ASIAN ARCHITECTURE (ARC60403) PROJECT 1: CASE STUDY ESSAY HISTORIC STREET : JALAN AMPANG TUTOR: NICHOLAS NG KHOON WU GROUP MEMBERS: AIDAN HO WEI SUAN 0326021 AIMUNI KHALIDAH A. BAKAR 0326074 ASHROFF A. WAHAB 0325736 NIK AHMAD MUNAWWAR NIK DIN 0325167 SITI NUR FATAHIAH MD EZAMUDIN 0320595 THAREEN NUJJOO 0324886
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ASIAN ARCHITECTURE (ARC60403)
PROJECT 1: CASE STUDY ESSAY
HISTORIC STREET : JALAN AMPANG
TUTOR: NICHOLAS NG KHOON WU
GROUP MEMBERS:
AIDAN HO WEI SUAN 0326021
AIMUNI KHALIDAH A. BAKAR 0326074
ASHROFF A. WAHAB 0325736
NIK AHMAD MUNAWWAR NIK DIN 0325167
SITI NUR FATAHIAH MD EZAMUDIN 0320595
THAREEN NUJJOO 0324886
Asian Architecture | Project One: Case Study of a Historic Street in an Asian City
Introduction
Jalan Ampang (Selangor state route B31) is known as a major road in Kuala Lumpur. It is
one of the oldest and busiest roads in the Klang Valley region, and home of many known
historical and modern landmarks of the city. It is named Jalan Ampang as it connects
Kuala Lumpur to Ampang town.
The road generally runs in an east-west direction, starting from the junction of Leboh
Ampang and Jalan Gereja in the Masjid Jamek area. The road runs eastward past the
Petronas Twin Towers and the embassy row, until it reaches the eastern part of Ampang.
Our research to cover and focus on portion of Jalan Ampang from intersection with Jalan
Sultan Ismail to Jalan Tun Razak.
Asian Architecture | Project One: Case Study of a Historic Street in an Asian City
History
The city of Kuala Lumpur had its roots in the tin mining boom of the early 19th
century. It began at the confluence of what is today the Gombak and Klang rivers, where
Chinese tin-miners would be brought into the city to mine. This development, together with
the tin-mining boom in Ipoh, Perak contributed to making Malaya the number one producer
of tin in the whole universe during the mid 20th Century.
As the city grew and the demand for tin rises, tin miners began looking for new
mining locations to expand their mining production. Ampang was opened as a new mining
area for Klang Valley. In fact, the name “Ampang” was derived from the Malay word
“Empangan” which is translated literally as dam or a mining area. A community
subsequently grew around the mining area which rapidly evolved into the busy township it
is today.
In order to connect the two major tin mining areas in Klang Valley, a road was
constructed to transport raw tin between Kuala Lumpur and Ampang. The road evolved
throughout the years into one of the major spines for Klang Valley, which attracted wealthy
families and international businesses to set up their homes and offices along the road.
Kuala Lumpur, which Ampang is a part of, was made the capital of Selangor in
1880, as well as the capital of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. This results in several
embassies to be located along the busy and prominent road. The embassies were
originally meant to be temporary while awaiting for the development of Jalan Duta, which
was a purpose-built area for embassies in Kuala Lumpur. However, since the development
took longer than expected, the embassies set up on Jalan Ampang as well as Jalan Tun
Razak stayed on. When the Malaysian government relocated its administrative centre to
the newly completed Putrajaya, the embassies chose to remain at their home along Jalan
Ampang as it has only shown to be ever more expanding and of great importance.
Asian Architecture | Project One: Case Study of a Historic Street in an Asian City
Jalan Ampang was also home to Malaya’s first Parliamentary sitting, held soon after
the country gained independence, inside a converted old mansion which is today the
headquarters of the Malaysian Tourism Centre (MaTic).
The area was historically the leisure
hub of Kuala Lumpur, as it was where
the Selangor Turf Club used to be.
However, in the early 1990’s, the
construction of the now Petronas Twin
Towers begun in its place. The towers
were completed in 1996, and was
declared as the world’s tallest building
at the time. This resulted in the shift of
the Kuala Lumpur city centre from the
Dataran Merdeka vicinity to Petronas
Twin Towers at Jalan Ampang.
Asian Architecture | Project One: Case Study of a Historic Street in an Asian City
Sociocultural Conditions
Ampang Road developed into one of the main arteries of Kuala Lumpur, together with
Batu Road, Padoh Road and Petaling Road which all led to mining settlements. The road
was widened in 1888 under the supervision of Engineer G.T Tickell, later known as
Chairman of the KL Sanitary Board. Due to frequent floods, the whole stretch passing
through the city centre was raised to a higher elevation. As the road grew to become a
residential strip for the city’s rich and famous, so did the land value. It was often dubbed
until today, as Kuala Lumpur’s “Golden mile”.
The street was home to mansions owned by rich mine owners and Kuala Lumpur’s
Chinese kapitans as it connects two tin-mining towns. Part of the original millionaires row,
Bok House was probably one of the most visible yet least remembered relic of early KL. It
was built in 1926 and completed in 1929 for a local millionaire, Chua Cheng Bok. It is
widely believed that Chua built the mansion to impress a rich man so that he could marry
the man’s daughter but it is unclear if he ultimately succeeded in his goal. In 1958, Bok
House was converted into a fine dining French restaurant, Le Coq d’Or. Chua and his
family chose to live in the rear portion of the mansion for over 20 years. The rear portion
was then demolished in 1999 with the approval of the authorities. Bok House was
completely demolished in 2006 after being abandoned by the operator of Le Coq d’Or for 5
years.
Bok House on Jalan Ampang (before and after demolished)
Source: http://theforbiddensite.blogspot.my/
Asian Architecture | Project One: Case Study of a Historic Street in an Asian City
Not only being the street of mansions, Jalan Ampang is also a home to several embassies
such as, United Kingdom, France, China, Russian Federation, Indonesia, Ireland and
Thailand. Known as Embassy Row, or Jalan Ampang Hilir, as it is officially named, had
attracted foreign visitors from as early as 1857 when Raja Abdullah, a representative of
the Selangor Sultanate opened up the Klang Valley for tin prospectors. A thriving industry
was established and soon Ampang was made capital of Selangor in 1880 and the capital
of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. Since then, the draw and the distinction of this
location have grown to a point that Jalan Ampang today is home to more than 80 foreign
embassies, despite the Government’s call for embassies to relocate to Putrajaya. Initially
embassy row was set to be along Jalan Duta, but the construction took longer than
expected, thus the ambassadors started to reside permanently along Jalan Ampang and
Jalan Tun Razak. Today, the Embassy Row is one enormous melting pot of cultures,
languages, and ethnicities; creating a unique community made up of a wide range of taste,