There are many questions that are related to the idea of what constitute ‘Islamic Architecture’. The most prevailing view seems to be that Islamic architecture possess a set of architectural vocabulary that is indisputable. The most consistent perception of Islamic architectural vocabulary is represented by the many monumental state and community mosque that uses the Middle Eastern or Central Asian architectural garb as dutifully exemplified in its lavish splendor as in the Wilayah Mosque in KualaLumpur and Putra Mosque in Putrajaya. The present research seeks to establish that this idea of a consistent architectural vocabulary is not what Islamic architecture is all about.
We wish to show that Islamic Architecture has embraced many forms and vocabularies throughout the centuries in response to climatic, technological and socio-political concerns. The focus of this study is in Malaysia and we have identified eight different major styles of architecture each with its probable socio-political rationales. This study is important to pave the way of a more enlighten intellectual discourse towards a progressive theoretical construction of the idea of ‘Islamic
Architecture’.
There is not an abundant literature on the subject of mosque Architecture in Malaysia. However there are five types of writings and concerns surrounding the meaning and description of mosque architecture in this country.
The first type of writing is more concerned with historical description of mosques in Malaysia. Foremost in this area is the writings of the late Abdul Halim Nasir. He was an avid traveler and a prolific writer attached to the National Museum of Malaysia. He has traveled widely in the Malay World and have taken many photographs and provided quite a number of sketches, oral traditions and his own observations of mosques in this region. There are generally two problems in his writings. Firstly, being trained not in the field of architecture, much of his analysis, description and classification particularly that of the modern mosques are wanting in the aspect of modern architectural theory. Secondly, his academic rigors in presenting comparative analysis of typologies and description is limited to a learned persons first hand account and not a systematically and scholarly exercise. We wish not to belittle his work because his contribution to the foundation of Malay architecture is monumental and indisputable.
The second type of study is a more rigorous form of architectural description as found in our writing ‘The Architectural Heritage of The Malay World: The Traditional Mosques’. This book contains measured drawings and detailed oral traditions of six traditional mosques with a comparison of their architectural styles. All of the empirical data was taken from the Center of Built Environment in the Malay World or KALAM (Pusat Kajian Alam Bina Melayu) based in the Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. However this book is lacking in the examination of the many the historical sources in the Malay World.
Download
Mosque Architecture in Malaysia: Classification of Styles and Possible Influence
