This book traces the history of urban design in tropical South East Asia with a view to offering solutions to contemporary architectural and urban problems. The book examines how pre-colonial forms and patterns from South East Asian traditional cities, overlaid by centuries of change, recall present notions of ecological and organic urbanism. These may look disorganised, yet they reflect and suggest certain common patterns that inform eco-urban design paradigms for the development of future cities.
Taking a thematic approach, the book examines how such historical findings, debates and discussions can assist designers and policy makers to interpret and then instil identities in urban design across the Asian region. The book weaves a discourse across planning, urban design, architecture and ornamentation dimensions to reconstruct forgotten forms that align with the climate of place and resynchronise with the natural world, unearthing an ecologically benign urbanism that can inform the future.
Written in an accessible style, this book will be an invaluable reference for researchers and students within the fields of cultural geography, urban studies and architecture.
Author(s): Shireen Jahn Kassim, Noor Hanita Abdul Majid, Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 461
City: Singapore
Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction
A Definition of Urban-Architectural Form
Eco-urbanism
Definition of a City
Climate and Wind Movements
Thermal Comfort Definition in the Urban Tropics
Heritage: The Tangible and Intangible
Part I
1: Eco-Inflections of the ‘Mandalic’ City-Form: Morphologies of the Pre-Colonial Urban Cores
Introduction
‘Inflections’ of Morphological Form
South East Asian Urban Core: From ‘Mandalic’ to ‘Maritime’
Historical Backgrounds
A Comparative Characterisation
Lessons for the Future
Conclusions
References
2: River and City: Microclimatic Ameliorations and Accretions of the Ancient Urban Grain
Introduction
Palembang City, Sumatera
Urban Ventilation and the Urban Fabric
Urban Fabric and Heightened Densities
Conclusions
References
3: The Mound and the Malay Nusantara Historic Landscape
Introduction
The Mound and Cosmography
Mounds and the Cities
Hill Mound, Cosmography and the Sacred
The Hill Mound: Sea Duality in Planning and Siting
Mound and River
Mound and City-Shore Dynamism: The Southeast Asian Cosmography
Mound, Climate, and the City
Transcending the Earth
Mound as Gateways
Mound as Artisanal Element
Gunongan as Ornamentation
Penanggungan Mountain in Majapahit Civilisation
The Hill Mound as ‘Breaker’ and ‘Beacon’: Palembang and Melaka
Jugra Hill and the History of Selangor
Epilogue
References
4: The Malay ‘Garden City’: An Ethos of Malay Historic Urbanism
Introduction
Tracing Historical Roots
A History of the Taman
Key Features of the Taman: Hardscapes and Elements
Encircled by Walls or Clouds
The Garden (Taman) as City
Budi as ‘Ethos’ of the Garden
References
5: Bioclimatic Alignments of the Alun Alun: A Genealogy of the Nusantara Open Space
Framework
Tracing Origins
The Evolution
Reconstructing the Roots of the Padang
Definition: From Primordial Space to Padang
Trees, Gardens, and Fields
Climate Alignments
Climate, open space and Morphology: A simulation of urban comfort conditions
Conclusions
References
6: Traditional Compactness of the Urban Core: ‘Walkability’ and the Malay Public Realm
Introduction
Traditional Cities
South East Asian Traditional Cities
South East Asia’s Traditional Urban Core
The Compactness of Traditional Urban Core
Spatial Configuration of Urban Core
Walkability around Public Realm
Discussion
Conclusion
References
7: Animals and the City: A Southeast Asian Historical Perspective
Etymology of Place
Establishment of Cities Due to Incidents Involving Fauna
Fauna in Functional and Symbolic Roles
Architectural Reverberations
Past Planning of Cities: Animals as Transportation
Seedings of Towns
Historical Urban Infrastructure in Colonial Southeast Asia
Mythical Animals and Iconography
Fauna-Based Ornamentations
Urban Assimilation of Fauna
Conclusions
References
Part II
8: From Archipelago to Architecture: The Sacred Center and the Pillared Space
Introduction
Centricness within the archipelago
Srivijaya as Center
The Era of Islam
The Pillared Space—Architectural Nature of the Center
The Central Pillar—Symbolism and Significance
The Islamic Era: Constructional Roots of Pillared Space
Conclusions
References
9: The ‘Punctured’ Pavilions
The Basic Archetype
Historical Origins
From Mosque to Aristocratic Residences
Pavilions as Transitional Spaces
Evolution of Punctured Pavilions
Punctured Pavilion as Elevated Plane in Urban Context
Climatic Character
Conclusion: Punctured Pavilion in Eco-Urban Context
References
10: Climate and Archetype: Vernacular House-Forms as Tropical Urban Ideations
Introduction
Origins of the Modernist City
Conflating the Climatic and the Cultural
The ‘Permeable’ Fabric
The Elevated Pedestrian Plane
Conclusion
References
11: The Matriarch, the Matrilineal System, and the Minangkabau Rumah Gadang
Introduction
Minangkabau Culture
The Matrilineal Kinship
The Rumah Gadang
Cultural and Architectural Sustainability
Architectural Sustainability
Climatic Considerations
Analysis
The Strength of Adat in the Matriarchal Structure and Its Slow Shift
Conclusions
References
12: The Layered Space: Permutations of the Portico
Introduction
Portico Space
From Anjung to Balai Penghadapan
From Pre-Islam to Post-Islam
Post-Islam
Climatic Character of Palatial Portico Space
Review of Typology of Layouts and Variants of ‘Portico’ Space
The Compact Typology
The T-Shaped Typology
The Split Typology
A Climatic Verification
Conclusion: Remembering the Portico as a ‘Space’ of Appearance
References
13: In the Sanctity of Light and Shadows: The Traditional Mosques
Introduction
History Background of Nusantara Mosques
Structure
History and Islamisation of the Region
Daylight: The Character of the Nusantara Space
Ventilation
Lighting and Carvings
References
Part III
14: Re-acculturising the Tropical City: From Theory to Practice
Introduction
Re-acculturising Façadescapes from Archetypes
Meaning of Archetype
Re-culturalising Urbanism: The Tropicalised ‘Portico’ Street
Residuals of Indigenous Models
An Exploration of the Aristocratic Portico as Facade Archetype
Potential Streetscape Interpretations of Porticoes
Shaded Recesses in Middle Portico (T1)
Shaded Recesses in Side Portico (T2).
Shaded Recesses in Front and Side Portico (T3)
Opaque Projections Without Recesses (T4)
Further Streetscape Typology Permutation
Axial Typology Forms of Streetscape
Binuclear Typology Facadescape
Asymmetrical Typology Streetscape
An Interpretation: Fusing Streetscape, Public Space, and Greenery as a Continuum
Conclusions
References
15: Marking Boundaries of Water and Land: Bridges and Gateways
Introduction
Water Routes and Identities
The Symbolism of the Gateways
Patani Threshold
Gateways of West Borneo Kingdoms
Bridges as Gateways over Water
Contemporaneous Examples from Surrounding Regions
Eclectic-Islamic and Colonial-Era Influences
References
16: Ecology, Structure and the Regalia: Framing the Evolving Language of Malay Architecture
Introduction
Malay Architectural Language and Variation of ‘Four Elements’
Evolvement of Vernacular into Four Essential Elements
Walls
The Plinth or Mound
Plinth Base and Full Column Type
History of Traditional Malay Roof
Roof Decorative Elements of Traditional Malay House
The Hearth—A South East Asian interpretation
Cogan and the Kris: Symbols of ‘Strength’
Conclusion
Endnotes
References
17: Tracing Water-Land Architectural Symbolisms of the Malay Nusantara
Introduction
The Makara—A Water-Land Symbol of Pre-Islam
Makara in Traditional Architecture
Formal Evolution Across Time
Resonating with the South East Asian Subconscious
References
18: Vernacular Typography as Reflections of the Nusantara: Cultural Inflections in Street Vendor Signages
Nusantara Cultural Identity
Eco-Urbanism in Nusantara Archipelago
Evolution of Design in Nusantara Archipelago
Typography in Nusantara Archipelago
Vernacular Typography
Vernacular Typography in Signage
Street Vendors from West Sumatra
Street Vendors from East Java
Conclusion
References
19: Epilogue: Sustainability, ‘Sejahtera’ and the South East Asian Continuum
Eco-Urbanist Cities of South East Asian Memory
The Concept of Sejahtera
Conclusion
References
Index
