WISMA ANGKASAPURI ARCHITECTURE CULTURE AND HISTORY II [ARC 60203]

PROJECT 2B: MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN KLANG VALLEY (REPORT)

GROUP MEMBERS:

ONG SENG PENG 0319016 ROY YIEK CHIN HENG 0317726

SHAM ZHEN WEN 0317733 SYED ASWAD 0318625

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TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………..3-6

SITE CONTEXT by Syed Aswad…………………………………………………7-14

ARCHITECTURAL LAYOUT by Sham Zhen Wen……………………………15-20

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE by Ong Seng Peng………………………………..21-26

BUILDING CONSRUCTION, STRUCTURE & MATERIALS

by Ong Seng Peng, Sham Zhen Wen & Roy Yiek Chin Heng…………………………..……27-32

ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS by Roy Yiek Chin Heng……………………..33-38

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………….39

LIST OF REFERENCES……………………………………………………...40

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Angkasapuri is the main governmental building for Malaysia’s Ministry of information and

the headquarters for Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). The building was built during the

post-independence era of Malaysia. It was officially opened to public on 6 November 1969.

It is famous for its International Architecture style that slightly influenced by Malay

Architecture and is well recognisable by its repetition of sun shading devices on the building

façade.

LOCATION

The building is located at between Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur. The compound of

Angkasapuri comprising approximately 33 acres and sits 80ft above the Federal Highway

overlooking Pantai Valley. The building serve for television stations such as TV1 and TV2.

STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION

There are 6 buildings all together in

Angkasapuri. The overall construction of

Angkasapuri were built in 2 stages.

STAGE 1:

i. 10 storey office block

ii. 3 storey entrance hall

iii. 1 storey service building containing

electrical and air-conditioning plant

STAGE 2:

i. 3 storey radio house containing 21

studios

ii. 2 blocks of 6 storey office towers for

programming and administration

departments

iii. Engineering building that

incorporates facilities for the

planning, research and development

of broadcasting facilities

Kuala Lumpur

Petaling Jaya

Angkasapuri

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ARCHITECT

During the 20th century, most of the architects in Malaysia were expatriate, they are mainly

from the Western countries such as America and United Kingdom. The architect of Wisma

Angkasapuri is no exception. Nicholas James Pappas, a Canadian architect who designed

Wisma Angkasapuri is a founder and senior partner of N.J. Pappas and Associates, his own

Architectural and Engineering Consulting firm. Mr. Pappas received his degree in physics

from Sir George Williams University, Montreal, in 1952 and later completed his studies at Sir

George and McGill University. In 1965 he began his own private engineering practice as a

one-man operation in Montreal Suburb. Today, the Pappas organization now incorporates

many different departments and maintain operation across the globe including Malaysia.

FAST FACTS

1. Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia, laid the foundation stone of

the Broadcasting centre on 12 December 1966.

2. Angkasapuri was officially opened by the Tunku Abdul Rahman on 17 January 1968.

3. Angkasapuri consist of a complex of 6 buildings, namely, Service building, TV house,

Administration building, radio building Auditorium and engineering building.

4. The Angkasapuri were built in 2 stages.

5. Angkasapuri sits midway between two major centres of population, namely Petaling

Jaya and Kuala Lumpur.

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HISTORY

In the early 50's, broadcasting activities in Malaya were

operated from its temporary studio in Jalan Young (now know as

Jalan Cenderasari) in Kuala Lumpur and later in 1956, were moved to

the Federal House, Kuala Lumpur. It was here that broadcasting in

Malaysia grew with the establishment of several stations throughout

the country including Sabah and Sarawak. Broadcasting further

carved another milestone when Television services were introduced

on 28 December 1963 from its studio, Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman,

Jalan Ampang.

To cater the growing demand of the populations, construction

of Angkasapuri started on the 1 January 1966 to fit in larger and more

equipment. Construction of Angkasapuri was completed renovation

on 1 January 1968 and was officially open to inaugurate by our 1st

Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman on the 17th of January 1968.

During the following years, which is 1967, Wisma Angkasapuri

became the nation’s first 24-hours radio station. At that time, Radio Malaysia and Television

Malaysia merged into Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). On 6 November 1969, the first stage

of Wisma Television was opened to public. On the 9 May 1972, Wisma Radio was opened to

public.

First colour television transmission via satellite was begun by TV2 during Wisma

Angkasapuri 15th anniversary of television broadcasting. TV2 provide first colour program to

Peninsular Malaysia. All colour program in whole Malaysia by RTM was introduced on 1st

January 1982 to mark its New Year’s Day at Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur.

On 1st June 1984, TV3, a subsidiary of Sistem Television Malaysia Berhad (STMB) was

a first private commercial free-to-air terrestrial television station and was officially launched

from Kuala Lumpur.

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EVOLUTION OF RTM LOGO

1957: The ‘RM’ stands for Radio Malaya

1963: The sun represents the televisions and the black colour indicates that all the

television programs are in black and white colour.

1969: Wisma Angkasapuri has been built and Radio Malaysia and Television Malaysia

merged together and became Radio Television Malaysia (RTM).

1978: When the first colour television was introduced, the logo also changed.

1987: the logo changed again to earth shaped which symbolized globalization.

2004-now: Logo changed when RTM begun to receive and broadcast the Television

program.

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2.0 SITE CONTEXT ANALYSIS

Wisma Angkasapuri is located in the middle between the two main centers of the city

population at the Kuala Lumpur – Petaling Jaya municipal boundary, the site at which

Angkasapuri sits on is approximately 33 acres, 80 feet above the Kerinchi stretch of the

Federal Highway on Bukit Putra and faces the Pantai Valley. It serves as the television

station for channels such as TV1 and TV2. It is surrounded by two mosque, the Masjid Ar-

Rahah which is located at the northern west side of the Wisma and also Masjid RTM which

is located at the southern east side of the Wisma.

Federal Highway

NPE Highway

Wisma Angkasapuri

(On Bukit Putra) Masjid Ar-Rahah

Kerinchi Komuter Station Menara Telekom

Bangsar South Masjid RTM

Fig.2 Masjid Ar-Rahah (Left) and Masjid RTM (Right)

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In near distance, more recent developments such as Bangsar South and Menara Telekom is

also situated around Wisma Angkasapuri. Bangsar South is a 60 acre fully integrated

residential and commercial developments master plan that provides retail services. While

Hijjas-Kasturi designed, Menara Telekom is another architectural landmark in the Klang

Valley that stands 304 metres high with 44 floors. It is the headquarters of Telekom

Malaysia and is a multifunctional commercial building.

Fig.3 Masterplan of Bangsar South which is located next to Angkasapuri

Fig.4 Menara Telekom

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ACCESSIBILITY

Alongside the Wisma is two main highways in Klang Valley which is the Federal Highway and

the NPE Highway respectively. The Federal Highway is located at the Northern side of the

compound,while the NPE Highways is tucked at the Eastern side of the compound.

Federal Highway is constructed in 1974 which links the suburban Petaling Jaya all the way to

the capital city,Kuala Lumpur while the NPE Highway is a major expressway that within the

Klang Valley region and connects to the Federal Highway. Due to its location being atop

Bukit Putra, its height above the surrounding roads has made it necessary to approach the

buildings by the means of a long, winding access road leading into the site from Jalan Pantai

Dalam from the NPE Expressway. The Wisma can also be assessed through the front by the

main Federal Highway.

NPE Highway

(Eastern side of Wisma

Angkasapuri)

Federal Highway (Northern side of Wisma Angkasapuri)

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Fig.6 Roadsign leading into Angkasapuri

Fig.7 Main Gate leading into Angkasapuri

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RELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING TO SURROUNDINGS

Due to hilly topography if Bukit Putra, the land cannot be intensely developed as the local

authority imposes severe restrictions upon the planning of its development. However, this

very restriction lends itself to an intensive and compact development with little wastage

space, as all the buildings are placed as close to the north edge of the plateau as possible,

thereby creating a very dramatic view of Kuala Lumpur and the Pantai Valley for its

inhabitants.

Fig.8 View from the West from Petaling Jaya

Fig.9 View from the North from Kuala Lumpur

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In order to create sufficient flat area for the buildings, the original hill top has been leveled

in two stages, with the removal of several hundred thousand cubic yards of earth, much of

which was used to fill a 35 foot deep ravine that runs through the back of the property.

In addition, as the Wisma is situated beside a heavily traffic road, the gallery can ,many

trees are planted surrounding it which serve as a noise buffering system in counter to the

busy roads.

The original hill top of Bukit Putra has been levelled in two stages to create sufficient flat are for the building.

As the Wisma is surrounded by two major highways. trees are planted all around to act as noise buffer.

Fig.10 Design strategies as adapted to the surroundings

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COMPARISON OF WISMA ANGKASAPURI AND ITS’ SURROUNDING

In terms of site context, Wisma Angkasapuri is among one of the oldest buildings erected in the area. It is

constructed in 1966 and completed in 1968, just a few years behind the construction of Universiti Malaya in

the 1950s and the Parliament House in 1963 at the time. The “Brutalist” style and the “International” style is

evident in the later built Wisma Angkasapuri in terms of facade,construction and materiality as influenced by

the two monuments.

Angkasapuri building

Parliament House of Malaysia University of Malaya

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RESPONSE TO CLIMATE

Due to the local climatic conditions, many innovative methods to adapt International style to the local requirements had been implemented, thus most of the local International styled buildings were convoluted by grilles and large panels to evade direct sunlight.

Besides, we can also see that Wisma Angkasapuri turn itself away from the direction of

sunlight in order to reduce the hot sunlight coming to the building interior.

Direction of sunrise

The building facade turns away from sunrise

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3.0 ARCHITECTURAL LAYOUT

The building is consisted of three major part,

1. 10 storey administration block

2. 3 storey television house

2 buildings connected by

3. Entrance Hall

Figure: First Floor Plan

Figure: Section

1

2

3

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ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

Placed on the right side of the entrance, the circulation within the 10 storey building was

done by three elevator visible in the entrance hall. There are stairs connecting every floor in

the building. One can be found opposite of the elevator, and another one at the other end

of the building, fulfilling fire escape requirement.

The seven floors of offices have been designed to provide maximum flexibility for

sub-division into standard Government sizes of private, semi-private and general offices.

The air-conditioning. Lighting and ceiling have been co-ordinated so that demountable

partitions may be erected in any of a number of predetermined locations as required to

provide all standard sizes of offices: an entire floor may left un-partitioned or it may be

intensely partitioned with equal economic usage of space while the same level of lighting

and air-conditioning is maintained.

The building contains two service cores with the main stairs, one service lift and

another electrical room comprise the secondary core. The area of services, circulation space

and lavatories totals 20,600 sq. ft. and the remaining area of101,800 sq. ft. is useable floor

space

Figure: 7th Floor Plan

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ENTRANCE HALL

The Entrance Hall, recognizable by its barrel-vaulted roof, is the connecting link

between the Integrated services ( Admin) Building and Television House, and is the main

entrance for both buildings. It serves as the meeting point for visitors and the starting point

for tours through Television House. It is fully equipped as a studio for telecasting interviews

with visitors to the Centre.

The Entrance Hall is a two-storey ait-conditioned space with a first floor

suspended bridge connecting the two main building to permit direct traffic between the

television programming offices in the Admin Building and production and technical facilities

in Television House. The connection between the buildings in the entrance hall allows a

closer relationship between the people from different departments.

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TELEVISION HOUSE

Television House is a three-storey building located immediately South of the Admin.

Building and connected to the latter on all three floors in the Entrance Hall and on the first

floor only by means of a bridge at the western ends of the building.

Television House is a large rectangular building and the space within is organised

according to its needs. Such as:

Production Facilities ( 4 Studios) Film Archives and Storage

Technical Operation Film Editing

Performers Cine Recording

Design Dubbing Studios

TV News Theatre

Film Processing

Figures: Each department are

separated by a wide corridor to

allow better pathing within the

space.

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ORGANIZATION ANALYSIS:

Balance

The architecture elevation of the building utilized asymmetrical balance in its form. Before

this building was built, most governmental building in Malaysia (ie: colonial architecture) are

designed to be symmetrical. During this time, International style allows buildings to

emphasis more on structure, volume, and functional than the social aspects than the social

aspects of modern movement as emphasised in Europe. Angkasapuri building allows 3

major styles in the building while maintaining balance in terms of weightage around the

Central Part (Entrance Hall) of the building.

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Hiearchy

As seen on the Elevation of the building, the building shows the degree of importance in

terms of size and articulation on the building. These differences reflect the degree of

importance of each section how the functional, formal, and symbolic roles they play in the

organization. The most emphasis one will be the administrative building, which is designed

to be iconic because of its strategic placement on top of the hill fronting the busy highway.

The slightly higher entrance hall with the unique barrel vault roof façade which functions

provide a good natural lighting to the users as serves as a transition between two buildings,

Administration building and Television House, from a highly articulated façade to a slightly

blander façade. The television house, tall enough to house the studios, doesn’t have

significance exterior design besides the vertical patterns. Meanwhile the 10 storey tall

administration building is designed to be iconic because of its strategic placement on top of

the hill beside the busy highway.

Television House Entrance Hall Administration

building

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4.0 ARCHITECTURAL STYLE

The architectural style adopted to Wisma Angkasapuri is International Style. It is developed

mainly in Germany, Holland and France, during the 1920s. The International Style is an early

form of minimalism that had a distinctively "modern look", reinforced by its use of modern

materials, including glass for the facade, steel for exterior support, and concrete for interior

supports and floors. Moreover, the floor plans were functional and logical. It became the

dominant style of 20th century architecture especially in Western countries for institutional

and commercial buildings.

With the advancement of information technology, the idea of “International Style” bought

to Malaysia, a harmony between artistic expression, function, and technology thus be

established in an austere and disciplined new architecture in Malaysia. The local architects

referred and studied the philosophies brought from Western countries and adapted them to

suit to our local context. Thus, forming our own “Modern Regional Architecture” in

Malaysia.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERNATIONAL STYLE:

I) Rectilinear forms

II) Plane surfaces that are completely devoid of applied ornamentation

III) Open interior spaces.

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IV) Visually weightless engendered by the use of steel and glass

V) Series of repetitive element

MODERN REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE IN MALAYSIA IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURIES

Wisma Angkasapuri is a building built in

international style with local context

consideration. Unlike the “Western

Version” of International Style, sheer use

of glass and steel structures for building

façade are not seen here in Wisma

Angkasapuri. It is a refined version of

Western International style to suit the

local context. The exterior of the building is dominance by the repetition of shield-like

shading devices that are different from International style which the transparency of

building is encouraged. The extensive use of the device on the building is to go against the

scorching heat of the tropical climate in Malaysia in order give a pleasant natural lighting to

the interior. When perceiving the building, the shading devices become a key element to

define the building’s architectural identity. With the application of shading devices, the

“mass” of the building overruled the perception of “volume” of the building which

contradict to the philosophy of International Style. The shape of the shading device, is

dubbed as a mimicry of the shape of horseshoe crab shell, but some said also a mimicry of

the Dayak tribal shield, according to a staff in Angkasapuri. The shield-like motif can be seen

at the surrounding buildings within the Angkasapuri compound.

While entering the compound, the visitors

will be welcomed by a gate with local style

Malay flora pattern and the signature

Angkasapuri shield-like motif. Besides,

national slogan “1Malaysia” is also shown on

the gate which sought to cultivate national

unity.

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Like what can found be in the most International Style building, the overall Wisma

Angkasapuri is a rectangular geometry form.

Although some alterations are made in order to fit in to the local context, there are some

features of International Style can be found on Wisma Angkasapuri.

Resembling some of Le Corbusier’s ideology of 5 points of

architecture, the design of Wisma Angkasapuri contains Pilotis,

which used for accommodating the car porch area, Ribbon Window,

which can be found on the facades. Moreover, the building is simply

supported by concrete column that carried the carry the load which

resulting the Free Façade and Free Plan in the building, enabling the

fenestration and the interior to be planned with minimal structure

constraint, except that Wisma Angkasapuri do not have Roof Top

Garden.

The Pilotis

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The other characteristic of International style can be

found is the repetition of elements. For example, the

repetition of shading device, column structures, and

banding device can be spotted from the building.

Note that the strip oppenings behind the sun shading device.

The oppenings are applied for the ease of ventilation and

adequet of natural sunlight to

the staircase.

The shield-like motif, is believed as a mimicry of Horseshoe crab shell or Dayak tribal

shield. The pictures shown show the similarity among the pictures.

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ORNAMENTATIONS

Entering the main entrance of

Angkasapuri, visitors are front by the

combination of subtle Malay carvings

ornamentation and classic modernism

design such as the recessed celing and

the contemporary design of chandelier

of that time.

Proceeding to the lobby area, the space

is brighten up by the natural lighting

come from the celestrory formed by the

barrel vault ceiling. The Malay carvings

ornamentation can be spotted around

the lobby. As the lobby is one of the

spaces that has more frequent human

circulation, therefore more

ornamentations are applied to the

lobby, which could serves as a

welcoming space to the visitors.

The Malay ornamentaion, can be easily

characteristised by the floral pattern carvings which

inspiration is coming from the local flora and

influence from Islamic ornamentation.

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Behind the lobby, there is a courtyard and walkway to a event room that used for

accommodating the staffs events. It is design in Islamic stye which can be notice from the

use of Islamic geometry pattern ornamentation for sun shading devices and the use of

Islamic arches. The geometry pattern on the walkways and arches are formed by the

duplication of star shapes. The transition from Malay style ornamentation to Islamic style

ornamentation can be seen here. As Islam is the official religion in Malaysia, Islamic cultures

has become part of the identity of Malaysia. Therefore, Islamic element is part of the

features of Malaysian architecture and it can be seen in many of the Malaysian government

buildings.

The view of the lobby building,

looking from the courtyard.

Flanked by signature

Angkasapuri office on the left

and Wisma TV on the right.

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5.0 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, MATERIAL & STRUCTURE

Even though Wisma Angkasapuri applied international style from Europe and Western

countries, the choice of material and construction method greatly differs from each other.

This is mainly due to the huge difference in weather and climate. Europe and Western

countries experienced four seasons while Malaysia is hot and humid throughout the year.

For instance, the biggest difference is that Construction and structure of the buildings in

Europe and Western countries need to take consideration of the snow fall and summer heat

while construction and structure in Malaysia need to take consideration of heavy rain and

humid tropical weather. All the above factors influenced the choice of materials and their

construction method. As for Angkasapuri, huge amount of glass windows are placed at the

façade and terrazzo concrete shield-liked form are used to block the sunlight.

CONCRETE

Concrete is one of the main material used to construct the Wisma Television. It is a trait

inherited from modernism. Concrete is most commonly used in modern architecture

because it is cheap yet durable and can be prefabricated and mass produced very easily.

Reinforced concrete roof

Due to weak tensile strength of concrete, steel reinforcement is often needed to

compensate. One of the more dominant concrete structures is the curved shell roof. This

curved shell roof is made up of cast in situ concrete with customized formwork.

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Precast shield-liked concrete form

Precast concrete is manufactured and prefabricated in factory and then transported to site

to be assemble. The construction time can be shorten but the shape and size are standard.

Joint details

ALUMINUM

In order for the precast “shield-liked”

form to be installed at the façade,

reinforcement bars were designed

extended out from the building for the

structure to sit on it.

Extended reinforcement bar

Aluminium is very widely use during

the era as 19th century was the rise

in tin-mining industry. It was a

ubiquitous material in 20th century

architecture for it is light weight,

malleable and corrosion resistance.

For Angkasapuri, aluminium was

used for ornamentation and shading

purpose for the screen of the curved

shell windows at the entrance hall.

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ALUMINIUM STRIP CEILING

Aluminium Strip Ceiling is another type of suspended ceiling. It consist of a metal structure with pre-

cutted carrier for the aluminium panels to be clipped under it.

MATERIAL FOR SUN SHIELDING DEVICES

What lies behind the “shield” sunscreen is a continuous window wall with aluminium structure

glazed with tinted glass above the window sill and with insulated infill panels below. Tinted glass has

been treated with a film or coating to reduce the transmission of light through it. Glass can be tinted

with various types of coating, which block and/or reflect different amounts and types of light,

according to the needs and preferences of the consumer. Other practical purposes, such as limiting

ultraviolet light transmission through windows to reduce the fading of furniture and carpet, and

reducing heat gain inside the building by reflecting solar heat energy, thereby saving in cooling cost.

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WOOD

Wood ceiling is found on the exterior corridor around

the Entrance hall. Wood is attached between the

existing walls for aesthetic purposes.

GYPSUM BOARD

Ceiling tiles is a suspended ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It is a popular. Ceiling tiles

consist of a grid-work of metal channel and each grid filled with gypsum board. Gypsum board gypsum

plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper. This type of ceiling is popular since 1950s until

today due to its functional and economical reason.

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MATERIALS FOR TILES

Tiles is one of the most common building components can be seen, commonly used for

finishing. There are different types of materials applied for interior and exterior tiles in order

to achieve a certain aesthetic value as well as to suit the context.

Above picture shown is the walkway to Wisma Angkasapuri. Unglazed Ceramic tiles is used

as a floor tiles for the exterior walkway. Unglazed tiles tend to be denser and thicker than

glazed tiles, and because of their unfinished exteriors. It is a great choice for a slip resistant

surface in an area where the tile is likely to be subjected to high amounts of moisture and

for areas with heavy foot traffic, as well as outdoor applications, unglazed tiles are a very

good choice. Along with safety benefits, unglazed Ceramic tiles are scratch resistance and

has a natural earthy aesthetic quality as they’re coloured by the mineral deposits from

where the clay was originally taken. A limitation of unglazed ceramic is their vulnerability to

staining.

The other types of tile can be found from the exterior is Blue

Ceramic tiles. It is a type of glazed tile. Even though both are

made of Ceramic compare to the previous one, they have quite

different characteristic. Blue Ceramic tiles can be commonly

seen in the swimming pool as it has high non-porous

characteristic. Therefore this types of tiles is suitable to apply on

the wall and exterior columns that serve

to help the ease of drainage. This type of

tile is not suitable to apply for walkway

as it would be slippery especially raining

since the water will remain on the

surface.

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For the interior part the materials mainly used are the glazed Terrazo tiles. Terrazo tiles is

typically used for flooring in the 20th century. The rapid manufacturing in a short amount of

time is probably one of the reason this type of material is widely applied. Cheap, fast, and

durable, is one of the reasons why this material is popular during that period. These type of

tiles come in many choices of colour such as white, brown and black as can be seen from the

site.

Terrazzo tiles can be easily characterised by the visible small gravels in it. It is a composite

material of Portland cement or polyacrylic-modified Portland cement floors and gravels such

as marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable chips. These type of tiles can be precast or

cast-in-situ. When cast-in-situ, it is poured with a binder that is cementitious (for chemical

binding), polymeric (for physical binding), or a combination of both. Terrazzo is cured and

then ground and polished to a smooth surface or otherwise finished to produce a uniformly

textured surface. The terrazzo tiles has been called as a decorative version of concrete as its

manufacturing method is similar to concrete but with a nice looking pattern in it.

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6.0 ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS

EXTERIOR ELEMENTS

Wisma Angkasapuri is one of the most iconic international style building in Malaysia.

The exterior elements of Wisma Angkasapuri is very unique in a way that although the

design was inspired and taken from international style from western countries, it was being

well planned to fit the tropical climate in Malaysia.

FACADE

As the result of tropical climate in Malaysia, a lot of ingenious means has been warranted to

adapt international style to Malaysia weather. Thus, grilles and large panels and widely used

to avoid direct sunlight and Angkasapuri is the best example. Besides providing aesthetic

value and adding uniqueness to the building, the enormous amount of repetition of shield-

liked form at the façade functioned as to provide shade to control the heat load from direct

sunlight as the building located in east-west orientation. The building have been shaded

from shield-liked were inspired by ‘pineapple skin’ cladding

Parliament building Malaysia

The design of the façade is also developed from the façade

concept of parliament building where the whole storey of

tower block was reticulated of pre-cast terrazzo cladding

panels which become the signature of that building, which

also functioned as sun-shading panels.

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ROOF

The roof at the main entrance of Wisma Angkasapuri is also designed to fit perfectly for the

tropical climate in Malaysia.

The shield like form at the façade

was inspired by the shell of a horse

shoe crab for it is solid and tough

which reduce the heat from

getting into the building.

Located at the entrance hall of Angkasapuri,

the protruded out barrel-vaulted roof have

the same function as the shield-liked form at

the façade, which is to minimize direct

sunlight and heat to get into the building.

Thus, when people look at the view from the

inside, the roof block the glare of the sun to

prevent uneasiness to the eyes.

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Curved barrel roof that shield sunlight

from the windows.

The ornamentation located below the

roof is for aesthetic purpose. It gives the

window a pleasant look from the outside.

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INTERIOR ELEMENTS

Closed up details of window openings at the entrance hall

CEILING

The big window openings at the Main

entrance of Wisma Angkasapuri allows

huge amount of natural lightning into the

building creates a very nice and warming

ambience. The big openings also

minimized the usage of artificial lightning

for the entrance hall.

The barrel vault ceiling span

across the whole entrance hall

without and middle support. The

repetition of barrel vault ceiling is

the result of the form of the

window openings and barrel vault

roof. The barrel vault ceiling

creates a very nice lighting effect

into the hall when there is natural

light penetrate into the building.

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STAIRS

WALLS

Stairs is one of the main features of Wisma Angkasapuri. It is made of

terrazzo. The design of the stairs adapted Art Deco design concept,

where it is also one of the characteristic of international style in neo-

classical theme. The style is often characterized by rich colour, bold

geometric shape and lavish ornamentation. Where we can see from the

square geometry form of staircase tiles and contrast colour of yellowish

and brown.

Usage of steel in hollow section of stairs slab allow the design of the stairs become bendable as

the backbone of stairs is slanted but the tread and the riser is not slanted where they are

designed in such way to create illusion on visions.

The walls of the interior of the building were mostly

made up of timber of certain thickness. The function

of the wall in Wisma Angkasapuri is focused on sound

insulation. This is because it is a broadcast building,

all the walls must be able to perform sound filtration

to prevent sound disturbance while doing recording.

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WINDOWS

Continuous windows, also known as ribbon window are located at guest waiting area in

every floor. The function of ribbon windows is to allow natural daylight to enter to the

interior spaces. However, as the climate in Malaysia is very hot throughout the years, the

windows must be glazed with tinted glass to trap the heat. Shades provided by shield-liked

form also helped in blocking huge amount of sunlight. Meanwhile, louvers and curtains are

probably the most common means to keep the building cooler.

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7.0 CONCLUSION

Angkasapuri is indeed a very interesting building to study as there are many surprising

features such as the coexist of local and Islamic architecture without losing the essence of

western architecture style in some of the components of the building. That have made

Angkasapuri one of the most important landmark in KL for its western architecture with

local influences.

After our site visit and deep research about the building, we learnt that the building applies

international architecture style, with hung windows and free façade applied to the entire

building. However, due to Malaysia’s tropical hot weather throughout the year, huge

windows brought a huge problem which is heat. Therefore, ingenious means to adapt

international style had been warranted and there came in the most significant elements of

the Angkasapuri, the “shield-liked” form that covers the whole building that provide shade.

Lastly, throughout the studies of Wisma Angkasapuri, we have increased our understanding

on the principle, ideas and contributing factors of International Styles Architecture in Klang

Valley.

40

List of References:

http://hids.arkib.gov.my/doc/jilidi/februari/17_02_1968_1980.htm

Bendera Kita Menjadi Sejarah, Unit 2, Muka 28 hingga 30, Bahasa Malaysia Tingkatan

3 KBSM, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1989.

http://www.atsa.com.my/publication/misc_files/Rtm/Angkasapuri.html#/36/

https://books.google.com.my/books?id=md9UAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=

angkasapuri+design+concept&source=bl&ots=1wMXrohID6&sig=XsFsfJRAlBMgGeRjf

2FpGqM6i3A&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=angkasapuri%20design%20c

oncept&f=false

http://www.atsa.com.my/.../misc.../Rtm/Angkasapuri.html

Ching, F. (2015). Architecture, form, space & order (4th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons

http://global.britannica.com/art/International-Style-architecture

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/modern_movements/2391/inte

rnational_style/408691

http://www.slideshare.net/akascuena/four-components-of-islamic-orientation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkasapuri

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/portfolio/azrul/html/inter.html

https://www.builddirect.com/learning-center/flooring/important-

characteristicsceramic/

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/112770

http://everything.explained.today/Radio_Televisyen_Malaysia/

"International Style", Encyclopedia Britannica, 2005.

http://hids.arkib.gov.my/doc/jilidi/februari/17_02_1968_1980.htm

Bendera Kita Menjadi Sejarah, Unit 2, Muka 28 hingga 30, Bahasa Malaysia Tingkatan

3 KBSM, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1989.

http://www.atsa.com.my/publication/misc_files/Rtm/Angkasapuri.html#/36/