Fine Arts Museum of Ho Chi Minh City

The majority of museums in Vietnam, in particular, and around the world in general, are fundamentally valuable art works, not to mention the objects within the museum. The spectacular architectural architecture of the Fine Arts Museum is no exception.

The Fine Arts Museum’s three-story structure was created in the Art-deco style, an architectural style that harmonizes the most fundamental values from Asian and European fine arts schools. A yellow building with arched windows pivots in the middle of a green space is immediately seen from the main entrance.

The front of this building was in the form of an archway, with two small staircases leading to the main door. In the center, there is also a tiny fountain with two sculptures on opposite sides. The entire structure is a U-shaped house, with a tiny courtyard at the back of the main building that gets a lot of sunlight.

This was the first building in Saigon to incorporate elevators into the architecture. The elevator was adorned to seem like an ancient Chinese palanquin at the time. The red tiled roofing in the Yin and Yang pattern is another Chinese aspect of the museum. The windows are outfitted with colorful glass windows in the traditional European art style. All of the intricacies combine to make the building construction an exterior artwork with distinct East Asian and French characteristics.

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts spans 3,514 square meters and is organized into distinct sections with diverse purposes. The basement is utilized for office work, the first story for galleries, exhibitions, and commercial activities, the second floor for fine arts paintings, and the third floor for antique sculptures and traditional handicrafts of South Vietnam’s ancient population.

The main entrance passage on the first level, with a towering lobby, huge pillars, and steps on both sides, is the architectural highlight of the entire building. The main door is shaped like an arch, and above it are stylised steel lettering H.B.H, an abbreviation for Mr. Hua Bon Hoa’s name. And at the back of the museum is a stele etched with the names of the building’s previous owners, the majority of whom were related to Mr. Hua Bon Hoa.

The museum’s long corridors lead to exhibition rooms, which are all joined by side doors. A green wooden door in front of each room leads to a little balcony. The balconies’ pivots are fairly plain, with vertical grids; nonetheless, the inside of the Fine Arts Museum is full of natural light and wind, creating a shimmering area within, thanks to the doors and windows.

The main corridor is yellow, and as you move through it, the yellow fades away, allowing the gray walls and windows to take their place. In contrast to the coolness of gray, the heat of red graces the serene atmosphere with brightness and a touch of modernism. All of the colors work together to create a vivid depiction of architecture inside the museum.