Bui Xuan Phai Award 2025: Ideas for creating Hanoi's future from heritage

The nominations for the Idea Award category of the Bui Xuan Phai - For the Love of Hanoi Award 2025 organized by the Sports and Culture Newspaper (Vietnam News Agency) named three projects with great social influence: renovating and expanding public spaces around Hoan Kiem Lake; a series of activities honoring Confucianism towards the 950th anniversary of the Imperial Academy; and the project to build the Hanoi Opera House and a cultural and artistic park in Quang An (Tay Ho). Although different in form, the three nominated ideas this year all aim at one goal: creating the future of Hanoi from the foundation of heritage.

Expanding community space around Hoan Kiem Lake

The first nomination of the Idea Award category in the Bui Xuan Phai Award - For the Love of Hanoi 2025 is a series of projects to improve and expand the space for the community around Hoan Kiem Lake.

In March 2025, information from the Hanoi People's Committee about the project to renovate, embellish and reconstruct the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square area attracted great public attention. The highlight of the project is the demolition of the "Shark Jaw" building, a building that has existed for more than three decades but has caused many controversies about urban aesthetics, to restore the space of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square, so that this place becomes an area of ​​special historical and cultural value, connecting Hoan Kiem Lake (North) and the Old Quarter (South).

By September 2025, this area has been renovated, forming a space of more than 1.4 hectares, directly connecting to Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter. Along with that, many synchronous renovation items such as upgrading Dinh Tien Hoang Street, installing artistic lighting, removing the architectural obstruction of Thuy Ta House... have created a new look for the central area.

In addition, Hanoi has also planned to establish a new square on the east side of Hoan Kiem Lake with an area of ​​2.14 hectares, based on the relocation of 17 agencies and 42 households. The project is expected to start construction on October 10, divided into 2 phases: phase 1 will carry out compensation, support and resettlement; phase 2 will study the organization of underground space of about 3 floors, connecting with station C9 of metro line 2 (Nam Thang Long - Tran Hung Dao).

Overall, although the project is still being implemented in many stages and needs to continue to consult with the community and experts, it has marked an important step forward in urban management thinking. That is, Hanoi is choosing to prioritize the creation of public spaces instead of expanding administrative or commercial buildings - a long-standing issue in the Hoan Kiem Lake area. Thereby, the historical and cultural values ​​of Hoan Kiem Lake are fully promoted, while maintaining sustainable vitality so that this place is truly a community space.

Many experts believe that Hoan Kiem Lake is a spiritual symbol of Hanoi. The renovation and expansion of the space around the lake not only improves the quality of life of residents, but also affirms that Hanoi is on the right track in taking people as the center of urban development. This is a step in line with the sustainable development trend of modern cities, where parks, squares, and open spaces become the "lungs" and "heart" of the city.

A series of activities to honor religious teachings

The second nomination in this year's Idea Award is a series of activities honoring Confucianism, aiming to celebrate the 950th anniversary of the Imperial Academy (1076 - 2026). Accordingly, in the journey of preserving and promoting heritage values, the Temple of Literature - Imperial Academy is preparing to enter the milestone of celebrating its 950th anniversary (1076 - 2026) with a series of meaningful activities honoring Confucianism. Creative ideas such as the Kid tour "Journey of Confucianism", the live performance "Tinh Khue Van Dai", the cultural reading space at Ho Van, the exhibition of ancient books, the Vietnamese costume festival, the lantern festival and a series of educational experiences - digital interactions are outstanding activities that have been and are being implemented.

Sharing about the reading culture space at Ho Van, which was just launched in August 2025, Mr. Le Xuan Kieu - Director of the Center for Cultural and Scientific Activities of the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam said: "Ho Van is a space for reciting the literature of ancient Thang Long, with elegant terrain and water, suitable for organizing reading activities and academic exchanges. When creating a bookcase with the image of a doctoral stele, we want to convey the message that each book today is a "stele" engraved with the name of the talented people of the new era".

According to Mr. Le Xuan Kieu, the reading culture space at Ho Van is operated according to a community mechanism with a core collection selected by the Center, combining the activities of "reading - exchanging - contributing". Readers can exchange books, join reading clubs, discuss with authors, translators, etc. The QR code search system helps manage borrowing and returning, while volunteers support the role of librarians, ensuring that books are circulated and safely stored.

Some other special ideas towards the 950th anniversary of the Imperial Academy (1076 - 2026) also left a special mark. That is the live performance "Tinh Khue Van Dai", a symbolic project to spread the message: the spirit of studiousness and humanity of the nation is the eternal guiding star. The performance represents the original spirit of Confucianism with the birth of the Temple of Literature, the arduous but brilliant journey of generations of scholars and finally the spirit of Tinh Khue Van Dai connecting the past, present and future.

This is the exhibition of ancient books “The Quintessence of Daoism” which is based on precious documents related to Confucianism - Buddhism - Taoism, Han Nom examination books, family instructions, ancient engravings that are valuable evidence of the learning tradition of our ancestors. Along with that are bilingual explanations, translated excerpts, illustrative artifacts such as inkstones, exam books and reading stations for the public to interact. The exhibition is also digitized, building a 360 virtual exhibition, providing podcasts, translated excerpts and online discussions to spread the heritage more widely.

Another highlight is the Kid tour “Journey of Learning” for children. In this program, children are transformed into young scholars, participating in games of finding stone markers, calling names, writing on Do paper and learning filial values ​​through role-playing activities. In addition, AR and QR technology are integrated to help visually explain and explain in multiple languages ​​suitable for each age group. The program also designs extracurricular lesson plans and worksheets for schools to use before, during and after the tour, creating a lasting bond.

Director of the Center for Cultural and Scientific Activities of the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam Le Xuan Kieu said that the Center identifies ethics as the core content. That spirit is concretized through three strands: preservation - education - creativity. “In terms of preservation, we focus on researching, restoring, standardizing the academic explanation system and digitizing documents from doctoral steles, ancient books to important documents of Quoc Tu Giam. In education, we design thematic experience programs, develop open learning materials for high schools, and at the same time focus on activities for the younger generation with values ​​of studiousness, filial piety, and respect for teachers... Creativity, combined with many forms of contemporary art and interactive technology, is brought in, from live theater, exhibitions, souvenir products to online platforms, to turn heritage into living knowledge and new inspiration for the public today,” Mr. Le Xuan Kieu shared.

According to experts, this series of creative activities is a clear demonstration that heritage can live and accompany the young generation. And this nomination, not only honors a relic, but also affirms that ethics is the unchanging spiritual foundation of the nation, the "soul" that helps Hanoi and the whole country firmly enter the integration era.

Hanoi Opera House in Quang An - raising the status of the Capital

The third nomination of the 2025 Idea Award is the Project to build the Hanoi Opera House and the cultural and artistic park in Quang An (Tay Ho ward), approved by the Hanoi People's Committee in November 2024. The Hanoi Opera House is considered a key project that contributes to raising the status of the capital. Accordingly, the total planning area of ​​more than 44 hectares in Quang An and Tu Lien wards, Tay Ho district (old) will be planned into a complex of specialized cultural and artistic parks, a city theater, religious and belief works, entertainment areas and commercial hotel services.

According to the plan, the theater will be located on Dam Tri lake, close to West Lake, with a unique thin dome and an advanced mechanical acoustic system, capable of being customized for each type of performance. Around the theater is an open cultural and artistic park, creating green space for the community. The project is expected to be implemented in the form of socialization, under the strict control of Hanoi city throughout the design, construction and operation process.

The theater project was designed by the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano, who has created many works that have changed the face of world architecture. Architect Renzo Piano said that before designing, he spent a lot of time researching the history and culture of Hanoi and incorporated those cultural features into his design, aiming to create a work of art that carries the soul of Hanoi, revives the old cultural features, nurtures the simple lifestyle of the present while still painting the color of the future with the most advanced contemporary values ​​of the world.

According to experts, if completed properly, the Hanoi Opera House will not only raise the capital's position on the world cultural map, but also open up opportunities for creative industry development, making Hanoi a cultural and artistic center of the region.

Although different in form, the three nominated ideas this year all aim at the same goal: to create the future of Hanoi from the foundation of heritage. Hoan Kiem Lake with its open public space, Quoc Tu Giam with its religious spirit and the Opera House with its international stature, all form a balanced “triangle” between tradition, present and future.

According to the jury, these ideas are not only creative, but also demonstrate a strategic vision for the cultural and urban development of the capital in the new period. The nominated ideas this year are both timely and have long-term value, because they not only preserve the memory of Hanoi but also create the future for the city of a thousand years of culture.

According to VNA

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/giai-thuong-bui-xuan-phai-2025-nhung-y-tuong-kien-tao-tuong-lai-ha-noi-tu-di-san-a463056.html