From Malaysian National News Agency ….
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 (Bernama) — Man-made structures and buildings must be built to harmonise with and complement the environment, besides meeting the needs of their end-users, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
Above all, planners and builders must take care not to encroach into the cultural and spiritual sensitivities of the people wherever they lived, the prime minister said.
“The need for proper and balanced development is a truism that must never be sacrificed.
“Indeed, all of us have a responsibility, and a stake in creating awareness among town planners, developers, architects, administrators and final users not to allow the built environment to dominate space at the cost of the natural environment,” he said at the presentation of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture at the Petronas Twin Towers.
Malaysia’s University of Technology Petronas in Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, is among nine projects selected for the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the world’s most prestigious prize for architecture.
The award was established in 1977 by Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, to enhance understanding and appreciation of the Islamic culture through architecture.
Abdullah said Malaysia could be justifiably proud of its success story of relocating the country’s administrative capital from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya as an embodiment of its commitment to proper and balanced development.
He said the government was also equally conscious of the need to spread commercial activities and growth centres and not confine them to certain cities or only to certain areas of the country.
“This is the inspiration that has led the Malaysian government to launch the Iskandar Development Region in the southern part of the country and the Northern Corridor Development Region in the north,” he said.
Abdullah also congratulated Aga Khan, as the head of the Aga Khan Foundation, on his success in building bridges of understanding between Islam and the non-Islamic world, including the fraternity among builders, architects and planners on both sides.
“His dedication to architecture for the last three decades is one shining example of his commitment to promoting goodwill between people and cultures,” he said.
Abdullah said he was pleased that the Aga Khan Trust for Culture had brought to Malaysia this year the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
“We are very proud that this Philharmonic Hall of the Petronas Twin Towers has been chosen as the venue fpr this year’s award ceremony.
“It has now join the ranks of other historic settings of past awards which were selected for their importance through Islamic architecture,” he added.
— BERNAMA
Ismailimail 