The History of Saigon City Hall

The History of Saigon City Hall

Hotel de Ville, or Saigon City Hall, was first planned in 1871 and started being built in 1898. It was finished in 1908 after several changes to its floor plan. The building was designed by the French architect Fernand Gardes and decorated by the painter and sculpture Ruffier, who was soon replaced by Bonnet (Corfield 2013, 233).
Along with the growth of Saigon, the City Hall has been an avenue for important political and social events. It is a place that reflects the contemporary state affair where various political demonstration and events were held. Two important events in the history of Vietnam witnessed by the City Hall are the 1949s accords signed by Bao Dai to establish the State of Vietnam and the 1955s referendum that led to the birth of the Republic of Vietnam under Ngo Dinh Diem (Corfield 2013, 233).
During over a century of its history, the building has been renamed several times. Initially called Hotel de Ville (City Hall, Dinh Xã Tây) like its counterpart in Paris, the site changed into City Hall of Saigon (Toà Đô Chánh Sài Gòn) under the South Vietnam Government during the 1954–1975 period. Since 1975, it was changed into The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City (Uỷ ban Nhân dân TP.HCM) (Holidify n.d.).

References:
Corfield, Justin. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ho Chi Minh City. London: Anthem Press.
Holidify. n.d. "French Architecture in Vietnam." Last modified n/a (11 April 2022).

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