BIG to design modernistic Malaysia Square in KL

It was confirmed on December 2 that Denmark’s most famous architectural export, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), has been chosen to design Malaysia Square, a public space at the centre of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment. malaysquare

The first images of the design – marking BIG’s first appointment in the UK – were unveiled in Kuala Lumpur by London mayor Boris Johnson and Najib Razak, the prime minster of Malaysia.

The brief was to create a permanent showcase for Malaysian culture, and to recognise the part that the country has played in converting the power station into a new quarter of London.

BIG has responded with a flamboyantly multi-layered design based around streamlined organic curves and a hibiscus-shaped fountain set in a central amphitheatre. The hibiscus was chosen because it is Malaysia’s national flower, and each of the five petals represents a principle each from the Rukunegara, its founding philosophy.

The landscape is set to include limestone, granite, marble, sandstone, gravel and dolomite cladding, all of which are present in the geology of Malaysia. The sculptured form is intended to evoke the stunning caves found in Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, east Malaysia.

Bjarke Ingels, the founding partner of BIG, said the square was meant to create “a cascading landscape carved into the street” that was intended to lend “dignity to the majestic industrial heritage while paving the way for a new Malaysia identity”.

Read more: Construction Manager

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