Architecture, Power, and National Identity Essay examples

Having a sense of belonging is one of several fundamental human needs and national identity refers to a person’s sense of belonging to one country with its history, values and traditions. Since achieving independence in 1957, the issue of Malaysia’s national identity has been in the spotlight due to its strong social, political and economical factors implication. As a multi-cultural country, the search for a national identity is not an easy undertaking as Malaysians consist of different ethnics such as Malay, Chinese and Indian. Each ethnic group contributes their own unique culture and religion, hence making it difficult to form a Malaysian identity. In fact, in September 2010, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced the 1 Malaysia†¦show more content†¦The term, vernacular architecture, was first used by architectural theorists to describe buildings that seemed not to have been ‘consciously’ designed and affected by the intellectual and artistic currents of the Renaissance (Dell Upton, 1983). With the growing presence of globalization and modernization, the pre-industrial building heritage is indeed under threat with modern methods prevailing. In that vein, we are seeing how the â€Å"designs, use and meanings of these traditions change within the concepts of the contemporary processes† in a globalized world (Lindsay Asquit, Marcel Vellinga, 2006). The societal effects are evident in the negotiation of identity, and the definition and value of key concepts like tradition, modernity and place (Lindsay Asquit, Marcel Vellinga, 2006). One of the most engaging aspects that is relevant to the discourse of how vernacular architecture is tradition. It has been a major theme in writings on vernacular architecture (Al Sayyad, 2004). According to the values Victor Papanek exposed in his theory that â€Å"vernacular architecture is the result of multiple causation†, tradition as practiced in vernacular architecture can be displayed via a cultural explanation: In a traditional setting, there are many that determine an auspicious date before starting construction, by wayShow MoreRelatedCurrent Issues Of Museums And Galleries Journal1265 Words   |  6 PagesHowever, the main characteristic is â€Å"identity† which is the internal and external social forces. Each of us can hold more than one identity which†©are†©expressed†©collectively†©or†©individually†©at†©different†©times. In other words, visitors seek a way to fulfill their needs and personalities in a museum with self-reflection and self-interpretation. But, I wonder how can museums adapt to different shifting identities? Do museums need marketing to attract different identity groups? (Image 1) Visiting theRead MoreCultural Awareness. In This Paper, The Socio – Cultural1256 Words   |  6 Pagesculture are explained. Third, a detailed examination of the common cultural characteristics of Iran are presented. Specifically, the physical geography, military and conflict history, weather analysis and civil consideration with more emphasis on ‘power’ are discussed in detail. Culture and its Meaning Culture, a term used frequently, can be used to represent a multitude of aspects of a society, a region or a country. Typically, culture is defined as the ‘complex whole of a society’. The complexRead MoreFunctionalism Of Brazil : Cause Or Style?1623 Words   |  7 PagesBrazil: cause or style? The premise form follows function was first used by Sullivan in the late nineteenth century and built by Modernist Architecture in Europe in the twentieth century. Reflecting specifically on the Brazilian case, functionalism was an aspect of tension throughout the process of assimilation and appropriation of Modernism as a national language in the twentieth century, because on one side could be an important tool for democratization of accessing to certain programs throughRead MoreModernism And Modernism : Postmodernism And Postmodernism1632 Words   |  7 Pagespostmodernism, that I hope to find out. Modernism Modernism is a cultural movement has been around ever since the nineteenth century when the arts music architecture literatures were changing where it came after enlightenment where to reject them. The master narratives and Meta narratives fall in the grand theory of history. The culture and natural identity: myths of culture and ethnic origin totalizing explanations in history science and culture to represent knowledge and explain everything. â€Å"CentralRead MoreEssay on The Kiss of the Fur Queen 1398 Words   |  6 Pagesfunction that it has in society, restricts arts impact. This perspective limits and does not allow for the surfacing of profound effects that art creates. In the Kiss of the Fur Queen, art has power it does not simply exist but has function. The observable function of art in this text is in education, providing identity and finally uniting Gabriel and Jeremiah with their cultural roots. Art educates. This education can be both positive and negative but art can function as an educational tool that hasRead MoreDesign And Design Of Design History1343 Words   |  6 PagesDesign plays a significant role in people lives. Design contains a range of areas such as: architecture, landscape, fashion and graphic etc. Judging from the large number of exhibition, museum and modern building appears in recent year that people seems to put more emphasis on their visual artistic effect and design. Margolin (1992, P105) said, â€Å"The importance of design history has also been increasingly recognized by design professionals†. This means design history is necessary for contemporaryRead MoreEuropean Nations that Were Formed Due to Nationalist Ideas1643 Words   |  7 Pagesempires. These monarchies had absolute power over their subjects and there was no sense of nationalism or the idea of betterment of the general population. Various social and technological changes helped p ave the way for ideas of nationalism. Although the idea of the creation of the nation state began with the advent of the French Revolution but it took more than a century for the ideas of nationalism to become concrete enough to form the independent national state of France. the concept of NationalismRead MoreHistory and Museum – Instilling National Identity and Multiculturalism by display of History in Museum1711 Words   |  7 Pagespreserving history of a country or a place with educational implication. Museums, as stated by Brown and Davis-Brown (1998, p. 19), â€Å"help to preserve a collective national memory and thence to constitute a collective national identity†. The way of displaying war photos and different exhibits may have functions of raising national identity and present multiculturalism to audience. This essay will be discussed about how nationalization and multiculturalism presents through history in China’s museum fromRead MoreFresa y Chocolat e and The Borderlands1467 Words   |  6 PagesIdentity is the essential core of who we are as individuals, the conscious experience of the self-inside. (Kaufman cited in Anzaldà ºa, 1987, p.84) The objective of this essay will be to interpret the contradictions of identity produced in the movie Fresa y Chocolate and The Borderlands. When personal identity, is stifled and shaped by nationalistic discourse. By examining the polarised dichotomies of self-identity, juxtaposed against the internalised and dominant hegemonic discourse of imposed NationalRead MoreAnalysis Of The Project Disappearing Into Night 1361 Words   |  6 Pagesneighbourhood is situated in the heart of the Msheireb project, a large-scale, inner-city regeneration project inspired by contemporary design processes, yet retaining Qatari cultural character and heritage articulated through city planning and architecture (Law, R. and Underwood K, 2012). The old district of Al-Asmakh, is populated predominately by male economic workers, attracting flows of migrants from African and Asian countries including: Ghana, Somalia, Ethiopia, Benin, Mali, Sudan, Nigeria