page_title: French architecture
section_title: Normandy
hierarchical_section_title: French architecture / Regional architecture / Normandy
caption_attribution_description: The Presidential Palace of Vietnam, located in the city of Hanoi, was built between 1900 and 1906 to house the French Governor-General of Indochina. It was constructed by Auguste Henri Vildieu, the official French architect for Vietnam. Like most French colonial architecture, the palace is pointedly European- the only visual cues that it is located in Vietnam at all are mango trees growing on the grounds. The striking yellow palace stands behind wrought iron gates flanked by sentry boxes. It incorporates elements of Italian Renaissance design, including: * aedicules * a formal piano nobile reached by a grand staircase * broken pediments * classical columns * quoins When Vietnam achieved independence in 1954, Ho Chi Minh refused to live in the grand structure for symbolic reasons, although he still received state guests there, and he eventually built a traditional Vietnamese stilt house and carp pond on the grounds. Today, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum stands nearby and the Presidential Palace remains part of Hanoi's cultural core. The palace hosts government meetings. It is not open to the public, although one may walk around the grounds for a fee. [Wikipedia.org]
context_page_description: French architecture consists of numerous architectural styles that either originated in France or elsewhere and were developed within the territories of France.
context_section_description: In Normandy and the Loire Valley of France, farm silos were often attached to the main living quarters instead of a separate barn. After World War I, Americans romanticized the traditional French farmhouse, creating a style known as French Normandy. Sided with stone, stucco, or brick, these homes may suggest the Tudor style with decorative half timbering (vertical, horizontal, and diagonal strips of wood set in masonry). The French Normandy style is distinguished by a round stone tower topped by a cone-shaped roof. The tower is usually placed near the centre, serving as the entrance to the home. French Normandy and French provincial details are often combined to create a style simply called French Country or French Rural carved or embossed on mouldings, sconces, and banisters.
caption: The Presidential Palace of Vietnam, in Hanoi, was built between 1900 and 1906 to house the French Governor-General of Indochina.
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