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Heritage House In Kuala Lumpur

Vincent Q

By Vincent Q
in LEGO Town

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Vincent Q Enthusiast

Vincent Q

Posted
Posted

Hi, I am Vincent Kiew from Malaysia.

Here is a unique heritage house in our country. I would like to specially explain the history of this LEGO house and my objective of designing it. Hopefully through this, I am able to introduce this cultural heritage house to everyone.

...

This type of houses was found way back to end of 19th century before Malaya was formed when we were a colony of British. During that time, houses were built from leaves and tree trunks. In 1882, the 3rdpolitical secretary, Frank A. Swettenham, was involved in rebuilding of the city which is the current capital of Malaysia. During this period, building materials were supplied by British businessmen, whereas, manpower was provided by Kapitan Yap Ah Loy. In 1884, the first four brick houses (next to the house of Yap Ah Loy) were completed. Following year, two hundred and eighteen of similar houses were built. During the same time, most of the wooden houses were destroyed by fire. As such, the colonial government encouraged the people to build brick houses. In 1889, colonial government ordered to demolish all the wooden houses. Since then, there was no more wooden house.

Till today, the brick houses can still be found in the capital Kuala Lumpur, northern region in Penang, southern region in Melaka, central region in Ipoh and Muar. Different interior design was found in different region due to the influence of colonial background and the local customs. For example, colour of the brick houses found in Kuala Lumpur, was plain white. Northern region was influenced by the culture of Southern Thailand, whereas, southern region was influenced by the culture of Indonesia. As a result, they were more colourful. Although they all had difference colour, the design of the structure was more or less the same with the main door in the middle, one window on each side of the door. Second floor usually had two or three windows. There was carving on the walls. The significant feature of the houses was their shapes. They were all narrow but long. This feature was very much due to the housing taxes during that period.

During that time, the housing taxes were very much depended on the width of the house, regardless of the length. As a result, the people built their houses narrow and long. Most occupants of these houses were the migrants of China. Exterior of the houses were an integration of western and eastern styles of essence. The columns and the wall in front of the houses had the carving of European design, but windows and main door were design of Asian influenced because of the tropical weather in this region. The interior design of the house was very much designed according to the nation of the occupants. If you are visiting Kuala Lumpur, pay attention to the houses in Street Petaling, you will be able to see a few of these houses. Although they are rundown, use your imagination to travel through times. (^-^)/

During World War II in 1939, most of the places in the capital of Malaysia were used as army base and many of the brick houses were destroyed. However, many were kept in good conditions in Penang and Melaka. One of the brick houses belonged to a family of Baba Nyonya located at Jalan Tung Cheng Lock in Melaka, was converted to a Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum in 1985. In 2009, it was visited by the president of China Hu Jintao during his visit to Malaysia. If you have the interest in learning more about heritage, it should be one of the places you should visit. I am sure you will learn a lot about our ancestors.

Back to this LEGO model, I had wanted to build a Malaysian house. In order to build a house using LEGO, the door and the roof must resemble the original design. The wall and interiors are similar to many housing designs. It took me a few trials to get the windows right. After some research and study on a few books I bought, I still didn’t have a clue. It was only until I saw an old photo of a house with an open window on the second floor one day, then only I saw the structure of the window. The photo was a picture of people celebrating independent day at the Street Petaling. At that moment, all I wanted was to go home and build the windows (-_^). Besides the windows, another difficult structure to build was the air well. I wanted to know how to build the support of the air well. I wanted to know if there was a door and where was the drainage. It was at this time, when I took my children to Legoland during school holiday, I stopped at the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum in Melaka to study its structure. Even though the LEGO house that I built was based on the housing design in Kuala Lumpur, the interior decoration and furniture all resembled what was used by Chinese. For example, the red colour bed and the kitchen design were inspired by my visit to the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum. Thanks to the museum.

Sharing you all my little Lego video. Check it out at the following link.

https://vimeo.com/173026760

Hope you all like my works. ^_^

28098670250_e58ee49ee0_c.jpg1 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

27764871304_b6a17520b5_c.jpg1 (1) by vincentkiew, on Flickr

27765428523_ca00726af7_c.jpg5 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

28277103612_b0c2ed4599_c.jpg10 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

28381108785_d633a1570b_c.jpg12 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

27765460343_0d8b529fc2_c.jpg15 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

28381121215_ed99e34050_c.jpg17 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

28381128325_35991b97a0_c.jpg22 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

28302392221_8c0d243ac5_c.jpg28 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

28277136332_f00f19e914_c.jpg29 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

27765494413_cf843bff05_c.jpg37 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

28277155512_b51c72fc52_c.jpg39 by vincentkiew, on Flickr

BrickCurve Experienced

BrickCurve

Posted
Posted

Excellent build! There are so many great details here. Some of my favourites include the lanterns out the front of the building and the wall texturing, which is perfect.

jimmynick Mentor

jimmynick

Posted
Posted

Vincent - the first photo of your MOC is breathtaking. It looks like a normal old house but there's so much thought put into it. And then there are the interior photos! There are so many details, and I love that there's a two-storey space that is hidden from the outside. It's got such a lot of colors and textures, you've obviously put lots of work and thought into it, and it's come out beautifully.

Vincent Q Enthusiast

Vincent Q

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Vincent - the first photo of your MOC is breathtaking. It looks like a normal old house but there's so much thought put into it. And then there are the interior photos! There are so many details, and I love that there's a two-storey space that is hidden from the outside. It's got such a lot of colors and textures, you've obviously put lots of work and thought into it, and it's come out beautifully.

The two-storey space hidden inside is the air well that gives better air circulation and for the resident to collect rain water. Thank you for loving my MOC. ^_^

Edited by Vincent Q
muffluvin Contributor

muffluvin

Posted
Posted (edited)

This is truly an impressive build. The fixtures are so detailed and that exterior caught the details of such an old structure down to the last brick.

Edited by muffluvin
Littleworlds Mentor

Littleworlds

Posted
Posted

Amazing work. Interiors and exteriors are just brilliant and everything harmonizes very well together. It really looks llik you spent a lot of time and dedication to it. Wonderful piece of history :classic: :thumbup:

Dazz Collaborator

Dazz

Posted
Posted

This build of yours is breathtaking. Thanks for providing some background information as well.

Is that golden dragon alive? He must be because he isn't always sitting in that huge stone bowl.

Vincent Q Enthusiast

Vincent Q

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

This build of yours is breathtaking. Thanks for providing some background information as well.

Is that golden dragon alive? He must be because he isn't always sitting in that huge stone bowl.

Hahaha! That dragon is not meant to be alive out there. Chinese is a superstitious nation. Kind of think that putting a golden dragon statue in the air well area will bring back more fortune. :p

Edited by Vincent Q
Vincent Q Enthusiast

Vincent Q

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Congratulations, this is a first-rate build!

I love the interior details and the facade is just simply striking. I tip my hat to you Vincent.

Thank you brother. Can I keep your hat. ^o^

Nice job mate! I'm a Malaysian as well and I'm proud as to what you've built. I'm a conformist! man!

Terima Kasih! ^_^

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