Central storage Battery Co., Ltd.
The exhibition of Malayan architec- ture which was held recently at the British Council Hall, Kuala Lumpur, in conjunction with an exhibition of the American Institute of Architects 10th Honor Awards, was the first at- tempt by the Federation of Malaya Society of Architects at bringing to- gether the architectural work of the Society's members under one roof.
The exhibition gave the public a chance to see for the first time exam- ples of current Malayan buildings including a few from Singapore and Brunei, and also provided the oppor- tunity to assess collectively the de- velopment of modern Malayan archi- tecture over the past few years.
The exhibits of the A.I.A. Tenth Honor Awards, by the generosity of the U.S.I.S., gave the public an op- portunity to see the latest architectural achievements of American architects.
EXHIBITION OF MALAYAN ARCHITECTURE
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By I. Hisham Albakri, Dip. Arch., A.R.I.B.A., Hon. Secty. Federation of Malaya Society of Architects.
Mercantile Bank.
George Town School, Penang.
Visitors to the exhibition should not have tried to compare the best select- ed work of the American architects with the work of our Malayan archi- tects, as there is obviously no building yet in this country which can bear comparison with any of the American. exhibits. However, visitors who saw the work of the American architects would find in the photographs, plans, and models of architecture in Malaya an encouraging sign that our architects could hold their own in this part of the world.
From the title, a visitor to the ex- hibition would have tended to look among the exhibits for what might be called a Malayan style of architecture. Have we reached a stage in the development of our architecture, where it could be distinguished as distinctively Malayan?
The Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, opening the exhibition, said that the design of our new build- ings lacked local flavour and that our architecture was in danger of getting standardised and functional, without any identity of its own. He then sug- gested that he would like to see some local flavour such as Malayan motifs in decoration, murals of Malayan
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER - VOLUME 11, NUMBER 4
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