KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

MODERN ARCHITECTURE

The architecture of Kuala Lumpur is a blending of old colonial influences, Asian traditions, Malay Islamic inspirations, modern and post-modern mix. Most of the co-lonial buildings in Kuala Lumpur were built towards the end of the 19th century until early 20th century. These buildings have several style of architecture which includes Mughal, Tudor, Neo-Gothic or Grecian-Spanish.

Due to Malaysia’s blooming growth of economy after Independence from the 70’s to the 90’s, saw buildings with more local and Islamic motifs arise in the central districts of the city. Many of these buildings derive their design from traditional Malay items, such as the head dress and the keris. Some of these buildings have Islamic geometric motifs integrated with the designs of the building, such as square patterns or a dome.

With Islam being the official religion of Malaysia since independence, there are many Islamic architecture featured buildings that resides in Kuala Lumpur. Buildings like National Mosque have Islamic geometric motifs on their structure, signifying Islamic restriction on drawing nature. The National Mosque has been built as a place of worship , complete with dome and minaret. Naturally, Islamic motif are evident in re-ligious structure such as the National Mosque. Religious places will have more Arabic calligraphy drawn on the columns and other places on the structure.The Wisma Amanah Raya building adapted modernist style architecture , which strongly held on to the roots of modern Malay style architecture. Modern Malay style architecture drew inspiration from every day traditional Malay items. Another evident building is the Wisma Angkasapuri, it is designed by architect Nicholas James Pappas, a Canadian architect. It is famous for its international architectural style that is slightly influenced by Malay Architecture. As Malaysia is known for its tropical climate, a lot of criteria has been assured to adapt International style to Malaysian’s.

The rapid growth of urban areas after Malaysia’s Independence brought upon modern-ist architecture which blends in with the local identity, giving the buildings a distinc-tive feature. The era of post-independence was the era of modernism architecture.

1957 1962

1957 1962 DEWAN BAHASA

DAN PUSTAKAOLD JKR BUILDING

1965 1968 1970 1974 MASJID NEGARA WISMA

ANGKASA PURI

1965 1968 1970 1974BANK NEGARA

MALAYSIAWISMA

AMANAH RAYA

The old JKR building, located in Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, Kuala Lumpur, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was designed to serve the pur-pose of an office buiding for the Malaysian Public Works Department, a federal government department, responsible for construction and maintenance of public infrastructure in West Malaysia.The building was designed regarding to vthe Modern Architecture style which is a style that emerged in the first half of the 20th Century. It was based on particularly the use of glass, steel, reinforced concrete in the style that was mostly used on office buildings.

The building is characterized by plain geometrical form and symmetrical forms evidently seen in the building outlook. It is a composition of cuboids of different heights showing symmetry throughout the structure, vertically and horizontal-ly. There is a repetitive organisation of the windows on the facade throughout the concrete structure. It is a 17-storey office building with an open floor plan characterized by the allocation of circulation methods to each floor at the end of the building, supported by columns.

1957

Old JKR Building

MASSING

The general form of the building is com-prised of a series of cuboids juxtaposed horizontally and vertically, adjacent to each other.

ORGANISATIONOF SPACE

The entrance located at the centre of the building on the ground floor, from there it leads to the lobby area. Offices spaces are repeatedly stacked above one another above the lobby. The roof area serves as a space to house building services such as A/C.

ORGANISATION OF FORM

The main body of the building is a cuboid stretched in horizontal direction to house the office spaces, and connected by staircase and lift that are enveloped in vertical cuboid at the sides of the building.

CIRCULATION

Main circulations of the building are locat-ed at the core building (lifts) and at the ends (staircases) of the building. Users move across the open-plan offices spaces horizon-tally, and access to other floors vertically.

SYMMETRYAND BALANCE

The addition of upright cuboids at the ends of the building creates a bivalent symmetry that forms a median axis which can divide the entire building into equal half. This balanced symmetry allows easy repetition of similar spaces and functions into the building.

REPETITION AND RHYTHM

The openings of the building are made up of the same shape - squares, that are arranged linearly in several arrangements and repeated throughout the facade of the building to form a rhythmic pattern of squares and rectangles.

STRUCTURE

Rows of r.c. columns support the entire building at regularly spaced intervals, al-lowing long and wide openings on the wall because the wall is now non-load bearing.

MATERIALITY

The use of concrete throughout the whole building expresses a sense of boldness and serious-ness that reflects JKR as a federal building and government office.

Located between Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur, Wisma Angkasapuri is the main governmental building for Malay-sia’s Minister of Information and the headquarters for Radio Television Malaysia. It is designed by architect Nicholas James Pappas, a Canadian architect. It is famous for its international architectural style that slightly influenced by Malay Architecure.

It is well recognized by its repetition of sun shading devices on the façade of the administration building. The enormous amount of repetition of shield were formed at the façade to control the heat load from direct sunlight as the building is located in east-west orientation. As Malaysia is known for its tropical climate, a lot of criteria has been assured to adapt International style to Malaysian’s. The building is made up of 3 part which are the television house, the entrance hall and the administration building.

1962

Dewan Bahasadan Pustaka

MASSING

The basic shape Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) is composed of are rectangles. It consists of two rectilinear forms with different height and width.

SYMBOLISM

A Malay feature is incorporated in the “V-shaped diagonal struts” on the roof of DBP building. It symbolises national dignity and takes the form of an outspread umbrella.

CIRCULATION

2 serviced elevators ease flow of circulation in the 7-storey building while one elevator is found within the auditorium. A staircase used specially for fire escape is located on the side of the library and office building.

SYMMETRY AND BALANCE

An axis of symmetry showing symmetrical balance can be seen. A mirrored appear-eance is found across the central vertical axis forming bilateral symmetry.

EMPHASIS

Made out of glazed mossaic tiles, the mural themed “Berbahasa Satu Bernegara Satu” on the wall of the auditorium is emphasised due to the various use of colour which contrasts with the rest of the building.

PUBLIC & PRIVATE SPACE

A mural made out of glazed mosaic tiles acts as the focal point of the whole building. It is the core portrayal of ‘Berbahasa Satu Bernegara Satu’ and the interpretation of what nationalism and patriotism stands for.

GEOMETRY

5 floors of the 7-storey building are libraries whereas the remaining two floors on the top of the building are repurposed for office use. The auditorium serves as a semi-public space where events take place.

REPETITION

Repeated use of horizontal and vertical lines forms a pattern that draws attention toward the front of the library and office building. Hence, a repetitive pattern is used as facade of the building.

NATURAL LIGHTING

Use of modular glazed panels in the windows of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka allows natural light to en-ter the building. At the same time, it aso acts as a heat insulator.

1965

Located at Jalan Perdana, Tasik Perdana, Wilayah Perse-kutuan Kuala Lumpur, Masjid Negara Malaysia (مممم which is the National Mosque of Malaysia ( مممممم مممممis designed by architects Howard Ashley, Hisham Albakri and Data Baharuddin Abu Kassim. They attempted a bold and modern approach for the mosque by using reinforced concrete the main building material to symbolize the aspira-tions of a then newly independent Malaysia.

The main dome of the National Mosque is designed in the shape of an 18-point star to represent the 13 states of Ma-laysia and the five central Pillars of Islam, and has the ap-pearance of a partly opened umbrella roof which symbolis-es the aspirations of an independent nation. Adjacent to the mosque is a 73-metre-high minaret. The umbrella, synony-mous with the tropics, is featured conspicuously – the main roof is reminiscent of an open umbrella, the minaret’s cap a folded one. The folded plates of the concrete main roof are a creative solution to achieving the larger spans required in the main gathering hall. Meanwhile, reflecting pools and fountains spread across the compound. The mosque has a capacity that can hold up to 15,000 people.

Masjid Negara

MASSING

The main building is a rectangular structure and is then connected with several other rectangular structures that acts as a connective walkway.

ORGANISATION OF FORM

The mosque has a horizontal struc-ture which suggests a feeling of rest and repose and a vertical structure which is the minaret communicates a feeling of loftiness and spirituality which gives off a sense of overpow-ering grandeur. Combination of both structures give off a sense of a sense of stability.

ADDITION & SUBTRACTION

The mausoleum and conference hall is added to the main building connected with a corridor. The form is subtracted from a huge rectangular structure in order to form more open spaces corridor for easier accessibility and air ventilation.

SPATIAL ORGANISATION

TThe spatial organization for the mosque is arranging the secondary spaces around the main prayer hall which is the highest spatial hierar-chical of the mosque

CIRCULATION

The main building is a rectangular structure and is then connected with several other rectangular structures that acts as a connective walkway.

Circulation Path

Vertical Circulation

Vertical Circulation

RHYTHM & REPETITION

In order to create more open spaces, the building is mostly hold up by the columns instead of load- bearing walls. This repetitive series of columns manage to visually reinforced the volume of space.

Columns arranged in the grid manner in the large veranda does not just support the roof and floor but also establish a measurable rhythm and scale that made the spatial dimension comprehensi-ble.V V

The vertical elements helps mark-ing the modular zones, such as the main prayer hall and the woman prayer hall.

OPEN SPACES

The National Mosque has a lot of open spaces which takes full advantage of the views of the surrounding and also allow natural light to enter and also provides good air ventilation.

BALANCE & SYMMETRY

The mosque is balance with a centre point being the centre of the main prayer hall which has the highest spatial hierarchy. The balance and symmetry can be seen in both the plan and side elevation of the mosque.

PATTERN

The geometry pattern used in the mosque is more on the lines and angles. Islamic geometric pattern is used to symbolize as well as coordinate with the function of the building.It serves as aesthetic fea-ture and also to illustrate modesty by providing privacy.

MATERIALITY

Concrete is used to bring out a sense of stability and boldness. Glass is also used to give a sense of space and freedom and aluminium is used to enhance the aesthetical value of the interior.

PARTI

The National Mosque rejected the traditional design and move on to a modern design by replacing the traditional dome roof to a more an-gular and geometric roof. The roof is also designed to accommodate the tropical climate of Malaysia.

Located between Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur, Wisma Angkasapuri is the main governmental building for Malay-sia’s Minister of Information and the headquarters for Radio Television Malaysia. It is designed by architect Nicholas James Pappas, a Canadian architect. It is famous for its international architectural style that slightly influenced by Malay Architecure. It is well recognized by its repetition of sun shading devices on the façade of the administration building. The enormous amount of repetition of shield were formed at the façade to control the heat load from direct sunlight as the building is located in east-west orientation. As Malaysia is known for its tropical climate, a lot of criteria has been assured to adapt International style to Malaysian’s. The building is made up of 3 part which are the television house, the entrance hall and the administration building.

1968

Wisma Angkasapuri

FORM OF SPACE

The three buildings of Wisma Angkasapuri are arranged sequentially in a row, forming a linear organizations. The RTM building is linked to the administration building by a suspended bridge on the first floor of the common entrance hall.

MASSING

Wisma Angkasapuri is composed of three rectilinear forms of varying height and width, The 10-storey administration building is given the most importance as main operations are run here whereas the entrance hall serves as a transitional space.

ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE

Asymmetrical balance incorporated while main-taining an equal perceptual weight for both sides of the building. In the angkasapuri building shows in where there are 3 major styles in the building while maintaining balance in terms of weightage around the central part which is the entrance hall of the building.

PUBLIC VS PRIVATE

The separation between public and private spac-es are complete as each is separated by different floors in the administration building.On the other hand, the entrance hall is fully public and the television house is a fully private space.

Public SpaceSemi-public spacePrivate Space

CIRCULATION

The 10-storey administration building is ser-viced by 3 elevators visible from the entrance hall. Stairs connect every floor of the building with one found opposite the elevator and an-other one at the other end of the administration building.

Horizontal Circulation

Vertical Circulation

RHYTHM

Barrel vaulted roof of the entrance hall gives a dynamic quality within with its obvious rhythm in design. A visual excitement is added to its large form.

EMPHASIS

The administration office give the most emphasis due to it is facing the federal highway and is de-signed to be iconic. The entrance hall has a unique barrel vault rood to provide natural lighting to the users and serves as a transition space between the administration building and the television house.

REPETITION

Repeated size and shape of shading panels inspired by the shape of horseshoe crab and the shield of a warrior creates a pattern on the façade of the administration building. Repe-tition is also evident in the column structure and banding device of the building,

VENTILATION

Strip openings behind the sun shading device provides ease of ventilation to the administration building.

LIGHTING

Ribbon windows on the administration building allows natural light to penetrate into the interior whereas shading panels are used extensively to mi-nimise the amount of heat of direct sunlight from reaching the interior.

Lighting

Ventilation

The Central Bank of Malaysia, or Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) was constructed in to accommodate the require-ments and functions of the nation’s central banking system in 1970. Located at Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, Off Jalan Kuching, the original complex comprises of two separat-ed but interlinked parts; a podium banking hall and an 18 storey tower, in later years. Two more towers incorporating ancillary ammenities including a Numismatic Musuem were added.

Designed by Nik Mohamed Mahmood of Public Works Department, the architecture of BNM were designed in International Style which, there is actually no true identity to it. People are free to imagine it as any form, be it a rocket, machine, factory, etc. Hence there are no intricate orna-ments nor heavy decorations on the building facades.The building is given a brutalist touch where raw and rough concrete is use throughout the building. To avoid boring design, the building is complimented with rows of openings repeated alternately on the facade, creating a pattern to it.

1970

Bank Negara Malaysia

MASSING

The general form of the building is made up of cuboids of dif-ferent heights, except the main building at the front, it has a cylindrical form that tops the roof.

SPACE-PATH RELATIONSHIP

Embodies a repetitve form vocabulary that is deployed to create places for use-spaces.

CIRCULATION

The buildings adopt the concept of open floor plans that allocate the main cir-culations for access to each floor on the ends of the building.

public spaces private spaces

SPATIAL HIERARCHY

The spaces of the buildong are organised in such a way that the users of the buildings will pass through public space (banking hall and musuem) before entering private / ancillary spaces (offices for autho-rised person only).

ORGANISATIONOF FORM

The juxtaposition of large cuboids with organic elements that have curvy edges softens the rigid-ity and boldnevss of the building form, creating a sense of relieve in visual heavyness expressed via brutalism.

ADDITION

The addition of cuboids with rounded corners at the vertices of the main building softens the form while expressing the continuity of surface and the compactness of volume. These cuboids serve as spaces for store rooms, mechanical rooms and stairs.

EMPHASIS

The organic forms that interlock with the main building at each side creates an emphasis to the building as they contrast with the geometric cuboid form. They serve as spaces for staircase and washrooms.

SYMMETRY

The addition of the organic elements to the main build-ing are equally distributed to opposite sides of the building, hence creating a bivalent symmetry that has a median axis which can divide whole building into equal half. These elements are visually united by the circular form on the roof.

REPETITION & RHYTHM

The openings on the facades of the towers are arranged in alternating rows, re-peated to create linear organisation of lines that visually enlarges the towers. The tower connected to the main building has alternate opening breaks every 3 rows of the openings, giving the pattern a rhythm.

STRUCTURE

The main structures supporting the build-ings are columns of reinforced concrete. This allowed open floor plans to be introduced to the building. Which is the architectural language spoken in Modernist architec-ture style.

MATERIALITY

The entire building of Bank Negara Malaysia is cloaked with concrete - no intricate ornaments and decorations are present on the facades. Rows of windows (openings) stretching across the facade are also made possible as the walls of the building are no longer load-bearing.

Wisma Amanah Raya is a 15-storey building designed by the architect Kington Loo, BEP Architects. The whole con-struction of the project started on the year 1964. It is locat-ed at 2, Jalan Ampang, City Centre, 50508 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The purpose of the building acts as the headquarters of Amanah Raya Berhad, Standard Chartered Bank Jalan Ampang Branch. The building is a transition from the austerity of the Interna-tional style into a tropical idiom. It had a podium and tower solution typical of commercial architecture at the time it was built. One of the earliest building in Kuala Lumpur to specifi-cally cater for cars with its podium lifted from the ground to allow cars to park underneath. It inherited the architectural style of modernism, applying design following function. It’s design and form focuses on simplicity and necessity, using clean geometry lines and slabs to clearly define spaces in between.

1970

Wisma Amanah Raya

MASSING

The massing of the building is comprised of two cuboids. This creates minimalism and portrays characteristics of modernist architecture, rejecting the need of ornamentation and bombastic form. As it functions as a financial building, a simplistic honest design is opted in order to appeal and gain the trust of the public.

SYMMETRY & BALANCE

Biaxial symmetry is established through the interior space of the

building, giving equal compositions on each side of the two axis lines. Bal-

ance and harmony are demonstrated within the symmetrical architecture,

adding aesthetic value to the building.

BASIC GEOMETRY

The geometry of the building is formed by two cuboids. The cuboids are positioned at 90-degrees to each other. Stability is achieved by placing the shorter cuboid with a larger base area beneath the taller cuboid with a smaller base area. Such placement of geometry sets up a larger public space (lower block) for users.

FORM & FUNCTION

The floor plans of the building for every floor are rectangular in shape

for the convenience of office arrange-ments as well as to maximize the

usage of interior spaces, thus giving the building an overall cuboid form.

PLANES

The use of horizontal planes is evident in the façade as well as the roof of the building. The building features a at roof instead of a traditional slope roof. Both South-East and North-West - of the upper block - facades are overlaid with broad roof over-hangs which provides shading and keeps the interior cool. This shows a clear inclination towards modern architecture elements and the rejection of traditional architectural design principles.

SPATIAL ORGANISATION

The building is a purpose-built office building inclusive of a lower

ground car park. The purpose of the building was to bring people to-gether in a vertical axis, promoting

the productivity of the employees with functional planning of space.

The joint between two cuboids creates an open space that acts as

an assembly point for employees to have meals and relax.

MATERIALITY

Following the ‘machine aesthetic’, the use of technological advanced materi-als is evident in the building.

Reinforced concrete and glass are the prominent materials used as seen in most modern buildings. The selection of materials determined the general aesthetics of the building.

CIRCULATION

There is only one point of acces-sibility for the building as there is only one entrance. The main entrance leads to the reception

area which then connects to the offices for business consultation

purposes. The main circulation of the building is the main corridor

that branches out to other con-sultation operators. The vertical

circulation of the building relies on the lifts, located at the center of the building, providing access to other

floors of the building.

MATERIALITY

The scale and mass of the repetitive elements - large glass windows in the case of the build-ing are dominant. Every face of the building features a series of window installations.

MATERIALITY

The scale and mass of the repetitive elements - large glass

windows in the case of the build-ing are dominant. Every face of the building features a series of

window installations.

List of References

1. http://www.wikiwand.com/ms/Angkasapuri2. [Wisma Amanah Raya]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amanahraya.my/wp-content/up-loads/2017/05/amanahraya-satu-juta-wasiat.jpeg3. http://study.com/academy/lesson/modern-architecture-characteristics-style.html4. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_architecture5. https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewan_Bahasa_dan_Pustaka6. http://bruneiresources.blogspot.my/2015/06/message-behind-mural-of-dewan-bahasa.html7. http://gdparchitects.com/2015/?project=dewan-bahasa-pustaka8.https://voices.uchicago.edu/201504arth15709-01a2/2015/11/16/ornament/9. http://www.firstinarchitecture.co.uk/architecture-precedent-study-and-analysis

Produced by:

1. Ong Kar Chun 03264872. Nicole Tan Tze Qi 03307063. Ong Yi Teng 03264864. Nurul Rihana 03264685. Ong Jia Min 03180036. Ong Kay Mun 0326920

7. Peh Ellyn 03268138. Ooi Jun Yang 03265019. Ow Xun Cong 032199710. Ow Chen Lun 032692211. Phua Vey Suanne 032786412. Poh Jia Yen 0331197

13. Sak Kar Wai (Ryan) 032652514. Sarah Wasim 033124915. Ranjeev Singh 032781216. Rahma Katangga 033204517. Quah Keng Yew 0322893 18. See Wen Han 03