I STARTED a new year of travel with a quick visit to Vietnam, which is my favourite place in the whole world.
The last four days of 2010 were spent in Hoi An before relocating to the bustling metropolis of Saigon on January 1 to spend four days eating, drinking, shopping and soaking up the atmosphere in this buzzing city.
While I was excited to get back to Saigon for visit number seven -- my first trip was made in 1997, when it felt like I was seeing the city just as it was when the Americans pulled out in 1975 -- arrival was a bit sad because I discovered my all-time favourite building was in the final stages of being demolished.
The Eden Building, which used to sit on the northern corner of the Nguyen Hue and Le Loi streets intersection, was built back in the 1950s and served as headquarters for many of the big TV networks and wire services during the America War.
``Built by the French as an apartment and office complex, the building lacked any aesthetics,'' Steinmann wrote in his book Inside Television's First War.
``It took up three-quarters of a block, sitting stocky and compressed, each side looking alike.
``An indoor shopping arcade on the street level housed jewellery stores and custom clothing and dress shops. Inside the enclosed mall, a large movie theatre screened Chinese and Indian films.''
While Steinmann clearly didn't like the Eden Building I thought the structure was delightful with art-deco details, teal shutters covering the green windows, portholes set into the facade just below the top ledge, and some subtle architectural details.
I could sit in the rooftop bars of the Rex and Caravelle hotels, which are opposite the building, for hours looking at the six-storey structure and imagining the tales the walls would tell if they could talk.
During this visit, I just sat and watched as a team of demolition workers tore the handsome building down and made the site ready to take another of the modern blocks that are springing up on every street of the thriving Asian city.
It’s a shame officials are letting developers destroy so many of Saigon's elegant French buildings, and equally as sad that permission is being given to build glass monstrosities that have absolutely no style or character, but I guess that’s the product of the boom that’s hit Vietnam after so many years in the economic wilderness.
Above are two pictures of the Eden Building, the one on the left was taken
in November 2009 and the other a week ago at the start of January 2011.
UPDATE...
It seems I am not the only person sad at the demise of the Eden Building.
There was an article in The Independent recently about the changing face of Saigon, use this link to read the story...
And a blogger has posted a few interesting photos of the historic structure...
http://www.dongnama.de/