THE ISLAMIC ART AND DESIGN ELEMENTS APPLIED IN THE ISLAMIC CITY, A CASE STUDY OF PUTRAJAYA ISLAMIC CITY

Abstract

It is supposed to have three art components giving an Islamic identity: geometric, floral, and Islamic calligraphy. Putrajaya is created to present the Islamic city in Malaysia. The Islamic art components are highly applied to the buildings' motifs and ornamentations. However, the element of calligraphy is missing in the overall features of the Islamic city patterns. Therefore, this study aims to identify the Islamic components in Putrajaya's administrative public buildings. Then, to analyse the Islamic decorative elements and highlight the importance of calligraphy in determining the building's character and identity as one of the main elements that should be applied to Putrajaya's administrative public buildings. This paper analyses a few important buildings in the city of Putrajaya. Most of the required data were collected by doing photographic documentation and on-site studies besides semi-structured interviews with the government. The researcher chose Putrajaya city to be the selected research area, focusing on the public and administrative buildings. The researcher picked a few examples of public buildings for the study. In each building, the researcher recognizes the applied Islamic element that can be found in it. These buildings are the Moroccan pavilion, Putra Mosque, The Ministry of Finance, Masjid Tuanku, Mizan Zainal Abidin, and Complex Islam Putrajaya. The analyses determine several types of elements and components with tangible and intangible qualities that articulate their compositional order. Each type of component carries a special meaning and symbolization of Islamic culture. it is essential to apply calligraphy to represent the complete form of Islamic heritage. Further research is essential to create a guideline to help the designers and architects by providing the Islamic city's best image.