Gaya rupa dan peletakan ornamen senibina pada rumah tradisional bumbung panjang, Melaka

Abstract

The loss of traditional home builders and craftsmen, and lack of awareness on the value of ornaments, architecture references and documentation have led to confusion in the understanding of local architectural heritage. This scenario has caused the loss of local identity, which will eventually disappear into modernity. In the name of preservation, this study identified the placement of ornaments, analyzed the style of art and modification in ornaments of long-roofed Melaka houses, and suggested various regionalism style in every district as the identity of Melaka traditional houses. The study focused on all long-roofed Melaka houses, aged more than 50 years old that have a lot of identified ornaments. Exploratory and explanatory methods were used through observations of these houses as source of data. Data were also gained from inventory forms, field studies and interviews. A total of 32 houses from 105 houses identified through inventory surveys were selected as research houses. Findings showed that the main ornaments found on the ‘head’of the Melaka long-roofed houses consisted of tebar layar, papan layang, papan tumpu kasau and kasau lentik. On the other hand, the main elements of the ‘body’ part of the house, were found on outer wall finishes of front facades, and wall finishes on side elevations with staircases, front door, long windows and small windows. At the ‘foot’ of the house, ornaments were found on staircases and stair railings. There were various art styles of the ornaments and their refined nature are dominant in houses across the districts of Melaka. The findings indicated the existence of regional variations in the houses in the three districts of Melaka Tengah, Jasin and Alor Gajah in terms of physical nature and art style of the ornaments. The study contributed to an important discovery in terms of knowledge in the field of cultural heritage, thereby forming a framework of thought that help in the formation of guidelines on local architectural identity.