Re-writing the City: Putrajaya as Representation

• Autores: Ross King
• Localización: Journal of urban design, ISSN 1357-4809, ISSN-e 1469-9664, Nº. 12, 1, 2007, págs. 117-138
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Putrajaya, approximately midway between Malaysia�s monarchic/parliamentary capital of Kuala Lumpur and the new national gateway of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, is being developed as the national administrative capital. At first glance it presents as a typical exercise in national celebration, with grand axis, monumental building arrangements, an ornamental lake and token ecological displays. However, a more in-depth examination reveals ambiguities and tensions: between legislature and bureaucracy, between national integrity and global ambition, between rival views of nature and, in its adopted imagery ("styling"), between actual and wished-for origins, and between nostalgia for origins (albeit ambiguous) and a vision of a radically different future. With an even deeper reading, there emerge profound questions about national identity and trajectory.