Saturday, March 24, 2007
the Crazy House gets legal!
Dalat Crazy House to get official approval after 17 years
Dalat Crazy House to get official approval after 17 years
It has taken authorities in a Vietnam province 17 years to make up
their minds if a bizarre architectural structure that doubles as a
hotel can be given the official seal of approval.
Crazy House in Dalat, the mountain resort in the central Lam Dong
province, was built in 1990 but has remained an illegal structure
because the town authorities had been unable to bring themselves to
approve the abnormal structure.
But now the building, in the shape of an enormous tree trunk and one
of the most-visited sites in Dalat, could get authorities approval,
Tuoi Tre reported.
The newspaper quoted director of the provinces Construction
Department, Nguyen Huu Tam, as saying his agency would recommend to
the provincial chairman next month to issue an ownership certificate
to the owner of the building - architect Dang Viet Nga.
Is it art, is it..?
Hang Nga Crazy House on Huynh Thuc Khang street has drawn the
attention of foreigners, particularly avant-garde enthusiasts, who
admire it as a true work of art, a countercultural gem without
parallel anywhere else in Vietnam.
It was first opened to the public late 1992 when it was Ngas private
residence. Later, it became a hotel and the owner called it Hang Nga
Guesthouse. But beholders preferred to call it Hang Nga Tree House,
Spider Web Palace, or Crazy House, with the last name sticking.
Its all crazy. A gargantuan spider web hangs over a pond. Nearby in a
garden, thick vines curl around a tree trunk that grows into a nude
maiden, the main house. Two concrete giraffes house a cafe. A giant
eagle perches on an egg-shaped fireplace.
The main house is covered in dead roots and bare branches, as though
it has just been through a forest fire. Amazingly, it is not a real
tree but made of concrete and painted a hideous yellowish brown-gray.
A stone porch leads into a courtyard and a fairytale garden adorned
with sculptures of people and animals. In the center of the garden is
a small pond surrounded by several stone mushrooms that serve as seats
for customers to enjoy a drink.
They can also drink in the tea room at the end of the garden, inside
one of the two 20-meter-high concrete giraffes. Through the oddly
shaped glass opening, they can still admire the tropical trees growing
around the pond and the sky above.
But the most intriguing sight is the giant spider web made of wires
and tubes that hangs over the pond. The solitary spider is carved out
of wood, but it is not the only web. Others are woven through the
branches of the pines and extend to the roof of the house, making
bizarre patterns against the sky.
Nature statement
Viet Nga says when she moved from Hanoi to Dalat nearly two decades
ago she witnessed the devastation of many beautiful pine forests as
well as the deterioration of the environment.
And the woman with a doctorate in architecture from Moscow began to
dream of using architecture as a language to raise public awareness of
protecting nature and the environment.
Early 1990, she started experimenting with a mixture of architecture
styles in her 1,600-sq.m. villa as the first step to realizing her
aim.
She has so far spent VND7 billion (US$437,226), mostly borrowed from
local banks, on her work.
She has succeeded in creating something in which it is difficult to
distinguish between architectural works and nature as one enters the
hotel through huge tunnels in the twisted concrete trees trunk and
branches.
Each room has a theme animal, plant or insect and everything inside
fits the theme. Thus there are the Bird, Ant, Tiger, Pheasant, Bamboo,
and Gourd rooms.
Low furniture made from local hardwood is shaped along the curved
walls.
Handles and doorknobs are exquisitely carved into animal motifs;
stuffed animal heads hang on one wall, baskets made by ethnic minority
people around Dalat on another. Rooms are softly lit by hidden light
fittings and free-form windows.
Each of the 10 rooms costs $290 per night.
Crazy House finds mention in some famous international tourist guide
books like Le Guide de Routard, Trotter, and Discovery.
It also has a special room commemorating Ngas father, Truong Chinh,
who was the General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1941-1960 and
President of the country in 1981-1987.
Source: Tuoi Tre Compiled by Thu Thuy
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 20 March, 2007, 21:19:27 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News
Dalat Crazy House to get official approval after 17 years
It has taken authorities in a Vietnam province 17 years to make up
their minds if a bizarre architectural structure that doubles as a
hotel can be given the official seal of approval.
Crazy House in Dalat, the mountain resort in the central Lam Dong
province, was built in 1990 but has remained an illegal structure
because the town authorities had been unable to bring themselves to
approve the abnormal structure.
But now the building, in the shape of an enormous tree trunk and one
of the most-visited sites in Dalat, could get authorities approval,
Tuoi Tre reported.
The newspaper quoted director of the provinces Construction
Department, Nguyen Huu Tam, as saying his agency would recommend to
the provincial chairman next month to issue an ownership certificate
to the owner of the building - architect Dang Viet Nga.
Is it art, is it..?
Hang Nga Crazy House on Huynh Thuc Khang street has drawn the
attention of foreigners, particularly avant-garde enthusiasts, who
admire it as a true work of art, a countercultural gem without
parallel anywhere else in Vietnam.
It was first opened to the public late 1992 when it was Ngas private
residence. Later, it became a hotel and the owner called it Hang Nga
Guesthouse. But beholders preferred to call it Hang Nga Tree House,
Spider Web Palace, or Crazy House, with the last name sticking.
Its all crazy. A gargantuan spider web hangs over a pond. Nearby in a
garden, thick vines curl around a tree trunk that grows into a nude
maiden, the main house. Two concrete giraffes house a cafe. A giant
eagle perches on an egg-shaped fireplace.
The main house is covered in dead roots and bare branches, as though
it has just been through a forest fire. Amazingly, it is not a real
tree but made of concrete and painted a hideous yellowish brown-gray.
A stone porch leads into a courtyard and a fairytale garden adorned
with sculptures of people and animals. In the center of the garden is
a small pond surrounded by several stone mushrooms that serve as seats
for customers to enjoy a drink.
They can also drink in the tea room at the end of the garden, inside
one of the two 20-meter-high concrete giraffes. Through the oddly
shaped glass opening, they can still admire the tropical trees growing
around the pond and the sky above.
But the most intriguing sight is the giant spider web made of wires
and tubes that hangs over the pond. The solitary spider is carved out
of wood, but it is not the only web. Others are woven through the
branches of the pines and extend to the roof of the house, making
bizarre patterns against the sky.
Nature statement
Viet Nga says when she moved from Hanoi to Dalat nearly two decades
ago she witnessed the devastation of many beautiful pine forests as
well as the deterioration of the environment.
And the woman with a doctorate in architecture from Moscow began to
dream of using architecture as a language to raise public awareness of
protecting nature and the environment.
Early 1990, she started experimenting with a mixture of architecture
styles in her 1,600-sq.m. villa as the first step to realizing her
aim.
She has so far spent VND7 billion (US$437,226), mostly borrowed from
local banks, on her work.
She has succeeded in creating something in which it is difficult to
distinguish between architectural works and nature as one enters the
hotel through huge tunnels in the twisted concrete trees trunk and
branches.
Each room has a theme animal, plant or insect and everything inside
fits the theme. Thus there are the Bird, Ant, Tiger, Pheasant, Bamboo,
and Gourd rooms.
Low furniture made from local hardwood is shaped along the curved
walls.
Handles and doorknobs are exquisitely carved into animal motifs;
stuffed animal heads hang on one wall, baskets made by ethnic minority
people around Dalat on another. Rooms are softly lit by hidden light
fittings and free-form windows.
Each of the 10 rooms costs $290 per night.
Crazy House finds mention in some famous international tourist guide
books like Le Guide de Routard, Trotter, and Discovery.
It also has a special room commemorating Ngas father, Truong Chinh,
who was the General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1941-1960 and
President of the country in 1981-1987.
Source: Tuoi Tre Compiled by Thu Thuy
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 20 March, 2007, 21:19:27 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News
