Baba Nyonya Architecture

The Algorithm Processes of Generating Embellishments in The Baba-Nyonya Shophouses

1. INTRODUCTION

The architecture styles of shophouses in Georgetown-Penang had been generated through the mixed-cultures influences. Baba-Nyonya, Peranakan, or Straits Chinese are some of the communities that had been generated in the Georgetown, Malacca, and Singapore. Baba-Nyonya was considered as a high social class. Therefore, the effects of the cultural were reflected on their lifestyle and buildings [1] [2]. The interior space of Peranakan shophouses displays numerous types of ornaments for different levels of use, such as floor, ceiling, furniture, or partitions. These ornaments were generated via different ways, besides adopting mutable shapes and materials

The origin of Baba-Nyonya are the Chinese traders, who immigrated to the Malay Peninsula before six centuries ago. Therefore, the Baba and Nyonya mainly are Chinese and Malay community in Georgetown-Penang, Malacca, and Singapore [2][11]. The effects of the Baba-Nyonya, in addition to the western effects, create a harmonised mixture of architecture and interior style. The Straits Eclectic style contains cultural elements, where their interactions with interior elements generate the unique interior skin of Peranakan shophouses [10]. This style is, unfortunately, on its way to extinction, especially the interior space. This is because; the reuse of the shophouses and the renovation processes cover the origin archetype of the interior space [5]

In the current study, one interior design element was selected from the Peranakan style, which contained embellishments related to that style. Therefore, the wooden screen or the wooden partition in the heritage house that had been reused as café and guest house, which the original name was Baba-Nyonya Café, had been examined. 3.3 Graphical investigation: after selecting the pattern, a visual analysis was conducted to point out the main element of the pattern . The identification of these three elements and the transformation process provided primary data to generate models of Peranakan pattern. The analysis process used drawing software that accurately deconstructed the pattern by importing the documentation lines files to the AutoCAD or any accurate Drawing software. 3.4 Visual observation: this stage listed the step in generating the form of the original pattern. Besides, it highlighted the procedure step-by-step in formulating the pattern. The observation of the process sequence was indeed necessary to systematically determine the steps. 4. IDENTIFYING THE RENDERING ALGORITHM As a result of the graphical analysis, the rendering algorithm of patterns in Peranakan shophouses is depicted in the following: 4.1 Micro stage: This stage addressed the details of the pattern, as each interior design element had one or more types of patterns. The results