Malayan Classicism

From the Architecture of Empire to Asian Vernacular

AvSoon-Tzu Speechley

Häftad, Engelska, 2025

347 kr

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Beskrivning

Through a broad range of case studies spanning from imperial monuments to rural residences, Malayan Classicism puts forward a fundamentally new understanding of classical architecture in the Asian colonial context. Across Malaysia and Singapore, thousands of historic buildings are richly ornamented with motifs drawn from Ancient Greece and Rome - as plump volutes, lush acanthus leaves, and neat rows of dentils decorate mosques, palaces, government buildings and innumerable terraced shophouses. These classical details jostle with ideas drawn from other architectural traditions from across Asia in a style that is unique to the region. Presenting the first comprehensive account of what was, prior to World War II, Malaya’s most widespread architectural style, Malayan Classicism explores how the classical architecture of the British Empire was transmitted, translated, and transformed in the hands of local builders and architects. Addressing a critical gap in the scholarship, this book charts the metamorphosis of an imperial language of power into a local vernacular style, and provides a new way of reading classical architecture in a post-colonial context that will be applicable throughout the Global South.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2025-05-01
Mått:156 x 232 x 14 mm
Vikt:618 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:256
Förlag:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:9781350360389

Utforska kategorier

Arkitekturhistoria inom Kultur

Mer om författaren

Soon-Tzu Speechley is Lecturer in Urban and Cultural Heritage at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Recensioner i media

Soon-Tzu Speechley has broken new ground with this detailed and insightful study of classical architecture on the Malay Peninsula. Considering the style in both its colonial and creolized forms, the book adds substantially to the history of classicism, including our understanding of the architecture of the colonial encounter more generally.

Innehållsförteckning

Introduction1. Columns and Capitals: Colonial Power and Malaya’s Capital CitiesBritish Classicism in Nineteenth-Century Penang and SingaporeCapital Ideas: Building Indo-Saracenic Kuala LumpurVariations on a Theme: The Spread of Imperial Capitalism in British Malaya2. A Classical Education: The Architecture of Schools in British MalayaSt Joseph’s Institution, Singapore The Tao Nan Chinese School, SingaporeThe Malay College, Kuala Kangsar,The Malay Free School at Jalan Sultan, SingaporeThe Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur3. Classical Monuments for the Modern Sultan: Royal Patronage of Classical Architecture in the Johor SultanateThe Istana Besar at Johor BahruThe Sultan Abu Bakar MosqueSultan Ibrahim’s Banqueting HallThe Muar Mosque4. Coarsened or Cosmopolitan? Re-reading Malaya’s Vernacular ClassicismA Diverse ProfessionAn Emerging Vernacular: Shophouses before the Twentieth Century Nascent EclecticismA Consolidated StyleNew Accents, New Languages: From Art Deco to Modernism5. Vestal Versions: Malaya’s Temples of CommerceEarly Warehouses and GodownsEuropean Banks and Trading HousesThe Maritime Gateways of EmpireThe China Building, Boat Quay6. Decline and Fall? The Supreme Court, Empress Place, and the Kallang AerodromeMonumental TranslationImperial Monuments, Colonial LabourModernity in Antiquity: The Materiality of the Supreme CourtTrial by Media: Critical Backlash to the Supreme Court in the Colonial PressGrand Designs: Ward’s Unrealised Civic DistrictTaking Flight: The Kallang AerodromeConclusion: Translations and TransitionsBibliographyIndex