HÀ NỘI — A Vietnamese-English language book featuring more than 200 sketches of Hà Nội’s streets along with emotional essays about the capital city has been published.

Titled Phố Cổ Hà Nội - Ký Họa và Hồi Ức (Hà Nội's Old Quarter - Sketches & Memories) by Wings Books of Kim Đồng Publishing House, it is a collection from 60 authors, writers, architects, amateur and professional painters of Urban Sketchers Hanoi group.

Cover of the book. — Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

Pictures in the book have been drawn with various materials like water colours, pencils and wax.

Painter Nguyễn Thành Phong explores the beauty of handicraft villages and streets in ancient Hà Nội, while architect Nguyễn Quang Minh loses himself in charming French-style villas, writer Nguyễn Trương Quý describes inspirations for drawing Hà Nội’s streets by painters in the past.

Autumn in the Street, acrylic on canvas, by Trần Nam Long.

“The spontaneous approach is quite suitable to natural characteristics of Hà Nội’s Old Quarter featuring surprising and unique beauty of street space,” commented architect and researcher Nguyễn Quốc Thông, deputy chairman of Việt Nam Architects’ Association.

An old living quarter in Giảng Võ Street, water colour, by Kim Nga.

“Sketching is the quickest way to capture images in various materials, the initial step of creating a painting,” he said. “The sketch book on Hà Nội’s street is the first of its kind. Moreover, the authors are of all walks of life and ages (the youngest is only eight years old) has brought the book a unique feature.”

Painter in the group at a working by Hồng (Red) River. — Photo hanoimoi.com.vn

Established in 2016 with nearly 4,000 members, the Urban Sketchers Hanoi group has hosted various painting event to snap images of Hà Nội, especially the old lifestyles, old buildings, which are gradually disappearing in the process of urbanisation.

In August, the group was recognised for its activities in the category of Actions for Hà Nội in the system of Bùi Xuân Phái – For the Love of Hà Nội Awards hosted by Thể Thao & Văn Hóa (Sports and Culture) daily. VNS