Malay House And Its Woodcarving

The study of the Malay house and its woodcarving looks for the governing factors responsiblefor the aesthetic characteristics of the Malay traditional architecture and arts. It views the Malay traditional house and woodcarving as important cultural heritage belong to the traditional Malay society that must be preserved. By conducting a fieldwork in various states in the Malay Peninsula, as well as nearby regions, a catalogue of visual documentation and archival data were accumulated over the course of the study. These data served as the primary data from which distinguished visual characteristics of the Malay house and woodcarving were extracted. The fieldwork was followed by a series of detailed analytical studies on the underlying geometrical principles of the traditional Malay house structures and woodcarving panels. By employhing both geometric and arithmetic proportional analyses on selected samples of the Malay house and woodcarving, the study revealed the existence of an integrated underlying principle govering the form, structure and composition of both the house and woodcarving panels. The results of the analyses provided conclusive evidence that the Malay traditional house adhered to the principles of dynamic geometries, which governed iits overall form, scale and commensurability between the house and its architectural elements. Based on this finding, the study embarked on a hands-on project in the form of the design and construction of a contemporary house employing principles based on the design wisdom of the traditional Malay house. The outcome of the project suggests that reviving the principles of the Malay traditional house is possible and can be beneficial for future generations.