Name: Hiew Yen Nee 0314212

Kuala Lumpur or commonly known as KL is located right in the heart of Southeast Asia, which is the capital and the largest city of the Federation of Malaysia. It is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a key city. Besides, Kuala Lumpur is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysia's futuristic development.

Skyline of Kuala Lumpur

Zoning of Kuala Lumpur city

Kuala Lumpur City Centre Park G Tower Shangri- La Hotel

Kuala Lumpur City Centre is a multipurpose development area in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The area is located around Jalan Ampang, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Binjai, Jalan Kia Peng and Jalan Pinang. There are a number of shopping complexes such as Suria KLCC and Avenue K. There are also hotels within walking distance such as G Tower, Mandarin Oriental, Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur and Shangri- La Hotel which are all acted as the landmarks of the city.

Complexity and contradiction in architecture by Robert Venturi

Contradictory Levels: The Phenomenon Of ‘Both-and’ In Architecture

In contrast to many modernists, Venturi uses a form of symbolically decorated architecture based on precedents. He believes that structure and decoration should remain separate entities and that decoration should reflect the culture in which it exists. In contradiction,

Venturi also considers symbolism unnecessary since modern technology and historical symbolism rarely harmonize.

Historical symbolism vs Modern technology

The contradictory levels of meaning and use in architecture involve the contrast implied by the conjunctive ‘yet’. The source of the both- and phenomenon is contradiction which its basis is hierarchy, which provides several levels of meanings among elements with varying values. For examples, if we move through or around a building, at one moment one meaning can be perceived as dominant, at another moment a different meaning seems can be more important than it. ‘Both-and’ refers more to the relation of the part to the whole.

Kuala Lumpur presents itself as a city of contradictions, from its charming colonial and Moorish-styled buildings to traditional pre-war shophouses to Western-styled shopping malls, international hotels, branded residences and green-rated offices. From the refined class and finish of Pavillion Center to the near slum conditions of Brickworks or China Town. The production of the city has also had to negotiate the contradiction between rejection of global institution like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and the passionate embrace of global technology.

Kuala Lumpur is a modern city with high-rise building, yet there are lots of family in poverty outside the area of the city (modern technology and historical symbolism rarely harmonize)

The architecture and the design of the city is intimately caught up in the long- term communal segregations and their reinforcing representation, in the legitimating of colonial authority and subsequently in its denigration, and in the historic attempts to define both community and national identity. In recent decades the representational tasks of the city and its architecture have become implicated in attempts to deny some versions of globalisation, yet to embrace others.

References:

Robert Venturi - Great Buildings Online. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Robert_Venturi.html

Patchay.Com: Kuala Lumpur Urban Developments (Page 1 of 2). (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://www.patchay.com/p/kuala-lumpur-urban-developments.html

Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from https://books.google.com.my/books?id=qd0SXNUbgwcC&pg=PR24&lpg=PR24&dq=contradictory of kuala lumpur