Understanding the Socio-cultural Sustainability of Kedah Royalty and the Influences on the Palace’s Architecture

Abstract

Socio-culture is a fundamental and common rule of a society that influences, controls, and directs the lives of individuals and societies. As the rulers with the most significant social status in a particular community, the Royals’ socio-culture is more sophisticated than commoners and heavily affected by royal customs and traditions. The royals’ socio-culture then affected the architecture of the palaces, notably the space arrangement, supporting the idea that socio-culture influences the constructed environment. This study aims to explicit the Kedah royalty’s socio-culture characteristics and influences in terms of traditional palace design in general and space arrangement. Qualitative approaches employ an analytical assessment of literature, historical and documentary sources, measured drawings and photos, site observation, and personal interviews to fulfill the study aims. The availability of secondary material and the absence of references limit the scope of the inquiry. According to the findings, the Kedah royalty’s socio-culture, including the activity system, privacy, family structure, the role and status of women, and social interaction, affected the characteristics of the residence palace architecture, notably the space arrangement. The case study demonstrates the Malay royal’s socio-cultural sustainability and relationship to palace architecture. Socio-cultural sustainability is a social development resilience component that shapes society’s future and the environmental aspects. The socio-cultural sustainability of the royal decree and ceremony is the essence of the hierarchical status between the royalty and the people that must be preserved as the civilization acknowledgment. The environmental aspects, such as the location of the dedicated palace influenced by the natural features like the mountain, river, and the sea, has definite practical meaning as the future references.