The Heart of Culture,The Soul of HeritageNor Atiah Ismail, Mohd Nazri Saidon & Mustafa Kamal Mohd Shariff

Jury ReviewKhollloh Zakariya & Devendiran S.T.Mani

Rehabilitation of a Chitty VillageNoorizan Mohamed, Mohd Kher Hussain & Abd Aziz Othman

A Soldier's Narrative ParkNor Atiah Ismail, Mohd Nazri Saidon & Mustafa Kamal Mohd Shariff

A Place of MemoryNorsidah Ujang, Mohd Fabian Hasna & Mohd Fairuz Shahidan

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The Heart of Culture,The Soul of HeritageNor Atiah Ismail, Mohd Nazri Saidon & Mustafa Kamal Mohd Shariff

Like the rest of sentient beings on this planet, man haslearned to understand and acknowledge his positionabout nature. He has survived and hissurvival isdependentupon his capacity to adapt and adopt and the ability toacclimatize himself in the environment.

Thus, our living environment is continually altered byhuman activities developing their cultural landscape.They are the reflection of human adaptation and use ofnatural resources. They are part of our national heritage,and part of each of our lives. They reveal our relationshipwith the land over time. Cultural landscapes are specialplaces that reveal aspects of our country's origin anddevelopment through their forms, features and historyof use. More than just a gardens and parks, culturallandscapes may range from thousands of acres of ruralland to a small homestead with a small front yard.

These influences permeate every aspect of an individuallife influencing both thoughts and behavior, thusdetermining how one looks at the world (Tuan, 1974).Kaplan et al. (1985) agree that the understanding of theenvironmental setting elicits emotional growth, which inturn symbiotically influences the behavior of others. Asan example, looking into the perspectives of the Malaycommunities, culture is manifested in landscape throughreligion and belief, values and norms and custom andbehavior. As the Malays practice Islam, we believe thatthe landscape is the manifestation of the goodness;strengthening man's devotion to the creator.

IDENTITY MAKING IN CULTURAL AND HERITAGE DESIGN

This Chapter discusses on four different projects namely;The Livable Chapter of Military, Johor by Hafsah AbdManaf, Revitalization of Fort Margherita in Kuching,Sarawak by Jason Ling Jong Fu. Rehabilitation of ChittyVillage, Melaka by Amyra Omar and The Chew Jetties,Penang by Irwan lbno. In these projects, students weredealing with cultural and heritage landscape whilelooking at the opportunity to come out with a design thatpromotes significant 'identity of place' - one of the physical

environmental expressions of where humans dwell. KevinLynch (1960, p. 6) defines identity of place as "that whichprovides its individuality or distinction from other placesand serves as the basis for its recognition as a separableentity". Relph (1976, p. 45) stresses that the importance ofplace identity represents a sense of belonging, reflectingwhether you are an "insider" or "outsider" in a space.Norberg Schulz (1980, p. 20) expresses his concerns on theimportance of place identity in this modern world with thisnotion:

Despite the importance of having genius loci, Rishbeth. h has been conducted(2001) suggests that little researc ..' . .

in re ard to culture, heritage and their Identltl~s Inlands~ape. She believes that landscap~ architectsand other related professionals should cons.l~er cult~ral. .. . the design of and decIsion-makingsignificance In ' .around, the built environment. The cultural landscape ISable to promote identity of place, place attachment ~~~strengthen the meanings of place. Relph (1976: PP'rtant123) identifies the meaning of place as another oests th tbasic element in the living environment. He SUg~:sbs at

" more than Just 0 jec s."experiential landscape mea~s It . "particular set oflandforms houses and plants. IS a .personal end cultural attitudes and intentions that givemeaning to that setting".

In primitive societies we find that even the smallestenvironmental details are known to be meaningful,and that they make up complex spatial structures.In modern society, however, attention has mostexclusively been concentrated on the 'practical'function of orientation, whereas identification hasbeen left to chance. As a result true dwelling, ina psychological sense, has been substituted byalienation. It istherefore urgently needed to arrive at afuller understanding of the concepts of 'identification'and 'character'.

PLACE ATTACHMENT IN CULTURAL ANDLANDSCAPE

HERITAGE

Cultural and heritage landscape are strongly associate~d t ding between humans an

with intrinsic un ers an '1 2003' Said 2001 a). t (Antrop 1997; lsmou. ' r •

enVironmen . ' nonoi g the surroundingHumans are continuously Cth~~I~vironment that suitsnatural landscape to shape 2003' Said 2001 a). Thesetheir living demands (Isn:all, hr~u h ~ period of time,Processes that are established t g d

' t b nding between humans anresulted in an intim_o e 0 tt hment and identityenvironment; crea~lng. place a fac tural cultural andthat reveals the significance 0 na ,aesthetical values (Antrop, 2005).

The Malay rural cultural landscape in Malaysia is anI of the above phenomenon. Through my own

examp ~ d that "the evolution of the Malay villagework I dlscovere . t Man andis the result. of the interrela:i~~~~~e~eC:I~~r~1 attributeshis surroundings, Man a~d his '1 2003 P 17 Ismail, 2010).and the need to survive (lsmal, ,"

(Norberg-Schulz, 1980, p. 20)

The current landscape changes that "arecharacterized by the loss of diversity, coherence andidentity" are perceived negatively (Antrop, 2005,p. 22). Relph (1976) defined 'identity' as a constantsimilarity and coherence which enables each constantsimilarity and coherence which enables each item tobe distinguished on its own.

The development of self identity is not restricted tomaking distinctions between oneself and others, butextends with no less importance to objects and things,and the very spaces and places in which they arefound.

(Proshansky et al., 1983, p. 57)

The structure of a traditional settlement in the village isdetermined through ritual ceremony that is believed toappease the spirit, assuring the peacefulness and well-being of the occupants.

McNeely and Pitt (1985) emphasize that these rituals,practiced in the cultural landscape, embody a respectfor nature symbolised by the inhabitants' cultural beliefand "taboos" thus ensuring protection of the greenlandscape. Indeed, this cultural process includes feelingsthat create attachment to the place. Thisissimilar to whatTuan (1974, p. 4) coined as Topophilia. The term Topophiliais defined as "the affective bond between people andplace or setting" and it represents "human love of place".Tuan (1977) claimed that feeling and objects are alwaysinseparable.

A study of place attachment by Altman and Low (1992)focuses on the external environment that represents a"cultural and emotional" connection. Riley (1992, p. 42)defines attachment as an "affective relationship betweenpeople and the landscape that goes beyond cognition,preference, or judgment". In much the same way, heagrees that the concept of landscape attachment isset by the influence of human culture (Ahrentzen, 1992;1976; Altman & Low, 1992). In addition, "a sense of place"evokes a positive "social impression such as a feelingof belonging to an environment and being part of aneighbourhood" (Hargreaves, 2004, p. 52). Attachment toplace is perceived as more than a "physical container";it resembles a social and cultural process simultaneously(La Gory & Pipkin, 1981). Relph (1976, p. 53) explainsattachment as a value of "behavioural insideness",with people "being in place and seeing it as a set ofobjects, views, activities arranged in certain ways andhaving certain observable qualities". Riley (1992, p. 45)suggests that "the attachment comes from people andexperience; and the landscape is the setting of that

195

experience". The everyday landscape isthe foundation of"shared meaning and emotion, whether liked or disliked,whether tasteful or ugly, because it is shared experience"(Riley, 1992, p. 18). Thisnotion confirms the significance ofdesigning the everyday landscape as proposed by thestudents. Their projects involving public space design-a place where people visits and spend their leisure timetogether. Detail design solution representing a landscapedesign solution that embracing the notion of identity ofplace and place attachment in everyday landscape willbe discussed in the following section.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CULTURAL AND HERITAGELANDSCAPE

It is learned from the above discussion that cultural andheritage landscapes enriched the feelings of belonging inlandscape spaces and through this, landscape architectsshould successfully create a meaningful outdoor livingambience. I describe this occurrence with the Malaysianproverb that translates as "home; is where the heart is" orthe place that you love most. Ittelson, Frank and 0' Hanlon(1979, pp. 201-205) surnmotlze the significance of outdoorenvironment as:

i. An external physical place where people present their"sense of autonomous self";

ii. Self reveals that the everyday landscape "not onlycan be identified with physical objects or with physicalproperties of the world, but also with one's experienceand action in the environment";

iii. Social systemCertain "environments may lead human beings todevelop relationships with other people";

iv. Emotional territoryThe direct emotional impact of a situation is probablypart of all environmental experience, but sometimesbecomes the dominant mode of experience so that acertain environment is able to represent emotions andassociations that one feels;

References

992) Home as a workplace in theAhrentzen, S. B. (1. S th M L (Eds) PlaceI' f omen In Altman, I. & e a, ., . r

~~~~coh:ent (V~1.Volume 12). New York: Plenum Press.

(1992) Place attachment: HumanAltman, I. & Low, S.M. t '(V I 12) New York: Plenumbehaviour and enwonmen o. .Press.

t M (1997) The concept of traditional landscapes

~~a~:~~~:~:~~~~:SC~~;iO~~~~~;~O~~fn~a~~:C~~~~~~Urban Planning, 38, 105-117.

I '1 N A (2003) Cultural responsive landscape: PlantinAg

srnou. ..' k Malay residential garden.composition in the rura.1pera

tf the requirements for the

thesis submitted In fulfllmen °ture at Universiti Teknologidegre~ of Mastbelrh

Of:~~~tt~~s Thesis, Universiti Teknologi

Malaysia. Unpu IS eMalaysia.

. Landscape Alteration in UrbanIsmail '. N.A (2010). f Malaysia. A thesis submittedResidential Landscape o. t for the Philosophicalin fulfilment of the req~re~t::ure at Lincoln University,Doctorate In Landscape rC

dUnpublished PhD Thesis,

Canterbury New Zealan .Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

A & O'Hanlon, T. J. (1979).TheIttelson, W. H.: Frank, K. . erience. In S. Wapner, S. B.nature of enwonmental)eExp riencing the environment.Cohen & B. Kaplan (Eds. xpeNew York: Plenum Press.

. (2002) Associations betweenKaltenborn, B. P. & Bjerke, T'

dlac~ attachment: A study

landscape preferences an L~ndscape Research, 27(4),in Roros, Southern Norway.381-396.

v. Setting for action"The environment affects action and action affectsenvironment". As an analogy, environment is said to be astage for the actors to perform any respective roles.

For the students, thinking about culture and using them astheir design philosophy seems to be very challenging whenthe majority of current projects surrounding them undergothe modern homogenous approaches such as cubismand simplicity. These students challenged themselves byselecting cultural and heritage desiqn for their Final Yearproject. As for Hafsah, her project entitled A Soldier'sNarrative Park at Bukit Timbalan Johor Bahru provided anopportunity to explore the history of Johor Military Forceduring pre-independence in 1936. Bukit Timbalan wasa battle field between Japan and British. Project in FortMargherita, Kuching, Sarawak by Jason was an attemptto revitalize, preserve and conserve the abandonedhistorical monument. Another interesting cultural projectwas presented by Amira. She brought the significancecultural and traditional way of life belonging to the Chetticommunity in Melaka. The Chetti communities are theIndian traders from the Southern part of India. Distinguishedcultural community design was also presented by Irwan.His design enlightened the uniqueness of the Chinesesettlements along Weld Quay in Pulau Pinang. Thisvillageexisted since 19th century, but it has been abandoned inour way towards modernization. The following section willfurther discuss on detail design of the students work.

Kaplan, R. (1975). Some methods and strategies in theprediction of preference. In Zube, E. H., Brush, R. O.& Fabos, J. G. (Eds.), Landscape assessment: Values,perceptions and resources. New York: Hutchinson & Ross.

Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. Cambridge [Mass.]:Technology Press& Harvard University Press.

McNeely, J. & Pitt, D. (1985). Culture and conservation:The human dimension in environmental planning. Sydney,Australia: Croom Helm ltd.

Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980). Genius loci: .To~ards aphenomenology of architecture. New York: Rizzoli.

Proshansky, H. M., Fabian, A. K. & Kaminoff, R. (1983).Place-identity: Physical world socialization of the self.Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3(1),57-83.

Relph, E.C. (1976). Place and placelessness. London: Pion.

Riley, R. B. (1992). Attachment to the ordinary landscape.In Altman, I. &. Low, S.M (Eds.), Place attachment (pp. 13-35). New York: Plenum Press.

Rishbeth, C. (2001). Ethnic minority groups and the designof public open space: An inclusive landscape? LandscapeResearch, 26(4), 351-366.

Said, I. (2001). Cultural-ethnic landscape of terr~cehousing community in Peninsular Malaysia. Teknoloqi B,Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 35, 41-53.

Tuan, Y. F. (1974). Topophilia: A study of environme.ntalperception, attitudes and values. New Jersey, UnitedStates of America: Prentice-Hall.

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Jury Review

Khalilah Zakariya

The revitalization of old places to be a part of new places isalwaysan interesting project to explore. Thisproject not only deals withthe traditionally significant jetty houses and its relationships withthe urban fabric, but also the relationships between land andwater. The student has analyzed the issues from different angles,and presented the mapping and diagrams in a very organizedmanner. There is a good consideration for seasonal events andmqnaging visitors' capacity to avoid overcrowding the site. Thestudent demonstrated an understanding towards the need tobalance between community space, jetty space, green spaceand activities for tourism.

Devendiran S.T.Mani199

T.he student has carried out a well-documented account ofhistorical background and site analysis of this particular area, Thedesign process and concept are well presented. The ideas aredefined with great detail and illustration. The Master plan profileis also well represented with historical personals. The Master planand detail areas are also well presented with good images andgraphics. Overall a well-balanced and shown good work,

Rehabitalization of Chetti VillageNoorizan Mohamed, Mohd Kher Hussain & Abd Aziz Othman

TheChetti village was established by the Indian Peranakan,a community of Indian origins who has adopted localcustoms as their own unique culture in Malacca, Thecreation of a living museum for the village enables toenhance the community through tourism activities inpromoting better understanding on the lifestyle andtradition, The "Journey from the Past" concept, tracesthe memory of the Chetti community's history from earlyMalacca Sultanate until the independence period,The spatial division is based on the chronology of thecolonization eras starting from the Portuguese, Dutch,Britishand the present,

The rehabitalization of the Chetti village provides newinsight and experience to the community and visitors alike,Nevertheless, the circulation aspect of the whole layoutneeds special attention due to limited access points toassist ali kinds of visitors in their movements while enjoyingthe experience particularly in the Time Travel Museum, Theproject will be more exciting if the hardscape (includingbuilding) and softscape elements match with the differenteras portrayed,

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201

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Soldier's Narrative ParkNor Atiah Ismail, Mohd Nazri Saidon & Mustafa Kamal Mohd. Shariff

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This project highlights a transformation atBukit Timbalan located in Johor from unusedspace to a remembrance place of the pastmoment and history. The artifact is recognisedas 'Soldier's Narrative Park" would become anew hot-spot for urban-tourism around JohorBharu city. The site is positioned on the highestelevation of JB town, yet surrounded by treesand commercial area. The design ismotivatedfrom over 100year past history of Askar TimbalanSetia Johor (ATSJ) and the need to portray forpublic benefit. Thus,Habshah's work to developa soldier's narrative park offers the richness ofASTJ history and the military routine. On theother hand, this work is to solve existing trafficcirculation and pedestrian path as a packageto attract visitors. The design is envisionedthrough livable chapter of military concept. It .means the spaces are arranged in a hierarchybased on past-special history that capableto create feeling and emotion. Therefore, thiswork comes with dynamic spaces portrayingexpressive history such as the scene of WorldWar 1, the war between ATSJ and Japanesesoldier and others. The interpretive signboard isintroduced to provide more understanding onthe specific matter. This project was executedthrough manipulation at past history for younggeneration to know-how the past's significantmilitary history.

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203

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A Place of MemoryNorsidah Ujang, Mohd Fabian Hasna & Mohd Fairuz Shahidan

Despite survivrnq the threat 0 rapid urbanisation intheir physical sense the socio-cultural institutions andpractices of Clan jetties in Weld Quay have long beentransformed and disappeared. Constructed in the 19th

century by the Chinese community, the remarkablehistorical site displays unique wooden link houses onstilts spreading over the water. The revitalization ofClan jetty traditional village as traditional cultural parkwill serve as the main tourism attraction spot in GeogreTown, Penang. Reviving the community culture andtradition through tangible and intangible heritagevalues and socio-cultural activities will generate anew 'Place of Memory' to residents, locals and visitors.

Surviving communal site needs to be reinventedfor sustainability and relevance to changing time.Enhancement of the existing conditions of the Clanjetties and the development of the new entry nodes,the main green gateway is created as a symbol ofidentity and cultural dynamics. Celebration of theliving heritage with local community engagement willallow younger generation to appreciate and enjoy thevillage with greater sense of pride.

205