A throng of local residents and international visitors have come to the Hang Dau water tower in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District to explore an art space inside this 129-year-old historical relic, which opened its doors to the public for the first time on Friday.

Jaty Fairisa, a Spanish tourist who has been in Vietnam for six weeks, and his travel buddy only knew about this water tower after they accidentally saw so many people queuing up outside the building.

“After entering the water tower, I discovered a colorful space inside and the sound of water relaxed me when touring the inside of the tower.

“This is the most amazing experience that I’ve never seen before. It’s truly impressive,” Fairisa said.

The Hang Dau water tower, which was built in 1894 during the French colonial period, sits at the junction of such old streets as Hang Than, Hang Luoc, Hang Giay, Hang Dau, Quan Thanh, and Phan Dinh Phung.

A design team comprising architect Cao The Anh, painter Nguyen Duc Phuong, and their colleagues transformed the water tower into a brilliant art space with lighting and sound installation systems.

What made the inside of the tower more impressive is that embellishments and pieces of artworks are all recycled items.

The water dripping sound combined with lighting effects seemed to make the art space look broader.

Unlike the hustle and bustle outside, visitors could immerse themselves in a quiet and glamorous art space along with a wooden path and the sound of water in nature.

To ensure a seamless visitor experience, the water tower imposes a visitor cap of 20-30 people for each period of visit.

Do Duc Vinh, residing in Hanoi’s Hai Ba Trung District, was among the early birds as he arrived at the water tower at 5:00 am on the same day and could not hide his delight at entering the water tower, a place which brought his childhood memories back.

“I passed by it [the water tower] many times when I was little, but I only saw it from the outside," Vinh said.

“It’s awesome to explore the inside in-person now.

“I’ll tell my neighbors about it, so that they can visit and enjoy the beauty inside this water tower.”

Another local visitor named Phuong Uyen from the city’s Cau Giay District said that she felt like she was living in a cave with a vividly colorful stream.

“I got impressed by the colorful space inside.

“If I hadn’t read information about this exhibit in advance, I wouldn’t have known that the artworks are made of plastic bags,” Uyen said and lauded authorities’ efforts for reviving the city’s historical relics and letting young people like her learn more about these destinations.

The exhibition on installation art in the Hang Dau water tower is among a wide range of events within the Hanoi Creative Design Festival, taking place from November 17 to December 31 this year.

The festival, co-held by the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Vietnam Association of Architects, will also feature other art spaces at Gia Lam Train Factory, Hanoi Train Station, and century-old Long Bien Bridge during the said period.

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