E-Reconstruction and e-archiving of iconic architectural heritage: A complete example

Abstract

This paper presents a real case of virtual preservation of an architectural heritage right before its disappearance, in absence of protection. This covers many different areas from technical aspects to history of the building and its importance in a way that the archived information can be useful for various target audiences e.g. historians, architects, and many others. Conservation of national heritage in developing countries especially in Southeast Asia is plagued by ‘Conservation — Development Conflicts’. Buildings that should have been protected as national heritage have been demolished. Digital archiving is an insurance to record the buildings that have architectural or historical merit but are not gazetted as national heritage and are left without protection against future demolition. This paper reports part of a project — Post-Independence Architecture Atlas’ by the University of Malaya, in collaboration with Multimedia University, Malaysia. A total of 30 buildings and other structures were fully recorded in the first stage. The Pekeliling Flats also known as ‘Tunku Abdul Rahman Flats’ were constructed during 1960s as the first pilot project for introducing Industrialized Building System to Malaysia aiming at affordable-housing for the low-income group. These flats were the second high-rise residential buildings in Malaysia after the Suleiman Courts. Despite their historical significance, being the first high-rise residential buildings in Kuala Lumpur, the Suleiman Courts were demolished in 1986. There appear to be no records of the Suleiman Courts such as technical data or plans. The situation for the Pekeliling Flats was the same as the Suleiman Courts and no official records of the technical data were found during the investigation. The Pekeliling Flats demolition started in January 2014 and was estimated to be finished by November 2015 (finished earlier). A decision was made to virtually reconstruct these flats to be digitally preserved for the future. Full 3D reconstruction was performed including the full coverage videography (using drones) and photography. The digital restoration can be used by architectural historians, architecture schools, and many others. The 3D model can be printed for exhibition or educational purposes. This paper will discuss the importance of digital archiving by presenting step by step process of e-Reconstruction and e-Archiving of the Pekeliling Flats. The main objective is to demonstrate how these types of information should be archived in order to be beneficial in the future”.