This is My Fair Lady,
Audrey HepDUN On pre-conceived gender projection onto architecture; I called Audrey HepDUN. The hat was derived from a pop culture movie, ‘’My fair lady’’, starring Hollywood classic, Audrey Hepburn. The new hat on itself is so ornate (in a non-Sarawak way), but DUN still looks local, this is a testament of how well the identity is represented in the overall architecture. The original hat was the one most defining characteristic of the building, but many other traditional elements; verticality (stilts), pitched roof, ‘’plaiting’’ , etc can still make up for its identity. With this new hat, it just looked more ‘’feminine, like a 19th century bourgeoisie lady out for afternoon tea. Buildings are monuments. They’re the modern obelisks, monolith and pyramids. They’re objects made to last long and for specific benefits, so it is only natural something so emblematic has to represent something. To be more specific, it should reflect the functionality and ideas behind the conception of the building. The re-imagination isn’t ‘’better’’ per say but I think it juxtaposes the typical socalled ‘’masculine’’ approach of government/authority buildings; huge, imposing and authoritative. Adding a ‘’frivolous’’, fun feminine flair may prompt people to recontextualize how they see ‘’gendered’’ preconceptions on how certain architecture should be.
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