Town Hall, Saigon

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Information about the beginning date of the object depicted in the image: 1898

Information about the completion date of the object depicted in the image: c. 1908

The municipal council in Saigon had voted to build a city hall in 1871, replacing the Chinese mansion they had been using for the last five years. The original plan of the artchitect Pierre Codry was declared too costly, and construction was delayed until 1898, following the new plan of Fernand Gardes. Further problems delayed the completion of the building until ten years later. Due to the high costs of its construction, the building aroused controversy, and received criticism for its design, although it was essentially a replica of the Hotel de Ville in Paris that had been burned down by Communards in 1871. Today the building is used as the People's Committee Hall.

Source for information about the object depicted in the image: Wright, Gwendolyn. The Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

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