Having lived in Malaysia for most of my life, I have visited Penang a handful of times. Best known for it's food, it's also known for it's British colonial buildings and it's shophouses.
I was recently working on a postcard series of Malaysia, and I had looked into the shophouses in Penang. Interestingly, there were a few new things to be learnt.
There are six main styles of shophouses - actually just looking at a photograph or even standing there in front of the shophouses in person, one can see the diversity in the design and styles. But having looked into it further it was amazing to learn about the different periods.
I'll just mention the six styles :
Early Penang Style (1790s-1850s)
Southern Chinese Eclectic Style (1840s-1910s)
Early Straits Eclectic Style (1890s-1910s)
Late Straits Style (1910s-1930s)
Art Deco Style (1930s-1960s)
Early Modern Style (1950s-1970s)
Here are 2 sketches I made in progress for my postcard series:
Of interest to me was the Art Deco Style because I had been looking into Art Nouveau style of architecture in Belgium. It was first made popular in Brussels in 1893 by architect Victor Horta with the Hotel Tassel. This link between the two styles got me excited just thinking about how a style of architecture inspired our own local buildings. What were the thinking of the architects and designers who lived during that period? Had some of our local architects at any point perhaps travelled to a far away country and brought back the ideals of the time?
As a side note, the Art Deco style (1880-1914) and Art Nouveau (1920-1940) style are not the same.
Both were developed in reaction to the times : Industrial Revolution and World War 1.
Characteristics :
Art Deco
Geometric ornamentation
Linear appearances
Facades - series of setbacks that create stepped outlines
Smooth building finishes - stucco, concrete blocks, glazed brick or mosaic tiles
Art Nouveau
Asymmetrical Shapes
Extensive use of arch and curve forms
Curved glass
Plant-like curvy motifs and embellishments
Mosaics, stained glass
This is just a brief study of what i looked into. There is so much to learn if one had time to delve deeper ! Will we ever get bored if we had a chance to live forever? A thought for another time!
Web references : Rise Art - Art Deco Vs Art Nouveau ; Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission - Art Deco style 1925-1940 ; Thought Co. - Art Nouveau Architecture and Design