Munich Personal RePEc Archive Pilot Survey On The Conservation Of Historical Buildings In Malaysia Kamal, KamarulSyahrilandAbW ahab, LilawatiandAhmad, AGhafar UiTM Perak, Malaysia, UiTM Perak, Malaysia, USM, Malaysia 2008 Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/22478/ MPRA Paper No. 22478, posted 04 May 2010 06:01 UTC PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2nd. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 2008 "SUSTAINEBLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: BRIDGING THEORY AND PRACTICE", 3 4th. DECEMBER 2008, UNIVERSITY SCIENCE MALAYSIA 1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2nd. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 2008 "SUSTAINEBLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: BRIDGING THEORY AND PRACTICE", 3 4th. DECEMBER 2008, UNIVERSITY SCIENCE MALAYSIA PILOT SURVEY ON THE CONSERVATION OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS IN MALAYSIA Kamarul Syahril Kamal− Lilawati Ab Wahab− and Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Ghafar Ahmad, University Technology MARA−, University Science Malaysia [email protected], lilawati@ erak.uitm.edu.my, [email protected] ABSTRACT- Historic buildings basically re resents the single most visible as ect of our ast history and culture. Like most other countries in the world, Malaysia has a rich legacy of historic buildings with outstanding craftsmanshi and architecture quality. They form an im ressive historic features and heritage of the ast work of man. It is im ortant to conserve and reserve historic buildings because they rovide a sense of identity and continuity in a fast changing world for future generations. However some of these buildings are at risk from defects and are not being well cared for due to lack of technical knowledge and high cost of re air and maintenance. The ur ose of this a er intends to highlight the e(isting conditions of historical buildings in Malaysia with the main focus on the conditions of building defects and conservation a roach to these buildings. To do so, a ilot survey has been conducted on several heritage towns and cities based on the e(isting heritage trail in Malaysia. The broad ob)ective of this ilot survey is to e(amine the level of building defects and the location of building defects that normally occur at various ty es of historical buildings in Malaysia. At the same time, it will also look into the conservation a roaches that has been done to these historical buildings either the method are acce table according to the basic rinci les and hiloso hy of building conservation. It is e( ected that this a er could contribute some benefits to the owners, consultants, contractors, conservators, various government agencies, heritage body and by all those who concerned with the care and conservation of historic buildings in Malaysia. Keywords- Pilot Survey, Heritage Trail, Historical Buildings, Building ,efects, Building Conservation. 1. INTRODUCTION Malaysia.s history is largely embedded in its architecture, social and cultural fabric, and of these the architectural fabric is robably the most enduring one. Recently, the historical building conservation and maintenance can be considered as a o ular method use in Malaysia. In fact, historic building is an im ortant element in town develo ment which can be seen in some cities in the world. It lays an im ortant role in defining the landmark within the urban area as well as generating income and boosting the tourism industry. Historic buildings according to /ielden 010003 is one that gives us a sense of wonder and makes us want to know more about eo le and culture that roduced it. /rom the first act of its creation, through its long life to the resent day, historic buildings have artistic and human messages, which will be revealed by a study of its history. A com le(ity of ideas and of cultures may be said to encircle historic buildings and be reflected in it. Malaysia has a rich legacy of historic buildings, they form an im ressive heritage of the ast works of man. As documents of the ast, historic buildings are im ortant as a source of historical materials as the a er and archment used by historians. Therefore it is im ortant to 2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2nd. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 2008 "SUSTAINEBLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: BRIDGING THEORY AND PRACTICE", 3 4th. DECEMBER 2008, UNIVERSITY SCIENCE MALAYSIA conserve and reserve historic buildings because it rovides a sense of identity and continuity in a fast changing world. Since the building boom of the 1570s, many of Malaysia.s historic buildings have been demolished. Recent large scale urban develo ment continues to threaten re7war buildings, while other historic buildings are sim ly deteriorating due to age, neglect and high cost of maintenance. /ee 015583 e( ressed that to lose these buildings, however is effectively to obliterate historical memories, and there is now increasing ressure from various segments of the community to conserve the nation.s historical heritage. As we all known that conservation is the action taken to revent decay, embracing all acts that rolong the life of cultural and natural heritage. Building conservation according to 0/ielden, 10009 Insall, 15713 relates s ecifically to the rocess of re air, maintenance and restoration of historic buildings which aim to rolong a building.s life and function. In Malaysia, the ractice of building conservation is considered new. Laws for historic building conservation are established throughout legislation whereby a national inventory of historic buildings includes lists and schedules of old buildings for rotection. E(am le of historic buildings in Malaysia according to Ahmad 015573 are mosque, churches, alaces, clock towers, risons, government offices, institutional and commercials, residential, schools, railway stations, hotels, forts and monuments. 0. AIM AND OB1ECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH The overall aim of this research is to have specific knowledge associated with defects in Malaysia historical buildings like9 to determine the locations, ty es and causes of defect so that specific action can be carried out to overcome the roblems as described before. Meanwhile the overall outcome of this research is to be able to recognize and diagnose defects at each building element in historic buildings. Previously much has been ublished about building defects, their causes and cures, but unfortunately the information is scattered over a wide range of ublications and not easily accessible. There are also a number of e(cellent te(ts, studies and research conducted on building defects but these tends to be either highly technical and/or specific to certain ty e of defects or building materials and did not cover on the overall elements of the buildings. Moreover, the ublished advice on remedial work often assumes that the cause of the failure is already known9 in ractice, although the sym toms will be a arent, the under laying factors may be obscure. If a wrong diagnosis is made, the treatment is unlikely to be successful and money will be wasted. Actually there is a need for a guide to study about the defects and aid the 3 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2nd. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 2008 "SUSTAINEBLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: BRIDGING THEORY AND PRACTICE", 3 4th. DECEMBER 2008, UNIVERSITY SCIENCE MALAYSIA correct diagnosis of defects because revention is better than cure, and something have to be done to reduce the frequency of defects especially to historic buildings by choosing a ro riate a roaches, methods, techniques and materials. Therefore it is worth to do this research. There are four rimary ob)ectives in this research that need to be fulfilled to ensure that the overall aim of this research is achieved. The ob)ectives are as follows: 1. To determine the conditions of building defects at Malaysia historical buildings. 1. To determine whether the historical buildings in Malaysia has been conserved accordingly to the conservation guidelines. 3. To determine the locations of defects at historic buildings. 4. To identify whether the conservation a roach has been carried out ractically. 2. APPROACH AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The a roach used in this research starts with the overview of historic buildings in Malaysia. The literature review is mainly acquired from ublished books, research a ers, seminar a ers and )ournals. The research is further reinforced by formulating a set of questionnaires and handed over to owners or occu ants of selected historic buildings in Malaysia. The questionnaire will be tabulated, summarized and analyzed accordingly to the research ob)ectives to obtain findings. The background information of this research is obtained by various methods and the collection of new data is necessary to get the accurate result. The data regarding defects in historic buildings is collected by two main methods as follows: 1. Observations through site survey/ ilot survey where data is obtained from a visual inspection of defects at its e(act location or based on building elements. 1. Auestionnaires as mention before where data is collected by re aring a series of structured questions related to conservation a roach at the historical buildings. 3. PILOT SURVEY ON THE HISTORICAL BUILDINGS IN MALAYSIA Building conservation has long been of concern, although its o ular a lication is relatively recent in origin, articularly in Malaysia. In the ast few years, many historic buildings have been reserved and conserved while others have been converted to become remises for a bank, restaurant, information centre or a rinting office. Malaysia is one of the fortunate countries that have many historic buildings which are 4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2nd. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 2008 "SUSTAINEBLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: BRIDGING THEORY AND PRACTICE", 3 4th. DECEMBER 2008, UNIVERSITY SCIENCE MALAYSIA of immense architectural and historical value. An inventory study undertaken in 1551 and 1553 by the Heritage Trust of Malaysia in con)unction with the National Museum, the Housing and Local Covernment Ministry and /aculty of Built Environment, University Technology Malaysia 0UTM3, reveals that there are near 35,000 historic buildings built between 1800 and 1548 throughout the country which are worthy for reservation and conservation.