Indo-Saracenic Revival Architecture - The Style Outside India

The Style Outside India

The architectural style was exported to British Malaya (present day Peninsular Malaysia) via British engineers and architects influenced by Indo-Saracenic stylings in British India. During the design of a new town hall for Kuala Lumpur in the late 19th century, C. E. Spooner, then State Engineer of the Public Works Department, favoured a "Mahometan style" over a neoclassical one to reflect Islamic mores in the region, instructing architect Charles Norman, who was further assisted by R. A. J. Bidwell, to redesign the building. Norman and Bidwell, having previously served in northern India, adopted various elements of Indo-Saracenic architecture into the town hall. Upon completion in 1897, the town hall, now known as the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, became the first building influenced by Indo-Saracenic architecture to be built in Malaya. The town hall inspired other civic buildings in the vicinity to be built in a similar style, while a handful of commercial buildings in Malaya have also been known to adopt some of the style's elements. The style was also favoured as one of several adopted by British architects with regards to Malayan mosques as they did not feel the need to adhere accurately to the cultural heritage, and the traditional culture of the Malays, who remain prominent in Malayan society and are Muslims, did not have the means to design a building of imperial scale; both the Jamek Mosque and Ubudiah Mosque are examples of mosques that resulted from this combination. While its popularity was limited to the 1890s to the 1910s, the style has been reused for newer governments buildings of the late-20th century and 21st century, such as several public buildings in Putrajaya.