Sedang communal house in Kon Tum – conservation potential for continuing development

Abstract

Sedang is one of the ethnic groups in Kon Tum, Vietnam with unique customs and practices expressed in traditional lifestyle, costumes, rituals, festivals etc. Previously, the Sedang people's life was always attached to a communal house, also known as Rong house. With its uniqueness, Sedang communal house contains many architectural, cultural and aesthetic values and has been a major place of living of the village community. However, recent economic, cultural and social changes in Kon Tum have caused the communal house to gradually lose its role as a cultural and religious centre, and at the same time face the degradation and destruction. The paper used the method of Heritage Conservation Potential Assessment proposed by Nahoum Cohen, adapted to specific contexts to analyse architectural features, assess values, and assess conservation potential of Sedang communal house, thereby proposing solutions to conserve and promote its values in the continuing development associated with the community life.