villagers eating ice-cream and only crowed in Tet holiday. But the demand for walking around the Lake gradually became larger. There were a lot of people often worked and played in here. The scenery of lake is wonderful with trees, water surface plus a little spirit creating a preserved relaxing open space as well as fresh air and it is really different from the rest of city.
It's not easy to analyze the important discreet role of Hoan Kiem Lake in creation of architectural and urban identity of a specific city like Hanoi. Because Hoa Kiem Lake is unique architectural forms, the analysis and judgement does not often happen in areas of analysis of urban architecture. It's totally difference from the judgement on one or more specific architectural shapes.
The face of capital in terms of culture and landscape architectural are contributed a lots thanks to Hoan Kiem Lake and it's out of our imagination. Because apart from the physical elements and pure architectural forms, we can feel spiritual, cultural and social elements, and some icons which are considered as nature myth and symbolization created. That is what Hanoi people told about, a legend has been praising and worshiping, where is viewed as something super nature, the beauty of foundation, dear heart of Hanoi, a wonderful flower bouquets in the heart of city.
2 Iconic of Water
From the past, people's mind has formed the concept of water as literariness and aesthetics: water is seen as a symbol of spiritual values and aesthetics and it also constitutes landscape contemplate. Hanoi is surrounded by rivers, shielded by dike and dotted by numerous lakes and ponds remaining from the fluctuations of the river diversion. Hanoi is linked with water. Each year, Hanoi is full of moisture because of rain for months and it looks like a special thin chiffon plate which covered the whole city. In Hanoi, most of the lakes are of natural origin, organic and basic elements of landscape, geography and architecture.
Like some famous rivers in the world, Lakes in Hanoi are important factor that contribute to form of city's identity and they have strong ability to exist despite of the changes of people and urban. A featured picture of blue water of Hoan Kiem Lake reminds us about memories of origin, it creates harmony and evokes us pictures of a peaceful city. This is the main factor to form the feature of this city of the ancient.
3: Cultural Space.
Truly, there are very few places in Hanoi which have mixture of many cultural features like Hoan Kiem Lake. There remained the architecture feudal culture and it has increasingly become small in the abundant modern architectural styles. There is French colonial architecture culture with colonial architectural style. The name cannot express the beauty of architecture. Recently, a new architectural style called boxy architecture has been growing to show a new style but it's not clearly formed. Today, Hanoians living near the Lake have changed a lot; there are not so many people that keep their origin. But some old habits of Hanoians near the Lake have still remained such as the dates of students, youths or literary talks and specially, the chest playing hobby of elderly intellectuals is still ongoing.
Hoan Kiem Lake is a place for peole to meet and exchange their thinking. It is favorite place for us to feel about our life because it refelects various activiites through the different images, noisiness, taste...during 24 hours in one day. This is regarded as an important feature because the city does not have enough space like that. It plays central role where almost activities and history happened by city's residents. Through that the Sword Lake formed the personal living habits which have been existed in the daily life of Hanoi's residents.
4:The linking node of the city.
The highlight of modern cities is the high building which is growing up. Imperceptibly, the space of water surface contributed to the creation of balance and difference in Hanoi with a style like city organization. As an isolated location, it also is a useful complement of the city. Hoan Kiem Lake is an important element of city space organization, orientational point, invisible node which was linking and ensuring that a transfer is arranged among the city space. It also contributed to the formation of city areas with various class and a division. The important element played a orientational role or controlled about the terrain, linked the construction, city areas. That contributed the city core.
Water surface could transfer for the design of city with a particularity space, fresh environment, lower urban density and it also a junction where people can reduce their stress in social life. At the special location, Hoan Kiem Lake also created a correlation, relationship, coherency and support which was intimate between the old quarters and the old town (the French quarter). Hoan Kiem Lake is a cachet of Hanoi, which is created by two quarters with important transfer.
At center location, Hoan Kiem Lake acted as a valuable ornamental object between the two parts of the city. It purified the atmosphere, is the hyphen between two different parts of space. Hoan Kiem Lake was also showing the flair, wise and visionary in the scheme. It will continue to bring the long-tern benefits to future generations.
5: The legend and representation:
It is the green lung of the city, a rare oasis in urban place before we die in wastes or suffocate because of backfilling. This place seemed to be a convergence of legend and representation, a space that reflected the spiritual element, religious, spiritual medium mysterious, poetic and romantic. The Legend of sword and the Turtle God is still mentioned, the Turtle God image is causing a lot of emotion for Hanoi people. Hoan Kiem Lake is supposed as a metaphor ink slab, the eyes of the city, where has been described and built, contemplated and recognized. It created the words: " Spatule and nib".
Hoan Kiem Lake still excites the imagination of each person, simultaneously actualizes and deifies that imagination. This place also occurs numerous social activities, the convergence of the crystallization of culture, spiritual ties, expressing deep substrate of a culture of Thang Long - Thousand years of civilization. Whether clear or turbidity, shallow or deep, Hoan Kiem Lake is closely connected with the architecture, the territory which it created. It represents a tangibility of the general features of the oldest civilization and culture of Hanoi which are simple, natural, balanced and subtle.
In Conclusion:
We can see the spirit reign of the Hoan Kiem Lake which is going into the history of this city. It is not only about matter but also spirit, creating the inspiration of contemplation and discovery. It seems to be about spiritual fulcrum of people. Hoan Kiem Lake is a place where people can live in the current life and think about the past and future. It is very flexible and subtle, it also adorns a great way for the city, ccontributing to a coherent structure, an urban framework concealed discreetly and sensitively.
If the western modern city has skyscraper projects (buildings, urban projects ) or from the convergence of networks (boulevard , interchanges, squares), the elements are always visible, easily identified and often expressed, on the other hand, in Hanoi spots nodes are formed from the imperceptible horizon strokes, from the charming lake which is full of historical elements with protective features inside. It is not exposed regularly, unobtrusive but very subtle, discreet, almost invisible.
As a mirror image of sophistication, Hoan Kiem Lake is always the place where people can penetrate into. They are also flexible, smooth and ready for the new daily activities and suitable for changing in daily life. The listenable people will see Hoan Lake and other lakes in Hanoi say the same message: "We are the frame of this city, we are the body of the city, we are the door to the symbol, we are the mirror of Hanoi spirit that everyone felt but not always identified and described "
(According to vtv.vn)
