Character-Defining Elements of Shophouses Buildings in Taiping, Perak

Abstract

The quality of cultural resources in influencing the distinctiveness of a place is rooted in its tangible and intangible features or collectively known as character-defining elements. While it is undeniable that a place is noticeable and regarded as meaningful due to its cultural heritage values, it is important to know where these significances lie or reside in, along with its current importance to the local community. Nevertheless, there is no single definitive list of the elements that is made available to date. Therefore, this research attempts to explore the key features of a place that can contribute to the unique character of a town and substantially drive the subsequent conservation process. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Taiping, a small town in the state of Perak to identify the key elements that define the overall value of a place, particularly shophouses buildings. Tangible and intangible features were identified as the character-defining elements of shophouses that are worthy of being preserved and maintained. The paper concludes to an interesting result where an intangible characterdefining element is the most important feature that characterised the shophouses in the town.

The Symbolism and Survivability of Royal Identity (RI) for the Upper Section of the Taoist Temple Built in the 19th Century in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

“…The Confucian etiquette is an ancient wisdom meticulously portrays a magnitude of design principle in carving, shape and several contexts of the roof, namely 1) functionality in scientific attainments; 2) characteristics of visual aesthetics and 3) peculiarity of religious and cultural contexts (Li & Liu, 2017). Nelson (1988) elucidated that the building materials, ornaments detail, interior features and the holistic built environment complimented the historic character and orthodox identity of the building (Azmi et al, 2017). The presented realistic objects are spectacularly delivering the ideology in duality, representational and decorative in the form of animism, such as metaphysical immersed in philosophy, religious symbolism or literal allegorical expression (Luo, 2016;Makkreel, 2006;Williams, 1984).…”

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The Symbolic Regionalism on The Architectural Expression Design of Kupang Town-Hall

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The Contextual Design Criteria of Infill Building Façade in Malaysian Urban Historic Districts: A Systematic Review

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