ARCHITECTS HOLD SYMPOSIUM ON ARCHITECTURE IN MALAYA
ARCHITECTURE in Malaya was the subject of a symposium organised by the Architectural Socie- ty of the Singapore Polytechnic during the Polytechnic publicity week in October.
Many architects, architectural students and members of the public listened to four local architects trained in different schools of archi. tecture discussing the subject.
The four architects were Mr. Ang Kheng Leng. trained in Canada and the United States; Mr. Alan Choe, trained in Australia; Mr. William Lim. trained in Great Britain, and Mr. Henry Loo, trained in Hong Kong.
Mr. Ang said a study of old buildings in Malaya and Singapore revealed that there was already a Malayan architecture and that people in the past made more endeavour to build in a Malayan style than present-day designers and builders. The real need was for a new Malayan architecture.
Earliest houses in Malaya were built on stilts with steep sloping attap roofs and open verandahs all road, a style that coped with the hot humid climate.
When the Chinese reached Malaya they built in rows, but, because of the fire risk, they used their own Chinese tiles for the roof. This in turn needed stronger supports and led to brick houses. well ventilated by clerestories. These shophouses followed a typically Chinese plan. but the exterior was rendered with Indian plaster and decorated with European architectural motifs.
When the Europeans reached Malaya they brought the "Colonial Regency" houses from India with them, and many examples still existed.
In this way in the early days of modern Malaya houses were built which were more or less a blend of the cultural backgrounds of the various
local races, adapted to climatic needs.
The twentieth century, with its new techniques and the speed with which new ideas reached the coun-
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try, brought many new ideas and materials and revolutionised build- ings and planning.
In the midst of these changes it seemed narrow to think only in terms of a purely Malayan architec- ture for Malaya alone. A regional architecture would be more appro- priate.
Two roads were open in Malaya. One was to study the past and from this to draw clues to guide the future. Some might regard this as conservative. backward and degen- erate, but this way had given the Renaissance and the Gothic revival.
The other was to discard the past altogether. Brazil was an example which had followed this line. But on the other hand Japan had studied its past civilisation and from that had gone on to create a new style of its own.
Mr. Choe said a national style could only evolve when the commu. nity and its architects demanded good architecture always. It would come when architects designed to suit Malaya's own particular condi. tions, such as the climate's influence on human comfort, building mate. rials and the availability of local resources and skill.
Unfortunately in Malaya there were still too many clients who tried to take over the architect's drawing board, in which case the architect was used for no more than legalising submission of drawings to the authorities.
In other professions a bad job was forgotten with time, but every building was an epitaph for future generations to judge the builder and designer.
But in Malaya there had come about a division among architects: the successful man who was not necessarily a successful man, and a good man was not necessarily a successful architect. There was a danger that architecture was becom- ing too commercialised.
The creation of a vital and national architecture depended on more than a handful of architects. It depended on the attitude of
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the entrepre-
patrons of the art neurs, committee men, politicans, the directors of works and the whole public.
Mr. Lim said that in Malaya today, with modern advances in technology having given them a flying start, architects were in the process of groping for ways to give new expressions to a changing so- ciety. Unfortunately too many were still looking back to a by-gone age for inspiration.
Tradition in Malaya, whether it was Malay, Chinese or European, was useful to study and assimilate. But it could not live of its own force. To be transformed into something creative it had to be denied and in a sense destroyed.
The popular tendency to use tradi- tional motifs for decorating building facades must be rejected. Many traditionalists valued old forms and motifs because it pleased conserva- tive-minded clients.
What was needed for Malayan architecture was the creation of an architecture of vitality by under. standing the social forces at work. the changing pattern of living, using new techniques and building what the public ought to like.
Mr. Loo said they must not think of a national style in architecture merely for the sake of acquiring a style for national pride.
They should endeavour to create an architecture that was functional in more than one dimension without sacrificing aesthetic values and at the same time possessing a character which was Malayan.
That needed constant and thorough research into, and a perfect under- standing of, the social, historical and enconomic background. And they must exploit whatever natural resources in building materials were at hand.
At the same time they must be awake to technological advances in the West and not feel ashamed to draw inspiration from them, although there was need for care in adapting them to local conditions so that a Malayan identity was not lost.
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER
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- VOLUME 15. NUMBER 4