Malaysian architecture

MughalBuildings with Mughal architecture began popping up at the turn of the 20th century in Kuala Lumpur. Majority of the buildings in this style of architecture can be found near Merdeka Square and Chinatown.

Malayan Railway Administration Building, Kuala Lumpur

Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Kuala Lumpur

TudorMany parts of Malaysia were under British rule from the 1800s up until the 1950s. Many of the older buildings were built under British architectural influence. Tudor style buildings were especially popular because the structure could be modified to acclimatize with Malaysia’s hot and rainy environment.

The Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur

Grecian-SpanishMany buildings in Kuala Lumpur, especially in the Old Center, draw inspiration from Straits Eclectic and European architecture. Many of them even  employ white and red brick patterns with an emphasis on old Grecian-Spanish architecture.

Old Market Square, Kuala Lumpur

Straits Eclectic (Malay)Also known as “Peranakan” or “Baba-Nyonya” architecture, this uniquely Malaysian style can be exhibited in the traditional shophouses Melaka. Inspired by British, French and Chinese architecture, this style was one of my favorites.

Color Beads Shop, Melaka

Ng Choon Teck, Melaka

IslamicWith Islam being the official religion of Malaysia, you’ll find Islamic architecture often in Kuala Lumpur. Apart from actual mosques, there are many subtle Islamic geometric patterns and motifs designed into many structure.

National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur

Al Bukhary Mosque, Kuala Lumpur

Late Modernism & Post-ModernYou can’t talk about architecture without mentioning the Petronas Towers! Kuala Lumpur’s claim to fame, these twin towers were some of the first modern skyscrapers built in the city. Almost twenty years later and now KL’s skyline is brimming with modern and post-modern buildings.

Religious placesMalaysia is unique culturally in two ways – it is home to three of Asia’s most elaborate cultures (i.e. the Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures) and most of the world’s major religions, all coexisting together in harmony. Malaysia’s cosmopolitan nature traces its roots way back to the glorious era of the Malacca Sultanate in the 1400s, when the city of Malacca became a vital centre for maritime trade and cultural exchange for merchants from all over Asia and the Middle East. With the colonization of the then Malaya under the British, the country’s cultural diversity was further enhanced with the influx of large numbers of labourers and merchants from China and India in the 1800s and early 1900s, who brought along with them their unique sets of faiths and religious systems, thus adding to Malaya’s multireligious identity.

Malaysia is home to most of the world's major religions, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Sikhism

1. Jamek Mosque, Kuala Lumpur

2. Batu Caves, Selangor

3. National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur

4. Thean Hou Temple, Kuala Lumpur

5. Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur

6. St. Mary’s Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur

9. Christ Church, Malacca

11. Harmony Street, Penang

Spaces and People1. LOOK FOR PEOPLE’S PATTERNS

The best insights into how places work come in recognizing people’s patterns of use. Telltale signs, like pedestrians always jaywalking at the same spot or kids hanging out on a particular park bench, repeat endlessly and become more apparent the longer you observe.

2. ALWAYS BE ALERT

While a great deal can be gleaned from observing the repetition of behavior over time, some images can be captured only during a brief window of opportunity. “There’s all these spontaneous things going on that you need to be very lucky to get,” notes PPS President Fred Kent. “You always have to be alert.” That means having your camera ready at a moment’s notice. Kent fondly recalls the time he snapped what became a celebrated PPS image–eight older women hanging on to one another as they face onrushing traffic while attempting to cross a street together in Sydney, Australia. “I came out of a meeting, and there they were standing in the middle of the street. I had to just react, and I almost got run over.”

3. WAIT FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT

You can't rush a good public display of affection.

A quick reaction can be crucial, but a good shot can’t be forced or hurried. Many times, you need to wait for it to happen. Patience pays dividends, says Fred Kent, even when capturing spontaneous moments like public displays of affection: “You have to know the evolution of the kiss. You need to watch the whole thing evolve, and then know intuitively when the best part is going to be–that instant of the most passion.”

4. BECOME A PART OF THE PLACE

To seize the right moment when it happens, you need to participate in the life of the place you are photographing. “You have to get into the soul of a place to capture it in a photo,” says Ethan Kent, who manages PPS’s vast image collection. “You can’t be a mere observer: You must be experiencing the place to see the right shots and to connect with the people who are there.”

5. LEGITIMIZE YOURSELF

Being a part of a place gets harder the farther you are from home. Madden cites a trip to Bali several years ago when she realized she needed to create a role for herself within the places she was photographing. “In Bali, I was obviously a visitor, but I was still trying to be sensitive to the ecology of that space,” she recalls. “Everything goes on in the street there, it’s truly the river of life. I would come on foot, shop at a market, or sit somewhere. You must legitimize yourself first, then you have a role in that space.”

6. BE PURPOSEFUL

Be confident while you're taking pictures and you'll win people's trust.

Don’t sneak around or hide the fact that you are taking photographs. Act like you have a purpose, and people will be more comfortable with you taking pictures of them. Sometimes simply explaining what you are doing will win people’s trust. “I often just tell people, ‘This is such a great place and everybody here seems to be having a good time, I wanted to take some photos to show people what a great place looks like,'” says Ethan Kent. “They’ll understand and appreciate why you are there rather than view you as a threat or nuisance.”

7. NAÏVETÉ CAN HELP

No matter how legitimate and purposeful you appear, taking photographs in public always carries the risk of confrontation, especially in areas with heightened security. If someone challenges you, whether it’s a law enforcement officer or a regular person on the street, act like it’s perfectly normal to be taking pictures in a public place. PPS Senior Fellow Jay Walljasper was challenged by a big, burly guy one day while taking photos on the street in Christiana, the famous counterculture neighborhood in Copenhagen. “It seems I had just, by accident, documented a hashish deal,” Walljasper recalls. “He was the hippie equivalent of the local sheriff and it was his job to keep negative publicity about drugs in Christiana to a minimum. He said firmly that he would have to confiscate my roll of film. I already had some nice shots I didn’t want to lose, so I pleaded innocence telling him I had no idea what was going on. He relented and said he would only have to expose a few frames, which he expertly did. The rest of my photos were saved.”

8. TRY A NUMBER OF ANGLES

A good aerial shot--like this image of traffic-calmed streets near Davis Square in Somerville, Massachusetts--can be taken from a nearby building.

Many different kinds of photos can document the essence of a place: Sometimes it’s a close-up of the expression on someone’s face; sometimes a long distance aerial shot. Medium-range shots can capture the nuances in people’s expression and movement while also offering some context of the physical space itself. For close-ups and medium-range shots, the trick is often to position yourself so that your subjects are facing you, not walking away from you. Aerial shots can be taken from the 2nd floor of a nearby building, or even while standing on a garbage can or using a lamppost to get some extra height. If you get much farther away, the image may become too abstract.

9. YOUR OWN PHOTOS ARE ALWAYS BETTER THAN SOMEONE ELSE’S

When you want to convey the particular qualities and spirit of a place in a presentation or informal discussion, the best photos are always the ones you’ve taken yourself. “You can talk about a photo you’ve taken so much more convincingly and eloquently than a photo that someone else has taken,” explains Madden. Every picture tells a story, and your audience will delight in hearing the stories behind the photos you show.

10. FIND A GREAT PLACE

A great image is easy to come by in a great place, like Place des Vosges in Paris.

It’s a simple fact that you are much more likely to take a great picture if you are in a great space. “Good places breed good images,” says Fred Kent. “In bad places, people tend to be more uptight and fearful. The better a place is, the more doors are opened up for people to be comfortable, expressive, and affectionate in public. The possibilities of a great place expand exponentially.”

Fusion ArchitectureFusion architecture is a combination of different other styles of architectural design into a building or design. One example is japan where the try to explore their traditional roots into a more modern look into their building design.

the intriguing results of contemporary trends in Japanese design and architecture, trends that go beyond issues of consumption and lifestyle to express more fundamental values. The works on display testify to Japan's distinctive fusion of disciplines, offering a glimpse at a vibrant society in which artists of all kinds are crossing the boundaries between "high" and "low" culture to create in variety of spheres.

Born out of a dynamic integration of cultures, modern Japanese society has adopted a Western, largely American, model of popular culture while bringing together traditional Japanese aesthetics and futuristic technologies