Independence Palace

**General information**

**Architectural style**
Chinese philosophy and traditional modernism

**Address**
135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St., Dist. 1, Saigon, Vietnam

**Tenants**
The President, First Lady, and the First Family

**Construction started**
1962

**Completed**
1966

**Technical details**

**Floor area**
120,000 sq m (1,291,669 sq ft)

**Design and construction**

**Architect**
Ngô Viết Thụ

The **Independence Palace** (*Dinh Độc Lập*) is the official residence and workplace of the president of the Republic of Vietnam. It is located at 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St. in Saigon, and has been the residence of every Vietnamese president since Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in 1967. The term "Independence Palace" is often used as a metonym for the president and his advisers.

## History

Built on the sight of the former residence of the French Governor-General prior to moving to Hanoi, it was dubbed the Independence Palace after the turn over was completed. The furniture in the Independence Palace are all 1960s era antiques.

The street name that the Independence Palace sits on, Nam Ky Khoi Nghia means Cochinchina Uprising, derived from the series of independence protests staged throughout 1946-47 in Vietnam, then called French Cochinchina.

## Architectural symbolism

Architect Ngo Viet Thu designed the Palace to convey key principles of Eastern philosophy as well as the integration of traditonal and modern styles. Such attention inhabits everything, from the Palace’s exterior to the furniture inside. The Palace layout forms the Chinese character for “fortunate” or “auspicious”.

The Room for Diplomatic Credential Presentation is considered the heart of the Palace. The Terrace is shaped in the character for MOUTH (Khẩu/Kou). It symbolizes “the floor safe in all four directions” and the value of education and free speech. In the center of the MOUTH is a vertical flag post forming the character FIDELITY (Trung/Hong), emphasizing that democracy requires fidelity.

The terrace, balcony, and portico to the ante-chamber form the horizontal strokes in the character THREE (Tam/San), in accordance with the concept composed of democracy being composed of “Humanity, Intelligence, Strength.”

The three horizontal strokes are connected by a vertical stroke forming the character KING (Vương/Wang), above which is a flag tower producing the dot in the character MASTER (Chủ/Zhu), symbolizing national sovereignty. On the front of the palace, the balconies of 2nd and 3rd floors combine with the main entrance portico and two wood covered columns below the portico to create the character PROSPERITY (Hưng/Xing) meaning to wish the country eternal prosperity.1

## Technical details

The T-shaped main building area covers an area of 4,500 sq. m and 26m in height. It is located at the center of the grounds. This site is the residence and working place of the President of the Republic of Vietnam. The space has three floors, two mezzanines, one terrace, one ground floor, and one basement. The facility’s total space is 20,000 sq. m divided among 95 rooms. Each room has its own function and is constructed and decorated to meet the particular purpose.2

## Presidential inauguration role

Main article: *Presidential inauguration of the President of the Republic of Vietnam*

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, the third president of Vietnam is credited with the presidential inauguration ceremony. Prior to President Thiệu's election, Ngô Đình Diệm who was the first person to be popularly elected in 1960 after being installed by the Imperial Council in 1955 simply took the oath of office in a private room in Dinh Gia Long which was attended by the press. For his inauguration, Nguyễn Văn Thiệu worked with President Nguyễn Văn Tâm's transition team to come up with a dignified way of inaugurating a new head of state. What he and the transition team came up with is a staging area in front of the Independence Palace to be attended by members of the National Assembly, presidential guests, and citizens on the front lawn oval of the Independence Palace.

The president-elect would then parade in through the gate with the Presidential Guards, the First Lady/First Gentleman, the vice president and their spouse, along either the right or left side of the oval—symbolically denoting their political lean—and be met by a military honour guard assembled along the entrance to Independence Palace. The president-elect and their entourage continue in after saluting the troops, and up to the balcony where the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court awaits to administer the oath of offices. The president and vice president-elect take their seats along the balcony, await the invocation by the bishop of Saigon, and then at or just before noon as has been the case, the senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court administers the oath to the vice president, the the Chief Justice does the same to the president. Upon successful swearing in, the front fountain of the Independence Palace comes on full in celebration. The president then gives their Inaugural Address from the balcony.

## Residence of the President of Vietnam

The first occupant of the Independence Palace is President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu starting in 1967. Madame Nguyễn Văn Thiệu as First Lady is considered Vietnam's Jackie Kennedy for her work on the Palace, and other charities and social causes.

## President's Private Office

While there is an official designated office space for the President located in the East Wing, most presidents when conducting television addresses and other matters of state choose to use the Presidential Reception Room.

## Gallery

Cabinet RoomDiplomatic Reception RoomForeign Diplomats' RoomState Dining RoomGrand staircasePresidential Reception RoomPresident's private officeThe Red Room. Used for press conferences, events, and receptionsView of interior windows facing the south facadeSituation RoomHalf moon lotus and lilly pad poolThe Pagoda. A gazebo built on the grounds of the Independence Palace as a private retreat for the presidentMap of the grounds
## References

1,2 https://independencepalace.gov.vn/relic/independence-palace-architecture/