Muhammad Hafiz Bin Hanafi (S9206210D)
5.10 Esther (2009)
Extended Essay (Progress)

To what extent has the “International Style” affected the design of mosques in Singapore from 1990 to 2009?

Design
From “Visual Elements of Art And Design” – Frederick Palmer (Longman – London – 1989) (BOOK)
- Areas of study within design:
o Lines – Line is a means of communication rather than a natural phenomenon, a device we use to describe what we see, a means by which we convey our reactions to both reality and concept, and an element with which we express our thoughts and feelings.
 Vertical lines – strength, growth
 Horizontal lines – calm , rest
 Curves – smoothness
 Diagonals – movement
 Zigzags - agitation
o Shape -
 Squares and rectangles – stability
 Circles (and other curved shapes) – movement, continuity
 Triangles – growth (upward), imbalance (downward)
 Can be used to show:
• Symbol
• Decoration
• Communication
• Structure
• Function
o Tone – The variations of lightness and darkness between the extremes of neutral black and white. Tone can be used to evoke a response from the spectator and not simply show how correctly nature may be copied.
 Creates pictorial structure (with balanced light or dark)
 Convey harmony (or alternatively disunity)
 Indicate dramatic contrast
 Illusion of solidity
 Suggest qualities of light
 Evoke a sense of space and distance
 Compose rhythms
o Colour – Colour is probably the visual element to which initially we respond the most strongly. It arouses feelings in us all and we use it to reflect our personality and moods in the decoration of ourselves and our environment.
o Pattern – Pattern may be the repetition of similar lines, shapes, forms, tones or colours; similar but not always identical.
 Created fro attraction or disguise (nature)
 Show the strength of structure (nature)
 Show Function (man-made)
 Decorative (man-made)
o Texture – Texture is basically the surface quality of an object. The artist and designer uses different types of textures to create particular sensations in the viewer or user and may do this by means of verisimilitude or suggestion, reality of ambiguity.
o Form
Modernism:
From: [link] (WWW)
- Modernism arose from the wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The term encompasses the activities and output of those who felt the “traditional” forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, social organization and daily life were becoming outdated in the new economic, social and political conditions of an emerging fully industrialized world.
- A salient characteristic of modernism is self-consciousness. This often led to experiments with form, and work that draws attention to the processes and materials used (and often to the further tendency of abstraction).
- It is in its broadest cultural sense the assessment of the past as different to the modern age, the recognition that the world was becoming more complex...
- At the same time social, political, and economic forces were at work that would become the basis to argue for a radically different kind of art and thinking. Chief among these was steam-powered industrialization, which produced buildings that combined art and engineering in new industrial materials such as cast iron to produce railroad bridges and glass-and-iron train sheds—or the Eiffel Tower, which broke all previous limitations on how tall man-made objects could be—and at the same time offered a radically different environment in urban life.
- Minimalism (as a characteristic of modernism)
o Minimalism argued that extreme simplicity could capture all of the sublime representation needed in art.
o Modernist architects and designers believed that new technology rendered old styles of building obsolete. Le Corbusier thought that buildings should function as "machines for living in", analogous to cars, which he saw as machines for travelling in. Just as cars had replaced the horse, so modernist design should reject the old styles and structures inherited from Ancient Greece or from the Middle Ages. In some cases form superseded function. Following this machine aesthetic, modernist designers typically rejected decorative motifs in design, preferring to emphasize the materials used and pure geometrical forms. The skyscraper, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building in New York (1956–1958), became the archetypal modernist building. Modernist design of houses and furniture also typically emphasized simplicity and clarity of form, open-plan interiors, and the absence of clutter. Modernism reversed the 19th-century relationship of public and private: in the 19th century, public buildings were horizontally expansive for a variety of technical reasons, and private buildings emphasized verticality—to fit more private space on increasingly limited land. Conversely, in the 20th century, public buildings became vertically oriented and private buildings became organized horizontally. Many aspects of modernist design still persist within the mainstream of contemporary architecture today, though its previous dogmatism has given way to a more playful use of decoration, historical quotation, and spatial drama.
- *At this point, candidate will evaluate modernism as a cultural movement and draw characteristics of modernism (in the context of architecture, art and design) and introduce the idea of “international style”.
International Style
From [link] (WWW)
- The term had its origin from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson written to record the International Exhibition of Modern Architecture held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1932 which identified, categorized and expanded upon characteristics common to Modernism across the world.
- They identified three different principles:
o the expression of volume rather than mass
o balance rather than preconceived symmetry
o the expulsion of applied ornament
- Around 1900 a number of architects around the world began developing new architectural solutions to integrate traditional precedents with new social demands and technological possibilities.
- The common characteristics of the International style include:
o a radical simplification of form
o a rejection of ornament
o and adoption of glass, steel and concrete as preferred materials
o the transparency of buildings and construction (called the honest expression of structure)
o acceptance of industrialized mass-production techniques contributed to the international style's design philosophy
- The typical International Style high-rise usually consists of the following:
1. Square or rectangular footprint
2. Simple cubic "extruded rectangle" form
3. Windows running in broken horizontal rows forming a grid
4. All facade angles are 90 degrees.
- The main principles of the modern movement are – architecture is an expression of volume and not mass, asymmetrical composition and regular repetition instead of classic symmetry, avoidance of all decorations that do not have a useful purpose. The modern style, functional, simple and free of decorations, was seen as the most fitting for a young, rapidly growing city.

Mosque
From [link]
- A mosque is a place of worship for the followers of Islam. Muslims refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid. The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque which has more community and social amenities.
- Functions:
o Salat (prayer)
o Centre for information education
o Centre for dispute settlement
- Architecture:
o A continuation of pre-Islamic architecture, based mainly on Persian Architecture.
 Prayer Hall – usually unfurnished to maximise the number of worshippers
 Ablution facilities
 Dome and Arched Entrance. (Persian influence)
 Square and Rectangular Plans (pioneered under the Umayad Dynasty)
 Numerous Columns and Supports
 Central Dome (15th Century, introduced by the Ottomans)
 Iwans –3 walled sides with one side entirely open, usually towards the courtyard (Iranian influence)
 Minaret – function was to call the faithful for prayer (Christian influence – Church Bells)

Masjid Quba – First Mosque
From [link]
(WWW) – The candidate manually translated the contents of the website from Malay to English
- Built by the prophet Muhammad s.a.w (Rasulullah s.a.w) on the 23rd of September, year 622.
- It is located 10km south of Medina. Original site was a date plantation bought over by Rasulullah.
- Square Plan 50m x 50m floor area (set 1m above ground)
- The structure of the mosque was simple and basic, it was almost primitive as it was intended to be temporary and was built using scarce raw materials found from within the area. The floor of the mosque was the sand (ground), its walls were the trunks of the date trees that were uprooted to crate space to build the mosque and its roof was a mere arrangement of leaves from the date trees. Later, bricks were used to replace the trunks to make the walls.
Islamic Architecture




















- Background of mosques and its traditional design as well as functionality
- Analysis of mosques in Singapore before 1990 (A)
o Photographic evidence
- Analysis of mosques in Singapore within time period (B)
o Photographic evidence
o Interview experts
- Comparison between (A) and (B)
o Draw similarities and differences
 In relation to ‘modernism in architecture’ and ‘functionality’, evaluate the observations.
 Draw other factors that might cause differences.
 Evaluate on similarities.
- Conclusion/personal response.
--------------------end--------------------


 Circles (and other curved shapes) – movement, continuity
 Triangles – growth (upward), imbalance (downward)
 Can be used to show:
• Symbol
• Decoration
• Communication
• Structure
• Function
o Tone – The variations of lightness and darkness between the extremes of neutral black and white. Tone can be used to evoke a response from the spectator and not simply show how correctly nature may be copied.
 Creates pictorial structure (with balanced light or dark)
 Convey harmony (or alternatively disunity)
 Indicate dramatic contrast
 Illusion of solidity
 Suggest qualities of light
 Evoke a sense of space and distance
 Compose rhythms
o Colour – Colour is probably the visual element to which initially we respond the most strongly. It arouses feelings in us all and we use it to reflect our personality and moods in the decoration of ourselves and our environment.
o Pattern – Pattern may be the repetition of similar lines, shapes, forms, tones or colours; similar but not always identical.
 Created fro attraction or disguise (nature)
 Show the strength of structure (nature)
 Show Function (man-made)
 Decorative (man-made)
o Texture – Texture is basically the surface quality of an object. The artist and designer uses different types of textures to create particular sensations in the viewer or user and may do this by means of verisimilitude or suggestion, reality of ambiguity.
o Form
Modernism:
From: [link] (WWW)
- Modernism arose from the wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The term encompasses the activities and output of those who felt the “traditional” forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, social organization and daily life were becoming outdated in the new economic, social and political conditions of an emerging fully industrialized world.
- A salient characteristic of modernism is self-consciousness. This often led to experiments with form, and work that draws attention to the processes and materials used (and often to the further tendency of abstraction).
- It is in its broadest cultural sense the assessment of the past as different to the modern age, the recognition that the world was becoming more complex...
- At the same time social, political, and economic forces were at work that would become the basis to argue for a radically different kind of art and thinking. Chief among these was steam-powered industrialization, which produced buildings that combined art and engineering in new industrial materials such as cast iron to produce railroad bridges and glass-and-iron train sheds—or the Eiffel Tower, which broke all previous limitations on how tall man-made objects could be—and at the same time offered a radically different environment in urban life.
- Minimalism (as a characteristic of modernism)
o Minimalism argued that extreme simplicity could capture all of the sublime representation needed in art.
o Modernist architects and designers believed that new technology rendered old styles of building obsolete. Le Corbusier thought that buildings should function as "machines for living in", analogous to cars, which he saw as machines for travelling in. Just as cars had replaced the horse, so modernist design should reject the old styles and structures inherited from Ancient Greece or from the Middle Ages. In some cases form superseded function. Following this machine aesthetic, modernist designers typically rejected decorative motifs in design, preferring to emphasize the materials used and pure geometrical forms. The skyscraper, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building in New York (1956–1958), became the archetypal modernist building. Modernist design of houses and furniture also typically emphasized simplicity and clarity of form, open-plan interiors, and the absence of clutter. Modernism reversed the 19th-century relationship of public and private: in the 19th century, public buildings were horizontally expansive for a variety of technical reasons, and private buildings emphasized verticality—to fit more private space on increasingly limited land. Conversely, in the 20th century, public buildings became vertically oriented and private buildings became organized horizontally. Many aspects of modernist design still persist within the mainstream of contemporary architecture today, though its previous dogmatism has given way to a more playful use of decoration, historical quotation, and spatial drama.
- *At this point, candidate will evaluate modernism as a cultural movement and draw characteristics of modernism (in the context of architecture, art and design) and introduce the idea of “international style”.
International Style
From [link] (WWW)
- The term had its origin from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson written to record the International Exhibition of Modern Architecture held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1932 which identified, categorized and expanded upon characteristics common to Modernism across the world.
- They identified three different principles:
o the expression of volume rather than mass
o balance rather than preconceived symmetry
o the expulsion of applied ornament
- Around 1900 a number of architects around the world began developing new architectural solutions to integrate traditional precedents with new social demands and technological possibilities.
- The common characteristics of the International style include:
o a radical simplification of form
o a rejection of ornament
o and adoption of glass, steel and concrete as preferred materials
o the transparency of buildings and construction (called the honest expression of structure)
o acceptance of industrialized mass-production techniques contributed to the international style's design philosophy
- The typical International Style high-rise usually consists of the following:
1. Square or rectangular footprint
2. Simple cubic "extruded rectangle" form
3. Windows running in broken horizontal rows forming a grid
4. All facade angles are 90 degrees.
- The main principles of the modern movement are – architecture is an expression of volume and not mass, asymmetrical composition and regular repetition instead of classic symmetry, avoidance of all decorations that do not have a useful purpose. The modern style, functional, simple and free of decorations, was seen as the most fitting for a young, rapidly growing city.

Mosque
From [link]
- A mosque is a place of worship for the followers of Islam. Muslims refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid. The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque which has more community and social amenities.
- Functions:
o Salat (prayer)
o Centre for information education
o Centre for dispute settlement.
Masjid Quba – First Mosque