“Architecture,
it has been said, is art we live in”, Alain de Bolton. It is defined as the art
and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical
structures for human shelter or use. In an overview, architecture requires an
understanding of the context of buildings and understanding of the building
itself, its underlying concept of idea, functions or uses its materiality and
structure. A piece of architecture that satisfied users has to meet functional
value, aesthetic value and psychological impact. Building built without a
significant identity or purposes are failures. People started to build a basic
requirement, which could provide a shelter and protection. As time goes by,
people demand more than the needs to make live better. This phenomenon leads to
the architecture now no longer following the modernism ideologues “form follow
function”. The art form todays had severely contorted before they can follow
engineers.
Living
in a country as culturally, politically and religiously diverse as Malaysia, it
is no wonder we fight so viciously to put out an image that is up to par with the
brochures we produce and hand out to tourist annually and without fail. What
with the many races and other various cultural influences we draw upon for our national
identity, it is not surprising then that the token amount of confusion will
occasionally surface when questioning the essence of it all, namely, who and
what we actually are.
As one
travels throughout the country, one can encounter so many different kinds of
people, races, dialects, religions and of course, architecture. We are as
diverse as we choose to be, a thing that makes us uniquely us. Being as diverse
and different as we could be, we yearn and search for what ultimately speaks,
stands and represents Malaysia as a country and multiracial society;
architectural identity or so to speak. Observation and analysis will be
conducted on following issues related to the search of identity of Malaysia
starting off by studying the various architectural styles that have been
popularized and widely used since the colonization days. By observing such
trends, it is then possible to learn of its influences on the present day
architectural sense.
