Group work: Discuss & PlanFind 5 examples of Greek/ Classical/ Egyptian culture in Malaysia.-Photograph and put up on all your websites-Write 1 paragraph on website-Why do you think people added this element?-What is the purpose of it?-What is its meaning here in this cultural context?____________________________________________________________________
1. This is one of the famous shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur- Sunway Pyramid (left picture). From the name, it's obvious enough that this building contains the influence of Egyptian culture. Other than including the pyramid structure in this building, the person who built it also did not forget to combine it with a little touch of design by adding the large lion sculpture (sphinx) at the main entrance (right picture) of the building and smaller ones inside the building, and also Eygptian wall paintings. I was thinking maybe the person that built Sunway Pyramid wants to attract people to their shopping centre so they add the elements of Egyptian into the building. It's considered as a fresh and new idea in the field of architecture in Malaysia by the way, because no one has ever built something like that in Malaysia before.
2. Kelab Golf Sarawak, East Malaysia (Sarawak Golf Club) is another building influenced by Egyptian culture. I think this is a form of kitsch because it's direct copying and mimicking of the Egypt pyramids. The builder just add some compartments below the pyramid structure... and change nothing else. I think this building is unoriginal, maybe the builder ran out of ideas? Hmmm.
3. This is the Sultan Abdul Samad building in the Colonial District in Kuala Lumpur. This building adapted Greek culture because the colums used are Corinthian order. The builder did modify the building so that it won't look too alike with Greek architecture. Corinthian order looked more grand and nice on buildings compared to Doric and Ionic orders, therefore I think that's the reason that the builder add this Greek cultural icon in.
4. The Putra Mosque in Putra Jaya was found to have Greek elements on it too. The columns are in Doric form, simple yet expresses the building as a whole together with Muslim elements. The mosque looks a lot nicer with the columns supporting it. Whats more, people will not really question if this building is mimicking Greek culture because the columns blend quite well with the mosque itself.
5. These columns are a part of Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur. Probably inspired by Greek culture, the builder add in Corinthian order to the columns, making the whole stucture look alike to Greek architecture. I think this is also a form of kitsch because he/ she copied the concept of Greek culture and put inside their building claiming it their own.
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Personally, I think that Classical and Egyptian culture indeed influenced many buildings in Malaysia. Some of the buildings looked really alike (a form of kitsch) whereas others are different in one way or another. In my opinion, original things are always good. No point to take the copyright of others and make it your own right? :)
