No_4_December_1963 — Page 94

86

113

PARLIAM

KUAL

זיון

זיון

Pr

▲ Parliament House and its approach

viaduct.

Unquestionably the most striking

architectural feature in Kuala Lumpur is the newly completed Parliament House. Declared open by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on 2 November. this seat of the nation's government deservedly steals the limelight from the many other build- ing developments which are changing the skyline of the Malaysian capital,

An estimated $M16 million has been spent on the ambitious project. which represents a happy combina- tion of all the ingredients the archi tect looks to for the success of his design. Not the least of these was the imaginative choice of site. which placed the scheme at the apex of the shallow valley. the lower part of which is occupied by the park of Kuala Lumpur's Lake Gardens.

In approving this election. said to be greatly miluenced by the opinion of Prime Minister, Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Government made a complete break with tradition which has previously kept all administrative buildings in the immediate vicinity of the Secretariat Padang which marks the hub of the capital.

Only other buildings which had hitherto fringed the public play. ground of the Lake Gardens were the residences of State Rulers and of the most senior government officials. Indeed. in order to clear the 40 acres of shallow dome-shaped hill required for Parliament House, the bulldozers had to demolish five of these dwell- ings and wipe out all traces of a winding cul-de-sac road known as West Folly.

Just as important as the site was the approach leading to it. There was no point in achieving an impres

THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 18, NUMBER 4