This is a architectural studies report about Wisma Angkasapuri by Taylors University students.

1. WISMA ANGKASAPURI
ARCHITECTURE CULTURE AND HISTORY II [ARC 60203]
PROJECT 2B: MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN KLANG VALLEY (REPORT)
GROUP MEMBERS:
ONG SENG PENG 0319016
ROY YIEK CHIN HENG 0317726
SHAM ZHEN WEN 0317733
SYED ASWAD 0318625

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TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………..3-6
SITE CONTEXT by Syed Aswad…………………………………………………7-14
ARCHITECTURAL LAYOUT by Sham Zhen Wen……………………………15-20
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE by Ong Seng Peng………………………………..21-26
BUILDING CONSRUCTION, STRUCTURE & MATERIALS
by Ong Seng Peng, Sham Zhen Wen & Roy Yiek Chin Heng…………………………..……27-32
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS by Roy Yiek Chin Heng……………………..33-38
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………….39
LIST OF REFERENCES……………………………………………………...40

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Angkasapuri is the main governmental building for Malaysia’s Ministry of information and
the headquarters for Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). The building was built during the
post-independence era of Malaysia. It was officially opened to public on 6 November 1969.
It is famous for its International Architecture style that slightly influenced by Malay
Architecture and is well recognisable by its repetition of sun shading devices on the building
façade.
LOCATION
The building is located at between Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur. The compound of
Angkasapuri comprising approximately 33 acres and sits 80ft above the Federal Highway
overlooking Pantai Valley. The building serve for television stations such as TV1 and TV2.
STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION
There are 6 buildings all together in
Angkasapuri. The overall construction of
Angkasapuri were built in 2 stages.
STAGE 1:
i. 10 storey office block
ii. 3 storey entrance hall
iii. 1 storey service building containing
electrical and air-conditioning plant
STAGE 2:
i. 3 storey radio house containing 21
studios
ii. 2 blocks of 6 storey office towers for
programming and administration
departments
iii. Engineering building that
incorporates facilities for the
planning, research and development
of broadcasting facilities
Kuala Lumpur
Petaling Jaya
Angkasapuri

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ARCHITECT
During the 20th century, most of the architects in Malaysia were expatriate, they are mainly
from the Western countries such as America and United Kingdom. The architect of Wisma
Angkasapuri is no exception. Nicholas James Pappas, a Canadian architect who designed
Wisma Angkasapuri is a founder and senior partner of N.J. Pappas and Associates, his own
Architectural and Engineering Consulting firm. Mr. Pappas received his degree in physics
from Sir George Williams University, Montreal, in 1952 and later completed his studies at Sir
George and McGill University. In 1965 he began his own private engineering practice as a
one-man operation in Montreal Suburb. Today, the Pappas organization now incorporates
many different departments and maintain operation across the globe including Malaysia.
FAST FACTS
1. Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia, laid the foundation stone of
the Broadcasting centre on 12 December 1966.
2. Angkasapuri was officially opened by the Tunku Abdul Rahman on 17 January 1968.
3. Angkasapuri consist of a complex of 6 buildings, namely, Service building, TV house,
Administration building, radio building Auditorium and engineering building.
4. The Angkasapuri were built in 2 stages.
5. Angkasapuri sits midway between two major centres of population, namely Petaling
Jaya and Kuala Lumpur.

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HISTORY
In the early 50's, broadcasting activities in Malaya were
operated from its temporary studio in Jalan Young (now know as
Jalan Cenderasari) in Kuala Lumpur and later in 1956, were moved to
the Federal House, Kuala Lumpur. It was here that broadcasting in
Malaysia grew with the establishment of several stations throughout
the country including Sabah and Sarawak. Broadcasting further
carved another milestone when Television services were introduced
on 28 December 1963 from its studio, Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman,
Jalan Ampang.
To cater the growing demand of the populations, construction
of Angkasapuri started on the 1 January 1966 to fit in larger and more
equipment. Construction of Angkasapuri was completed renovation
on 1 January 1968 and was officially open to inaugurate by our 1st
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman on the 17th of January 1968.
During the following years, which is 1967, Wisma Angkasapuri
became the nation’s first 24-hours radio station. At that time, Radio Malaysia and Television
Malaysia merged into Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). On 6 November 1969, the first stage
of Wisma Television was opened to public. On the 9 May 1972, Wisma Radio was opened to
public.
First colour television transmission via satellite was begun by TV2 during Wisma
Angkasapuri 15th anniversary of television broadcasting. TV2 provide first colour program to
Peninsular Malaysia. All colour program in whole Malaysia by RTM was introduced on 1st
January 1982 to mark its New Year’s Day at Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur.
On 1st June 1984, TV3, a subsidiary of Sistem Television Malaysia Berhad (STMB) was
a first private commercial free-to-air terrestrial television station and was officially launched
from Kuala Lumpur.

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EVOLUTION OF RTM LOGO
1957: The ‘RM’ stands for Radio Malaya
1963: The sun represents the televisions and the black colour indicates that all the
television programs are in black and white colour.
1969: Wisma Angkasapuri has been built and Radio Malaysia and Television Malaysia
merged together and became Radio Television Malaysia (RTM).
1978: When the first colour television was introduced, the logo also changed.
1987: the logo changed again to earth shaped which symbolized globalization.
2004-now: Logo changed when RTM begun to receive and broadcast the Television
program.

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2.0 SITE CONTEXT ANALYSIS
Wisma Angkasapuri is located in the middle between the two main centers of the city
population at the Kuala Lumpur – Petaling Jaya municipal boundary, the site at which
Angkasapuri sits on is approximately 33 acres, 80 feet above the Kerinchi stretch of the
Federal Highway on Bukit Putra and faces the Pantai Valley. It serves as the television
station for channels such as TV1 and TV2. It is surrounded by two mosque, the Masjid Ar-
Rahah which is located at the northern west side of the Wisma and also Masjid RTM which
is located at the southern east side of the Wisma.
Federal Highway
NPE Highway
Wisma Angkasapuri
(On Bukit Putra)Masjid Ar-Rahah
Kerinchi Komuter StationMenara Telekom
Bangsar South
Masjid RTM
Fig.2 Masjid Ar-Rahah (Left) and Masjid RTM (Right)

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In near distance, more recent developments such as Bangsar South and Menara Telekom is
also situated around Wisma Angkasapuri. Bangsar South is a 60 acre fully integrated
residential and commercial developments master plan that provides retail services. While
Hijjas-Kasturi designed, Menara Telekom is another architectural landmark in the Klang
Valley that stands 304 metres high with 44 floors. It is the headquarters of Telekom
Malaysia and is a multifunctional commercial building.
Fig.3 Masterplan of Bangsar South which is located next to Angkasapuri
Fig.4 Menara Telekom

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ACCESSIBILITY
Alongside the Wisma is two main highways in Klang Valley which is the Federal Highway and
the NPE Highway respectively. The Federal Highway is located at the Northern side of the
compound,while the NPE Highways is tucked at the Eastern side of the compound.
Federal Highway is constructed in 1974 which links the suburban Petaling Jaya all the way to
the capital city,Kuala Lumpur while the NPE Highway is a major expressway that within the
Klang Valley region and connects to the Federal Highway. Due to its location being atop
Bukit Putra, its height above the surrounding roads has made it necessary to approach the
buildings by the means of a long, winding access road leading into the site from Jalan Pantai
Dalam from the NPE Expressway. The Wisma can also be assessed through the front by the
main Federal Highway.
NPE Highway
(Eastern side of Wisma
Angkasapuri)
Federal Highway (Northern side of Wisma Angkasapuri)

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Fig.6 Roadsign leading into Angkasapuri
Fig.7 Main Gate leading into Angkasapuri

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RELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING TO SURROUNDINGS
Due to hilly topography if Bukit Putra, the land cannot be intensely developed as the local
authority imposes severe restrictions upon the planning of its development. However, this
very restriction lends itself to an intensive and compact development with little wastage
space, as all the buildings are placed as close to the north edge of the plateau as possible,
thereby creating a very dramatic view of Kuala Lumpur and the Pantai Valley for its
inhabitants.
Fig.8 View from the West from Petaling Jaya
Fig.9 View from the North from Kuala Lumpur

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In order to create sufficient flat area for the buildings, the original hill top has been leveled
in two stages, with the removal of several hundred thousand cubic yards of earth, much of
which was used to fill a 35 foot deep ravine that runs through the back of the property.
In addition, as the Wisma is situated beside a heavily traffic road, the gallery can ,many
trees are planted surrounding it which serve as a noise buffering system in counter to the
busy roads.
The original hill top of Bukit Putra has been levelled in two stages to create sufficient flat are for the building.
As the Wisma is surrounded by two major highways. trees are planted all around to act as noise buffer.
Fig.10 Design strategies as adapted to the surroundings

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COMPARISON OF WISMA ANGKASAPURI AND ITS’ SURROUNDING
In terms of site context, Wisma Angkasapuri is among one of the oldest buildings erected in the area. It is
constructed in 1966 and completed in 1968, just a few years behind the construction of Universiti Malaya in
the 1950s and the Parliament House in 1963 at the time. The “Brutalist” style and the “International” style is
evident in the later built Wisma Angkasapuri in terms of facade,construction and materiality as influenced by
the two monuments.
Angkasapuri building
Parliament House of Malaysia University of Malaya

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RESPONSE TO CLIMATE
Due to the local climatic conditions, many innovative
methods to adapt International style to the local
requirements had been implemented, thus most of the
local International styled buildings were convoluted by
grilles and large panels to evade direct sunlight.
Besides, we can also see that Wisma Angkasapuri turn itself away from the direction of
sunlight in order to reduce the hot sunlight coming to the building interior.
Direction of sunrise
The building facade turns
away from sunrise

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3.0 ARCHITECTURAL LAYOUT
The building is consisted of three major part,
1. 10 storey administration block
2. 3 storey television house
2 buildings connected by
3. Entrance Hall
Figure: First Floor Plan
Figure: Section
1
2
3

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ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
Placed on the right side of the entrance, the circulation within the 10 storey building was
done by three elevator visible in the entrance hall. There are stairs connecting every floor in
the building. One can be found opposite of the elevator, and another one at the other end
of the building, fulfilling fire escape requirement.
The seven floors of offices have been designed to provide maximum flexibility for
sub-division into standard Government sizes of private, semi-private and general offices.
The air-conditioning. Lighting and ceiling have been co-ordinated so that demountable
partitions may be erected in any of a number of predetermined locations as required to
provide all standard sizes of offices: an entire floor may left un-partitioned or it may be
intensely partitioned with equal economic usage of space while the same level of lighting
and air-conditioning is maintained.
The building contains two service cores with the main stairs, one service lift and
another electrical room comprise the secondary core. The area of services, circulation space
and lavatories totals 20,600 sq. ft. and the remaining area of101,800 sq. ft. is useable floor
space
Figure: 7th Floor Plan

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ENTRANCE HALL
The Entrance Hall, recognizable by its barrel-vaulted roof, is the connecting link
between the Integrated services ( Admin) Building and Television House, and is the main
entrance for both buildings. It serves as the meeting point for visitors and the starting point
for tours through Television House. It is fully equipped as a studio for telecasting interviews
with visitors to the Centre.
The Entrance Hall is a two-storey ait-conditioned space with a first floor
suspended bridge connecting the two main building to permit direct traffic between the
television programming offices in the Admin Building and production and technical facilities
in Television House. The connection between the buildings in the entrance hall allows a
closer relationship between the people from different departments.

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TELEVISION HOUSE
Television House is a three-storey building located immediately South of the Admin.
Building and connected to the latter on all three floors in the Entrance Hall and on the first
floor only by means of a bridge at the western ends of the building.
Television House is a large rectangular building and the space within is organised
according to its needs. Such as:
 Production Facilities ( 4 Studios)  Film Archives and Storage
 Technical Operation  Film Editing
 Performers  Cine Recording
 Design  Dubbing Studios
 TV News  Theatre
 Film Processing
Figures: Each department are
separated by a wide corridor to
allow better pathing within the
space.

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ORGANIZATION ANALYSIS:
Balance
The architecture elevation of the building utilized asymmetrical balance in its form. Before
this building was built, most governmental building in Malaysia (ie: colonial architecture) are
designed to be symmetrical. During this time, International style allows buildings to
emphasis more on structure, volume, and functional than the social aspects than the social
aspects of modern movement as emphasised in Europe. Angkasapuri building allows 3
major styles in the building while maintaining balance in terms of weightage around the
Central Part (Entrance Hall) of the building.

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Hiearchy
As seen on the Elevation of the building, the building shows the degree of importance in
terms of size and articulation on the building. These differences reflect the degree of
importance of each section how the functional, formal, and symbolic roles they play in the
organization. The most emphasis one will be the administrative building, which is designed
to be iconic because of its strategic placement on top of the hill fronting the busy highway.
The slightly higher entrance hall with the unique barrel vault roof façade which functions
provide a good natural lighting to the users as serves as a transition between two buildings,
Administration building and Television House, from a highly articulated façade to a slightly
blander façade. The television house, tall enough to house the studios, doesn’t have
significance exterior design besides the vertical patterns. Meanwhile the 10 storey tall
administration building is designed to be iconic because of its strategic placement on top of
the hill beside the busy highway.
Television House
Entrance Hall Administration
building

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4.0 ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
The architectural style adopted to Wisma Angkasapuri is International Style. It is developed
mainly in Germany, Holland and France, during the 1920s. The International Style is an early
form of minimalism that had a distinctively "modern look", reinforced by its use of modern
materials, including glass for the facade, steel for exterior support, and concrete for interior
supports and floors. Moreover, the floor plans were functional and logical. It became the
dominant style of 20th century architecture especially in Western countries for institutional
and commercial buildings.
With the advancement of information technology, the idea of “International Style” bought
to Malaysia, a harmony between artistic expression, function, and technology thus be
established in an austere and disciplined new architecture in Malaysia. The local architects
referred and studied the philosophies brought from Western countries and adapted them to
suit to our local context. Thus, forming our own “Modern Regional Architecture” in
Malaysia.
CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERNATIONAL STYLE:
I) Rectilinear forms
II) Plane surfaces that are completely devoid of applied ornamentation
III) Open interior spaces.

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IV) Visually weightless engendered by the use of steel and glass
V) Series of repetitive element
MODERN REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE IN MALAYSIA IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURIES
Wisma Angkasapuri is a building built in
international style with local context
consideration. Unlike the “Western
Version” of International Style, sheer use
of glass and steel structures for building
façade are not seen here in Wisma
Angkasapuri. It is a refined version of
Western International style to suit the
local context. The exterior of the building is dominance by the repetition of shield-like
shading devices that are different from International style which the transparency of
building is encouraged. The extensive use of the device on the building is to go against the
scorching heat of the tropical climate in Malaysia in order give a pleasant natural lighting to
the interior. When perceiving the building, the shading devices become a key element to
define the building’s architectural identity. With the application of shading devices, the
“mass” of the building overruled the perception of “volume” of the building which
contradict to the philosophy of International Style. The shape of the shading device, is
dubbed as a mimicry of the shape of horseshoe crab shell, but some said also a mimicry of
the Dayak tribal shield, according to a staff in Angkasapuri. The shield-like motif can be seen
at the surrounding buildings within the Angkasapuri compound.
While entering the compound, the visitors
will be welcomed by a gate with local style
Malay flora pattern and the signature
Angkasapuri shield-like motif. Besides,
national slogan “1Malaysia” is also shown on
the gate which sought to cultivate national
unity.

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Like what can found be in the most International Style building, the overall Wisma
Angkasapuri is a rectangular geometry form.
Although some alterations are made in order to fit in to the local context, there are some
features of International Style can be found on Wisma Angkasapuri.
Resembling some of Le Corbusier’s ideology of 5 points of
architecture, the design of Wisma Angkasapuri contains Pilotis,
which used for accommodating the car porch area, Ribbon Window,
which can be found on the facades. Moreover, the building is simply
supported by concrete column that carried the carry the load which
resulting the Free Façade and Free Plan in the building, enabling the
fenestration and the interior to be planned with minimal structure
constraint, except that Wisma Angkasapuri do not have Roof Top
Garden.
The Pilotis

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The other characteristic of International style can be
found is the repetition of elements. For example, the
repetition of shading device, column structures, and
banding device can be spotted from the building.
Note that the strip oppenings behind the sun shading device.
The oppenings are applied for the ease of ventilation and
adequet of natural sunlight to
the staircase.
The shield-like motif, is believed as a mimicry of Horseshoe crab shell or Dayak tribal
shield. The pictures shown show the similarity among the pictures.

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ORNAMENTATIONS
Entering the main entrance of
Angkasapuri, visitors are front by the
combination of subtle Malay carvings
ornamentation and classic modernism
design such as the recessed celing and
the contemporary design of chandelier
of that time.
Proceeding to the lobby area, the space
is brighten up by the natural lighting
come from the celestrory formed by the
barrel vault ceiling. The Malay carvings
ornamentation can be spotted around
the lobby. As the lobby is one of the
spaces that has more frequent human
circulation, therefore more
ornamentations are applied to the
lobby, which could serves as a
welcoming space to the visitors.
The Malay ornamentaion, can be easily
characteristised by the floral pattern carvings which
inspiration is coming from the local flora and
influence from Islamic ornamentation.

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Behind the lobby, there is a courtyard and walkway to a event room that used for
accommodating the staffs events. It is design in Islamic stye which can be notice from the
use of Islamic geometry pattern ornamentation for sun shading devices and the use of
Islamic arches. The geometry pattern on the walkways and arches are formed by the
duplication of star shapes. The transition from Malay style ornamentation to Islamic style
ornamentation can be seen here. As Islam is the official religion in Malaysia, Islamic cultures
has become part of the identity of Malaysia. Therefore, Islamic element is part of the
features of Malaysian architecture and it can be seen in many of the Malaysian government
buildings.
The view of the lobby building,
looking from the courtyard.
Flanked by signature
Angkasapuri office on the left
and Wisma TV on the right.

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5.0 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, MATERIAL & STRUCTURE
Even though Wisma Angkasapuri applied international style from Europe and Western
countries, the choice of material and construction method greatly differs from each other.
This is mainly due to the huge difference in weather and climate. Europe and Western
countries experienced four seasons while Malaysia is hot and humid throughout the year.
For instance, the biggest difference is that Construction and structure of the buildings in
Europe and Western countries need to take consideration of the snow fall and summer heat
while construction and structure in Malaysia need to take consideration of heavy rain and
humid tropical weather. All the above factors influenced the choice of materials and their
construction method. As for Angkasapuri, huge amount of glass windows are placed at the
façade and terrazzo concrete shield-liked form are used to block the sunlight.
CONCRETE
Concrete is one of the main material used to construct the Wisma Television. It is a trait
inherited from modernism. Concrete is most commonly used in modern architecture
because it is cheap yet durable and can be prefabricated and mass produced very easily.
Reinforced concrete roof
Due to weak tensile strength of concrete, steel reinforcement is often needed to
compensate. One of the more dominant concrete structures is the curved shell roof. This
curved shell roof is made up of cast in situ concrete with customized formwork.

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Precast shield-liked concrete form
Precast concrete is manufactured and prefabricated in factory and then transported to site
to be assemble. The construction time can be shorten but the shape and size are standard.
Joint details
ALUMINUM
In order for the precast “shield-liked”
form to be installed at the façade,
reinforcement bars were designed
extended out from the building for the
structure to sit on it.
Extended reinforcement bar
Aluminium is very widely use during
the era as 19th century was the rise
in tin-mining industry. It was a
ubiquitous material in 20th century
architecture for it is light weight,
malleable and corrosion resistance.
For Angkasapuri, aluminium was
used for ornamentation and shading
purpose for the screen of the curved
shell windows at the entrance hall.

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ALUMINIUM STRIP CEILING
Aluminium Strip Ceiling is another type of suspended ceiling. It consist of a metal structure with pre-
cutted carrier for the aluminium panels to be clipped under it.
MATERIAL FOR SUN SHIELDING DEVICES
What lies behind the “shield” sunscreen is a continuous window wall with aluminium structure
glazed with tinted glass above the window sill and with insulated infill panels below. Tinted glass has
been treated with a film or coating to reduce the transmission of light through it. Glass can be tinted
with various types of coating, which block and/or reflect different amounts and types of light,
according to the needs and preferences of the consumer. Other practical purposes, such as limiting
ultraviolet light transmission through windows to reduce the fading of furniture and carpet, and
reducing heat gain inside the building by reflecting solar heat energy, thereby saving in cooling cost.

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WOOD
Wood ceiling is found on the exterior corridor around
the Entrance hall. Wood is attached between the
existing walls for aesthetic purposes.
GYPSUM BOARD
Ceiling tiles is a suspended ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It is a popular. Ceiling tiles
consist of a grid-work of metal channel and each grid filled with gypsum board. Gypsum board gypsum
plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper. This type of ceiling is popular since 1950s until
today due to its functional and economical reason.

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MATERIALS FOR TILES
Tiles is one of the most common building components can be seen, commonly used for
finishing. There are different types of materials applied for interior and exterior tiles in order
to achieve a certain aesthetic value as well as to suit the context.
Above picture shown is the walkway to Wisma Angkasapuri. Unglazed Ceramic tiles is used
as a floor tiles for the exterior walkway. Unglazed tiles tend to be denser and thicker than
glazed tiles, and because of their unfinished exteriors. It is a great choice for a slip resistant
surface in an area where the tile is likely to be subjected to high amounts of moisture and
for areas with heavy foot traffic, as well as outdoor applications, unglazed tiles are a very
good choice. Along with safety benefits, unglazed Ceramic tiles are scratch resistance and
has a natural earthy aesthetic quality as they’re coloured by the mineral deposits from
where the clay was originally taken. A limitation of unglazed ceramic is their vulnerability to
staining.
The other types of tile can be found from the exterior is Blue
Ceramic tiles. It is a type of glazed tile. Even though both are
made of Ceramic compare to the previous one, they have quite
different characteristic. Blue Ceramic tiles can be commonly
seen in the swimming pool as it has high non-porous
characteristic. Therefore this types of tiles is suitable to apply on
the wall and exterior columns that serve
to help the ease of drainage. This type of
tile is not suitable to apply for walkway
as it would be slippery especially raining
since the water will remain on the
surface.

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For the interior part the materials mainly used are the glazed Terrazo tiles. Terrazo tiles is
typically used for flooring in the 20th century. The rapid manufacturing in a short amount of
time is probably one of the reason this type of material is widely applied. Cheap, fast, and
durable, is one of the reasons why this material is popular during that period. These type of
tiles come in many choices of colour such as white, brown and black as can be seen from the
site.
Terrazzo tiles can be easily characterised by the visible small gravels in it. It is a composite
material of Portland cement or polyacrylic-modified Portland cement floors and gravels such
as marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable chips. These type of tiles can be precast or
cast-in-situ. When cast-in-situ, it is poured with a binder that is cementitious (for chemical
binding), polymeric (for physical binding), or a combination of both. Terrazzo is cured and
then ground and polished to a smooth surface or otherwise finished to produce a uniformly
textured surface. The terrazzo tiles has been called as a decorative version of concrete as its
manufacturing method is similar to concrete but with a nice looking pattern in it.

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6.0 ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS
EXTERIOR ELEMENTS
Wisma Angkasapuri is one of the most iconic international style building in Malaysia.
The exterior elements of Wisma Angkasapuri is very unique in a way that although the
design was inspired and taken from international style from western countries, it was being
well planned to fit the tropical climate in Malaysia.
FACADE
As the result of tropical climate in Malaysia, a lot of ingenious means has been warranted to
adapt international style to Malaysia weather. Thus, grilles and large panels and widely used
to avoid direct sunlight and Angkasapuri is the best example. Besides providing aesthetic
value and adding uniqueness to the building, the enormous amount of repetition of shield-
liked form at the façade functioned as to provide shade to control the heat load from direct
sunlight as the building located in east-west orientation. The building have been shaded
from shield-liked were inspired by ‘pineapple skin’ cladding
Parliament building Malaysia
The design of the façade is also developed from the façade
concept of parliament building where the whole storey of
tower block was reticulated of pre-cast terrazzo cladding
panels which become the signature of that building, which
also functioned as sun-shading panels.

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ROOF
The roof at the main entrance of Wisma Angkasapuri is also designed to fit perfectly for the
tropical climate in Malaysia.
The shield like form at the façade
was inspired by the shell of a horse
shoe crab for it is solid and tough
which reduce the heat from
getting into the building.
Located at the entrance hall of Angkasapuri,
the protruded out barrel-vaulted roof have
the same function as the shield-liked form at
the façade, which is to minimize direct
sunlight and heat to get into the building.
Thus, when people look at the view from the
inside, the roof block the glare of the sun to
prevent uneasiness to the eyes.

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Curved barrel roof that shield sunlight
from the windows.
The ornamentation located below the
roof is for aesthetic purpose. It gives the
window a pleasant look from the outside.

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INTERIOR ELEMENTS
Closed up details of window openings at the entrance hall
CEILING
The big window openings at the Main
entrance of Wisma Angkasapuri allows
huge amount of natural lightning into the
building creates a very nice and warming
ambience. The big openings also
minimized the usage of artificial lightning
for the entrance hall.
The barrel vault ceiling span
across the whole entrance hall
without and middle support. The
repetition of barrel vault ceiling is
the result of the form of the
window openings and barrel vault
roof. The barrel vault ceiling
creates a very nice lighting effect
into the hall when there is natural
light penetrate into the building.

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STAIRS
WALLS
Stairs is one of the main features of Wisma Angkasapuri. It is made of
terrazzo. The design of the stairs adapted Art Deco design concept,
where it is also one of the characteristic of international style in neo-
classical theme. The style is often characterized by rich colour, bold
geometric shape and lavish ornamentation. Where we can see from the
square geometry form of staircase tiles and contrast colour of yellowish
and brown.
Usage of steel in hollow section of stairs slab allow the design of the stairs become bendable as
the backbone of stairs is slanted but the tread and the riser is not slanted where they are
designed in such way to create illusion on visions.
The walls of the interior of the building were mostly
made up of timber of certain thickness. The function
of the wall in Wisma Angkasapuri is focused on sound
insulation. This is because it is a broadcast building,
all the walls must be able to perform sound filtration
to prevent sound disturbance while doing recording.

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WINDOWS
Continuous windows, also known as ribbon window are located at guest waiting area in
every floor. The function of ribbon windows is to allow natural daylight to enter to the
interior spaces. However, as the climate in Malaysia is very hot throughout the years, the
windows must be glazed with tinted glass to trap the heat. Shades provided by shield-liked
form also helped in blocking huge amount of sunlight. Meanwhile, louvers and curtains are
probably the most common means to keep the building cooler.

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7.0 CONCLUSION
Angkasapuri is indeed a very interesting building to study as there are many surprising
features such as the coexist of local and Islamic architecture without losing the essence of
western architecture style in some of the components of the building. That have made
Angkasapuri one of the most important landmark in KL for its western architecture with
local influences.
After our site visit and deep research about the building, we learnt that the building applies
international architecture style, with hung windows and free façade applied to the entire
building. However, due to Malaysia’s tropical hot weather throughout the year, huge
windows brought a huge problem which is heat. Therefore, ingenious means to adapt
international style had been warranted and there came in the most significant elements of
the Angkasapuri, the “shield-liked” form that covers the whole building that provide shade.
Lastly, throughout the studies of Wisma Angkasapuri, we have increased our understanding
on the principle, ideas and contributing factors of International Styles Architecture in Klang
Valley.

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List of References:
 http://hids.arkib.gov.my/doc/jilidi/februari/17_02_1968_1980.htm
 Bendera Kita Menjadi Sejarah, Unit 2, Muka 28 hingga 30, Bahasa Malaysia Tingkatan
3 KBSM, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1989.
 http://www.atsa.com.my/publication/misc_files/Rtm/Angkasapuri.html#/36/
 https://books.google.com.my/books?id=md9UAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=
angkasapuri+design+concept&source=bl&ots=1wMXrohID6&sig=XsFsfJRAlBMgGeRjf
2FpGqM6i3A&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=angkasapuri%20design%20c
oncept&f=false
 http://www.atsa.com.my/.../misc.../Rtm/Angkasapuri.html
 Ching, F. (2015). Architecture, form, space & order (4th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons
 http://global.britannica.com/art/International-Style-architecture
 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/modern_movements/2391/inte
rnational_style/408691
 http://www.slideshare.net/akascuena/four-components-of-islamic-orientation
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkasapuri
 http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/portfolio/azrul/html/inter.html
 https://www.builddirect.com/learning-center/flooring/important-
characteristicsceramic/
 http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/112770
 http://everything.explained.today/Radio_Televisyen_Malaysia/
 "International Style", Encyclopedia Britannica, 2005.
 http://hids.arkib.gov.my/doc/jilidi/februari/17_02_1968_1980.htm
 Bendera Kita Menjadi Sejarah, Unit 2, Muka 28 hingga 30, Bahasa Malaysia Tingkatan
3 KBSM, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1989.
 http://www.atsa.com.my/publication/misc_files/Rtm/Angkasapuri.html#/36/