Reverse-Engineering Culture: Rediscovering intangible heritage & traditional craft practices of Malay housebuilding

Introduction.

Traditional Malay house is a dying craft in Malaysia as contemporary building materials and techniques predominate the construction industry. The Malay house, built over generations by Malay master-craftsmen, represents the indigenous of the Malay society often associated with abstract beliefs and symbolism. Based on UNESCO’s definition of cultural heritage, the Malay house constitutes both intangible and tangible aspect, acting as a symbol of Malay identity. While the latter delineate the preservation of the built form, intangible cultural heritage stresses the importance of the safeguarding, dissemination and reproduction of traditional craftsmen practices and knowledge in Malay house building.

A traditional Malay craftsman is bounded by the hierarchy of labour between a Master craftsman and its apprentices (Sennett, 2009), however as a forgotten trade, traditional Malay builders are now scarce, leaving a significant generation gap that is leading to the loss of knowledge in traditional making. In the past, practices of Malay house building include rituals and technical know-how which was based on an oral culture, hence the extinction of Malay craftsmen hints at an heritage processes of cultural stagnation (Alivizatou, 2012).

This study documents and evaluates a ‘reverse-engineering’ technique, an alternative view on knowledge transfer in contrast to the apprenticeship knowledge system. This notion was discovered during the author’s fieldwork with modern Malay craftsmen, which exploits the disassembly process of a Malay house as a tool to reveal evidence of rituals, indigenous and tacit knowledge embedded in each component of the house. By adopting the Material Culture Theory, the house becomes the narratives of intangible cultural heritage processes.

What is a Malay house?

The traditional Malay houses are characterized by features such as lightweight timber-framed system on stilts footing, distinguishable from heavy built forms of other southeast Asian houses (Waterson, 1997).

The Malays were among the pioneers in modular constructions and prefabrication (Hilton, 1992) where houses can be extended, disassembled and relocated in response to their spiritual beliefs towards the environment.

Conclusion.

The fundamental challenge behind this study is to transmit intangible knowledge and understanding the technical and tacit qualities in building the traditional Malay house, in a period where there is a generation gap among the traditional and contemporary Malay craftsmen. Therefore, the course of action in the disassembly process of a Malay house provides an alternative and invaluable approach towards learning and knowledge transfer among future generations, enabling them to master old techniques and evolve new craft practices rooted in the present.

References and further reading.

Alivizatou, M., 2012. Intangible Heritage and the Museum: New Perspectives on Cultural Preservation. Left Coast Press Inc, Walnut Creek, Calif.
Ariffin, S.I., 2000. A Mathematical Explanation Of The Magic Measurements Found In The “Taj-Ul-Mulk” And The “Pawang’s Book.” J. Malays. Branch R. Asiat. Soc. 73, 91–105.
Hilton, R.N., 1992. Defining the Malay House. J. Malays. Branch R. Asiat. Soc. 65, 39–70.
Sennett, R., 2009. The Craftsman. Penguin, London.
Waterson, R., 1997. The Living House: An Anthropology of architecture in South-East Asia. Thames and Hudson, London.
All images/figures edited and sourced from Lim, J.Y., 1987. The Malay house: Rediscovering Malaysia’s Indigenous Shelter System. Institut Masyarakat Pulau Pinang.

Other Research Posters.

For other research posters, please refer here.

If you are interested in engaging and working with us on your next project, please contact us.