Narrow frontages because of 15th-century taxes. That constraint shaped the form for centuries. Then French colonial facades layered on top of Vietnamese tube houses. Guild streets still carry their names — Hàng Bạc, Hàng Gai — marking what was sold. Now the buildings are weathered and occupied: colonial plaster, laundry drying, street-level shops, vegetation and utilities adapted into the spaces. History and current life layer together.
