Analysing Architecture: Dissecting the Malaysian “House”

Abstract

One of the areas of interest in architecture is the rhetoric of: What is contemporary Malaysian architecture? While there are publications that documented Malaysian architecture, the current state of documentation and research on recent and contemporary architecture suggests a need to take a more critical look into the design thinking and narratives of contemporary Malaysian architects and architecture. This paper contributes alternative views on recent and contemporary Malaysian architecture by examining the design thinking and narrative of Malaysian architects. Through interpretive research, this study analyzes eight houses completed between 1980s and the present, informed by a synthesis of architects’ interviews, observations through fieldwork, and analytical and diagrammatic studies following the framework of Simon Unwin and Geoffrey Baker. The research argues that through dissecting architecture, the discursive relations between context, form, space and practice offers a critical approach to identify themes that define Malaysian architecture.