Ageneral front view of the Museum.
iece
of pure architecture
ARCHITECTS: Ho Kwong Yew & Sons
PARTNER-IN-CHARGE & DESIGNER: Ho Kok Hoe, A.R.I.B.A., A.R.A.I.A., A.R.A.S., A.R.P.S. PARTNER-IN-CHARGE OF PROJECT: Ho Kok Yin.
Dip. Arch. Hons., A.R.I.B.A.
CONSULTING ENGINEERS: Steen Sehested & Partners QUANTITY SURVEYORS: Langdon & Every (Far East) ARTIST FOR THE DESIGNS OF WOOD CARVINGS:
Nik Zainal Abidin
ARTIST FOR MURALS: Cheong Lai Tong GENERAL CONTRACTORS: Yew Lee & Co.
WO years ago an article was pub-
TW
lished in this magazine describing the preliminary work on the new Malayan National Museum in Kuala Lumpur which has since been com- pleted.
Architecturally the most outstand- ing feature of the museum is that it is a highly successful first attempt to express a genuinely Malayan architec- tural style through modern construc- tional media. The architect, Mr. Ho Kok Hoe, A.R.I.B.A., A.R.A.I.A. was commissioned by the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, in 1959 to prepare plans for a National Mu- seum. The Tunku felt that the most appropriate type of building would be one that incorporated traditional styles of architecture. Before starting on
the plans the architect was personally taken by the Tunku to Alor Star (Kedah) to see the Balai Besar there which, as far as is known, is the only remain- ing building of any size in the country incorporating these traditional styles. The architect made a prolonged study of the forms used in the building.
The result, to quote the Tunku. is a building which is "a land- mark of beauty, dignity and original- ity." The museum, he said, "is in itself, a showpiece of elements of Malayan architecture." The Tunku congratulated the architect for his "great sympathy and understanding in his use of Malayan ideas in both the exterior and interior of the museum.' He added: "He has produced a noble public building with a Malayan air, such a building as could not possibly be found in either London or New York but only in Malaya."
The museum is built on a site which has been continuously occupied by a museum since as far back as 1899 The original building was accidentally destroyed by bombing in 1945 and was replaced in 1952 by a small, single-storey temporary building which continued in use until 1960.
The new museum is a single, large building of two storeys, 362 ft. long, 100 ft. wide and 124 ft. high at the central point. It is built in the the form of a cross with a long axis running roughly parallel to Daman-
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 19. NUMBER 2
sara Road and a short central cross- piece incorporating the main entrance. All around the ground floor of the building outside runs a verandah which not only gives another typical Malayan touch but provides ample shelter for visitors to the museum and passers-by, if they happen to be caught in a sudden tropical rain storm. At the back of the building is a generous parking space for cars and at the front, on either side of the main entrance, are ornamental pools with fountains. (The latter, rather ingeniously, form part of the cooling system for the building's air-condition- ing plant.)
The ground floor contains a lower central hall, 59 ft. 6 in. by 51 ft. 6 in., occupying the 'crosspiece of the building and used for temporary exhibitions. In the west wing of the long axis are a large artists' studio,
various toilets, and
administrative offices for the display officer, visiting research workers, curators, the direc tor, librarians and so on, all arranged on either side of a central corridor. The east wing contains a large work-
79
Page 85Page 86