Architecture culture & history 2 (ARC 60203)

Project 2: report (Group & Individual)

dewan tunku canselor

Tutor: ms shahrianne
Members:
kan sook san 0319326
koh sung jie 0318912
lee hui qin 0322991
lee zu jing 0325706
lim joe onn 0318679

contents
INTRODUCTION

1-2

SITE CONTEXT

3-4

LAYOUT

5-12

STYLE

12-14

CONSTRUCTION, STRUCTURE, MATERIALS

15-18

ELEMENTS, COMPONENTS

19-21

CONCLUSION

22

referenCES

23-24

Introduction

Dewan Tunku Canselor is one of the most iconic buildings in Malaysia. The building along
with the influences of Brutalism and modernism was designed by the late Datuk Kington Loo
of BEP Akitek. After completing in 18 months, the building was named and officiated by the
first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman on 25 June 1966 and he became the
universitys chancellor at that time. The hall is
able to accommodate 6000 people and was
designed for convocation ceremonies and
numerous functions of the university
semester exams, large scale performances,
seminars and conferences.
Unfortunately, a pre-dawn fire on 29 June 2001 destroyed 90% of the internal building. With
the help of The Faculty of Built Environment, the reconstruction started in August and was
then launched the second time by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on 20 August 2002.
Datuk Kington Loo, a well-known architect in Malaysia was born
on 17 October 1930. He was one of the architects in the early
stages of the countrys independence and also the one who
brought modernism to Southeast Asia. He was the great-grandson
of Loke Yew, an influential businessman while his mother, Lok Soh
June was a successful piano player and the sixth daughter of
millionaire businessman Loke Chow Kit.

Due to World War 2, Mr Loo had to move from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and later India,
before coming back to Kuala Lumpur. His education included Batu Road School in Kuala
Lumpur, St Columbus High School in Delhi and the Victorian Institution in Malaysia. Loo then
studied civil engineering at Technology College for a year and a half before Loos great
grandmother financed his studies in University of Melbourne in Australia where he took
architecture. He was an excellent student and won the internal competition to design the
Dean of Architectures holiday house.
Kington Loo graduated in 1953 and then he returned to Kuala Lumpur and joined the firm of
Booty, Edwards & Partners (BEP). He started from a graduated architect, to a full-fledged
architect, then finally one of the partners in the practice. He was the first to win the PAMs
Gold Medal in 1998. Notable works include the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, the Standard
Chartered building in KL and the 23-storey Police Cooperative Building at Jalan Sulaiman.

Standard Chartered Building

Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport

He was the role model of professions in the country and was constantly heard in the print
media. He was described as a very kind and soft spoken person and known to speak up and
not reserving his comments. PAM president, Tan Pei Ing said Kington Loo always
emphasised on three things professionalism, integrity and honesty and he always said that
what will set us apart from the con men is our professionalism and he always had the
publics interest in mind. He taught us that when a client engages us, public interest must
always be looked after. We should not just aim to please the client but also take into
account the impact on the public and the environment.

Site context

LEE ZU JING 0325706

Entrance
Boundaries
Route
Location plan of Dewan Tunku Canselor

Site plan of DTC

University Malaya, the first University of Malaysia is situated on a 750-acre campus in

between east of Petaling Jaya and southwest of Kuala Lumpur. The plan of UM is interrupted
by the forestry and the Pantai river at the centre. The connectivity is surrounding the forestry
to maintain the greenery within the region. Organic grid is used due to the topography of the
site and allows spaces for further extensions or unit additions as the population of the
university grows in the future.

3
1

Other than that, circulation within University Malaya is clustered due to the organic grid.
Cul-de-sac is one of the important aspects of the circulation route. Cul-de-sac is created to
limit through-traffic and established pedestrian and vehicle connectivity. It is to increase the
capacity of vehicle parking lots.

The green dash line indicates the most active traffic route in University of Malaya.
Therefore, the route has a slower traffic flow compared to the other routes. Overall, the
traffic flow and the density of vehicle within University of Malaya are quite low as public
transportation is provided for the users to reach their desired destination.
The master plan of the University Malaya consists of faculty buildings, lecture halls,
administrative buildings, student hostels and facilities. Dewan Tunku Canselor is one of the
modern buildings built in the 60s. It is surrounded by 50s and 60s built structures. Natural
elements including tropical forestry, river and lake are located at the north and south of the
building. Most of the buildings that surround Dewan Tunku Canselor are open for the public
use such as the post office, bookstore and bank.

layout

KAN SOOK SAN 0319326

Architectural Layout of Dewan Tunku Canselor

CANSELERI

COURT
ROOM

DEWAN TUNKU
CANSELOR

AMPHITHEATRE

Overall plan of Dewan Tunku Canselor and the Canseleri building

First floor plan of Dewan Tunku Canselor

First floor plan of the Canseleri building

Elevations

East elevation

North elevation

South elevation

Circulation To Use-Space

First floor plan of Dewan Tunku Canselor

The circulation of the Canseleri building is central as there is a void at the middle of the
building. The void at the ground floor provides a green space for the staff. Dewan Tunku
Canselor is divided into four main parts: foyer, seating hall, stage and backstage. The foyer
and seating hall are public spaces whereas the stage including the backstage is semi-public
space as it is usually for the performers and workers. The main approach to the building is
through the foyer where the public users will experience the light and shadow casted by the
brise soleri surrounding the space. From the ceiling to the walls, natural light penetrates into
the foyer. The spiral staircases lead the users from the ground floor to the elevated seating
halls up until the balcony. Other than that, users are able to walk into the seating hall
accordingly. There are more entry points on the east of the hall because it is where the
backstage is located and the performers and workers would have to prepare over there. The
east side also has more partitions thus the circulation is more complicated and clustered.

Organization Analysis
Symmetry and balance

The symmetry of both buildings represent the virtuous and balanced development in
nurturing talents, which is one of the main missions of Universiti Malaya as an educational
institution.

Geometry

The geometry shapes that are applied on the building are the rectangle and the circle. The
rectangle shape acts as the main component of the building. Two circles occur on the same
side but opposite. The forms of the buildings are derived from the shapes from the plan.

Additive and subtractive

The rectangular form of the Canseleri is subtracted at the middle. The circulation is central
as the void is created at the centre of the building. Its courtyard is developed by the
subtractions as greenery public space. The additive of the circular elements shows contrast
between rigid straight lines and curvilinear properties.

Repetitive to unique

The repetition of rectangle is overlapped by the small circle. Architect experiments with
forms and shape by overlapping cylinders and cuboids.

Massing

The mass of the building is developed by the overlapping of the cylinder and rectangular.
Complex elements on the faade such as brise soleri creates a heavier visual weight.

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Natural light

The large amount of windows allows the natural light to penetrate into the foyer. The light
comes from three walls: faade and both sides. It increases the degree of exposure of the
foyer. Less energy is required during the day. The natural light that penetrates from the
upper part of the walls creates an illusion of higher ceiling. Therefore the scale of the
building is visually larger.

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style

LIM JOE ONN 0318679

Brutalist architecture is a movement

that flourished from the 1950s to the
mid-1970s. It descended from the
modernist architectural movement
earlier in the 20th century. The term
Brutalist originates from the French
word for raw concrete bton brut. It
is used by Swiss-French architect, Le
Corbusier to describe his choice of
material.
Brutalist buildings are usually
designed with repeated modular
elements forming masses
representing specific functional
zones, distinctly articulated and
grouped together into a unified
whole. They possess a dynamic
geometric style that is massive,
monolithic and blocky in
appearance, and typically

The Canseleri courtyard in Dewan Tunku Canselors compound

contains copious amounts of poured concrete.

Concrete is a prominent material in Brutalist

buildings due to its raw and unpretentious
honesty. Surfaces of cast concrete are made
to reveal the basic nature of its construction,
revealing the wooden planks used for the insitu casting forms. They also consist of bricks,
glass and steel.
Structural honesty on Dewan Tunku Canselors walls
where the concrete is left in its bare form

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Another common theme in Brutalist designs is the exposure of the buildings functions,
ranging from their structure and services to their human use. This architectural philosophy is
associated with socialist utopian ideologies.
Brutalism is about stretching the limits of how concrete could be shaped. This includes
prefabricated building techniques as well. These buildings however, lack the light and
skeletal appearance of early International style buildings as the fond use of raw concrete is
favoured due to low cost and reduced construction time.
Brutalism flourished in the 1950s, descending from modernist, minimalist architecture from
the early 20th century. It became popular with governmental and institutional clients with
numerous examples in countries all around the world. This style is very popular for
educational buildings especially university buildings, but was rare for corporate projects.

Sante Marie de la Tourette Monastery by Le Corbusier

Western influence is significant on Dewan Tunku Canselor as its design was directly
influenced by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusiers Brutalist ideology. The monolithic
erection of this building was heavily inspired by the Brutalism movement that occurred in
the West. The textures of the wooden forms in which the concrete is poured into is
maintained and blatantly revealed on the surface of the unadorned reinforced concrete,
resulting in an exterior that is daunting, uncomplicated yet stealthily intricate. The strip
traces all along the building are marks left by the wooden construction moulds and were left
on purpose to fulfil the honesty in materials proposed in the concept of Brutalism
architecture. Brutalism became the style of choice for Dewan Tunku Canselor as many
architects involved in the Brutalism movement are purists about architecture and used
architecture to reflect positive human aspirations. Shaping humans of positive traits and

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attitude is the key aim of educational institutions. Hence, the ideology of University of
Malaya and Brutalism are coherent with one another. Brutalism is Utopian in their outlook
and Dato Kington Loo imagined his creation to be richly expressive for culture and positive
education provided for varsity students. During the 1950s, the building is bold enough to be
recognized as modern in conjunction with the countrys new spirit.

The Dewan Tunku Canselor is a reminiscent of Le Corbusiers High Court building and the
Secretariat offices in Chandigarh, India. As Malaysia is a tropical country with abundant
sunlight and hot humid weather, Dewan Tunku Canselor is designed in a way that it has
good air ventilation yet possess a balance of shade and lighting, which means being
sufficiently lit without heating its interiors. Thus, the brise soleil is implemented.
Similar to the monoliths in Chandigarh,
Dewan Tunku Canselor is protected by a
series of concrete louvers that allow good
ventilation, yet keeping the sun and rain
out. It helps reduce the usage of
mechanical cooling within the interior
spaces by allowing air circulating into the
building yet providing shade. It reduces
heat gain within the building by deflecting sunlight. As the bare facades and roof of the
building are exposed concrete, it is non-reflective and does not cause thermal conductivity,
making it suitable for its tropical context.

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CONSTRUCTION
Structure
materiaLS

LEE HUI QIN 0322991

Dewan Tunku Canselor was mainly constructed by raw concrete with the beton brut image
in which the final surface reflects the imprint of the plywood formwork used for pouring. It
was chosen the main material in this building as it flourished as a part of the brutalist
architecture. The entire building was constructed using precast concrete as the strength and
durability are high, whereby the duration of construction is also decreased as it is easily
monitored by plant employees under factory conditions. Another reason of using precast
concrete is the implementation of repetitive elements made construction work easier.

surface of beton brut

Precast concrete of similar size

Concrete waffle slab ceilings are used in Dewan Tunku Canselor. It consists of equally
spaced ribs which are supported directly by columns. Although this form of construction is
not common due to high cost, it is still used in this building as it is light, has low fire rating

15

and able to support medium to heavy load. Besides, it provides an attractive soffit
appearance between ceiling and windows.

Glass is used in the installation of windows and skylights. There are 3 types of glass
used, namely float glass, laminated glass and stained glass. Float glass is used for windows
as it has uniform thickness with excellent optical clarity and aesthetic appearance. It is also
not subjected to distortion. While for the skylight, laminated glass produced by bonding
together two or more pieces of glass with plastic interlayers were used. Hence, it is safer as
it reduces the risk of injury to the people that pass below it since it will not shatter to
fragments as it is held together by the interlayer. Floral-pattern stained glass can be found
at the foyer located at the ground floor. It is mainly decorative. Its ornate decoration add
visual interest to the rooms where the window becomes the focal point while giving the
space a personal touch.

Float glass

Laminated glass

Stained glass

Steel is also used in most parts of the building such as framing and roofing. Mild steel
is used for the trusses as an internal structural component. It is ductile, meaning it can be
bent easily. Rusting may occur on mild steel due to exposure to high humidity. In order to
prevent rust on mild steel, it is galvanized before installation. A fire incident happened in

16

2001. Thus, it lead to the installation of new steel roofing system over the great hall with
new steel frames and waterproof roof membrane. This decision was made as it is fire
resistant which gives the building a Class A fire rating. Also, the duration of roofing
installation is short since the restoration must be done as soon as possible so that the hall
can be opened to public.

Steel trusses

Steel roofing system

Tiles are commonly used on the floor in the construction of Dewan Tunku Canselor.
Mosaic tiles can be seen on the spiral staircase and also certain pathways. The cost of
installation of mosaic tiles is relatively low. Hence, it is installed as it is required to cover up
vast areas of floor. Besides, it is non-porous so that grime sinking into the tile will not
happen and it will be easier to clean up. Other than mosaic tiles, porcelain tiles can be found
in some areas such as the restroom. This is because porcelain tiles are harder which makes
it long wearing.

Mosaic tiles

Porcelain tiles

Datuk Kington Loo got his inspiration of Dewan Tunku Canselor from Le Corbusiers
masterpieces. Both architects emphasize on beton brut construction. It is the concept
defined by Le Corbusier that speaks a stronger dialogue between materials and artistic
vision of his art by using exposed concrete. Moreover, both of the buildings facades are

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sheltered by a series of angled fixed square concrete louvers that aid in ventilation. For the
Chandigarh High Court, the raw concrete surfaces are exposed in its interior as Le Corbusier
intended to introduce a sound-absorptive surface which help reduce echoes in the court
while for Dewan Tunku Canselor, the raw concrete is exposed at the foyer which reveals its
skeleton.

Faade of Tunku Canselor Hall

Faade of Chandigarh High Court

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Elements
components

KOH SUNG JIE 0318912

As the first Brutalist building in Malaysia, many significant architectural components were
introduced to our local builders.
From the top, the roof of Dewan Tunku Canselor was intentionally made to be heavy and
monumental where the scale of it is larger than the building. The roof is very horizontal and
angular. This is the nature of Brutalism where it symbolizes the burden people had to carry
after World War 2.

To counteract the weight of such a massive roof, the use of waffle-slab ceiling decreases the
overall weight while maintaining the size. This is very popular among brutalist buildings all
over the world. Dato Kington Loo was very consistent as all the other ceilings seen outside
the building also maintain this pattern.
At the north side of the
building, a rectangular roof is
cantilevered

without

any

supports. This shows us the

possibilities we can do from
the strength of concrete.

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Dewan Tunku Canselor is surprisingly sustainable as it depends on natural lighting to

illuminate its interior. Large float glass becomes its primary windows and is used extensively
on the east side and at the north entrances. As our climate is known to be very sunny and we
occasionally experience heavy rain, the float glass allows sunlight in the building while keeping
the rain out. To control the sunlight, a series of brise soleri is used. They vary according to the
elevation of the building.

Left: Alternating louvers at the east. Middle: 45 degrees louvers at the south. Right: Long vertical blinders at the west.

At the East side, the brise soleri alternate its direction between the rows, facing to the north
and south. This makes the foyer well lit while creating a sense of privacy. At the north as well
as the south end, the brise soleri extends from the first floor all the way to the roof, facing 45
degrees towards the east. At the back of the building (the west side), the windows are almost
covered completely with long vertical strips of brise soleri. The architect of Dewan Tunku
Canselor clearly understood the use natural sunlight towards his advantage as the louvers are
directed towards where the sunlight is the softest.
The additional methods he used were the circular
skylights where two is found at the north entrance and
two more at the south end. They are unusual as they
break from the horizontalness and verticality of its
design. Moreover, the presence of stained glass seen at
the grand entrance is very controversial as it defies the
rawness of brutalism while acknowledging the tradition of Malaysian culture as the pattern
and color in its design suggest some Islamic influences.

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Dewan Tunku Canselor is flanked by two identical spiral

staircases that provide the curvilinear elements to its
outer appearance. They are each lit by a unique
chandelier that hangs down almost the entire length of
the staircase. The Canseleri building features a grand
staircase ornamented by red Chengal wood that shows
the motion of lines. Furthermore, there are two half landing staircases with 180 degree flat
turns outside at the north and south side of the building respectively. Both are kept raw and
shows the beton brut finishing.
The flexibility of concrete is portrayed by moulding
large concrete vases with floral embellishments.
They are arranged neatly in a row and in some there
is also a concrete rubbish bin with similar
adornments. Not only that, the pillars and beams at
the southeast corner of the building has patriotic
markings such as the Jalur Gemilang and the
Hibuscus flower. Moreover, a large slab moulded

Two concrete vases at both sides and a

concrete bin in the middle.

with the universitys emblem is also located in the vicinity. From here we can see that this
building had a reputation of stretching concretes capabilities
Due to the warm climate where the building is
located, Dewan Tunku Canselor has a small pond
at the north-eastern corner which helps in
evaporative cooling purposes. This element can
also be seen in another tropical Brutalist structure,
the Chandigarh High Court. The water feature in
Dewan Tunku Canselor heavily emphasises on
running water as there are many openings for water to flow out. This creates a serene
environment in sight as well as in sound. Furthermore, potted plants and flowers are placed
neatly around the place to improve the overall appearance to become more vibrant and lively.

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CONCLUSION
Dewan Tunku Canselor is one of the first Malaysian buildings to adopt Brutalism at that time
period. Yet, Brutalist buildings are often seemed tough, hard and uncompromising. Being a
dichotomy of simplicity and complexity to the senses, the period of Brutalism is best
remembered for its bulky, fortress-like buildings.
This Brutalist building is a large-scale celebration of the sculptural qualities of concrete and
the presentation of honesty in the treatment of materials with a predominance of exposed
concrete construction. In this style, there is often an emphasis on graphically expressing in
the external elevations and in the whole-site architectural plan. It is seen as rugged and lack
of concern towards looking light and comfortable, but emphasized on strength, materiality
and function. It appears rigid and anti-aesthetic but is perceived as more honest and true to
Modernisms basic principles. Thus, the whole conception of the building became plain and
comprehensible.
The structure of Dewan Tunku Canselor complements the setting it is in. Through the
inspection of its interior components, it subtly hints towards the local culture and tradition.
Moreover, it has implemented various characteristics and technologies to become more
suited to the tropical climate. By being the brainchild of the architect Dato Kington Loo and
having the influence of Le Corbusier's later works, the establishment of Dewan Tunku
Canselor gave a great impact on Malaysian architecture.

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END

REFERENCES
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Kuala Lumpur: PETRONAS.
Lim, T. (2010). Shapers of Modern Malaysia: The Lives and Works of PAM Gold Medallists.
Kuala Lumpur: Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia.

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