Museum of the History of the City of Hanoi by gmp

The Hamburg office of von Gerkan, Marg und Partner completed another major project in Vietnam on Friday, October 8, 2010, which is the Museum of the History of Hanoi. Architects from gmp have already realized the parliament, the national museum, and the conference center in the Vietnamese capital. This event sparked a passionate discussion two years ago at a panel discussion in Hamburg between Meinhard von Gerkan and Christoph Ingenhoven on the architects' engagement in Vietnam and the construction of controversial buildings for a despotic regime.
gmp was awarded the contract for the Museum of the History of Hanoi in 2005 after winning an international competition. The building, reminiscent of a pagoda or an inverted pyramid, has an area of over 30,000 m² and is located in a newly established park with generous water features, which reflect the image of the museum. Inside, visitors can view exhibits related to the history of Hanoi and traditional Vietnamese villages.
Visitors can enter the museum from all four cardinal directions of the park. Inside the building, which has a square floor plan, there is a circular atrium that rises over four stories high. Each of the three exhibition floors located above the entrance level is tiered, creating the impression that the museum hovers above the landscape. Visitors can access the upper floors via spiral ramps, which are the main defining element inside the museum, offering views into the entrance foyer as well as the exhibition areas. While the lower floors primarily serve as exhibition spaces, the highest fourth floor also contains conference rooms, research offices, administrative offices, and a library. There are spacious rooms for the installation of large exhibits, where diffused natural light falls.