The Architecture of Hoi An
Hoi An is special because from the 16th century on, many flourishing commercial ports such as Malacca & Penang developed. Today, most of these either decayed totally or became a large modern port. In both cases the original townscape was lost through neglect or demolition. What's amazing about Hoi An Ancient town is it's still intact and was built mainly in wood and is known to flood every year.
Town lay out:
The ancient town is situated on the north bank of the Thu Bon
river and covers an area of 0.3km . There
is a street running east-west along the river's edge and three
further streets parallel to the river. They are intersected at
right-angles by streets and alleys. Within this area there are
houses (often combined with shops), religious monuments
such as pagodas, temples, communal houses, family cult
houses, a ferry quay and an open market.
All of which is still operating today.
Architecture:
The building style of Hoi An combines traditional Vietnamese
designs & techniques with those from other Asian countries,
whose citizens settled there to trade and built houses and
community centres in their own designs. These influences
came principally from China, but Japanese styles can also be
seen in certain details.
Famous Japanese Bridge: There is an ornate wooden bridge, reminiscent of Japanese examples, with a pagoda on it. It has existed from at least the early 18th century. The Japanese bridge can be found in many local paintings.