Sketch Corner: Pope Dalat Academy

Located near Xuan Huong Lake and Cu Hill, the academy building was inaugurated in 1964, operated from 1963, and stopped in 1978. Currently, the building still has a commemorative plaque in Latin with the main content: "On the first day of August 1961, the representative of the Holy See, Mario Brini, laid the first stone to build the Pontifical Academy".

Sketch by Architect Bui Hoang Bao

The project has 3 blocks and 5 floors designed and built by Architect To Cong Van, Professor at Saigon University of Architecture.

Sketch by Architect Phung The Huy

Sketch by designer Le Quang Khanh

Sketch by designer Le Quang Khanh

The mark of modern Vietnamese architecture is clearly shown through straight, simple but strong architectural lines. Large glass windows run across the building. Wide corridors. A system of louvers and canopies (small roofs above the doors) to block the sun and rain, and brick walls to create natural ventilation. The building uses basic materials: concrete, glass, and local split stone.

Sketch by Architect Linh Hoang

According to Dalat researcher Nguyen Vinh Nguyen, by the early 1970s, the Pontifical Academy of St. Pius X library could be considered one of the largest theological and philosophical bookstores in Vietnam with more than 35,000 books in many languages. During the period 1970 - 1971, with a faculty and administration consisting of famous professors and doctors, the academy was a prestigious international academic environment, linked with many major educational centers in the world. Hundreds of theological and philosophical research works written in Vietnamese, English, and French by professors and students of the academy had high academic value.

The old chapel - sketch by architect Linh Hoang.

Sketch by Architect Nguyen Vu Minh Tung - student of Nguyen Tat Thanh University

Sketch by Architect Tran Xuan Hong

The project is currently the Lam Dong Provincial Youth Cultural Center.