Analyzing Practice of Sustainability From the Perspective of Cultural Landscape: A Case Study of the Masjid Kampung Kling, Malacca, Malaysia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to view sustainability practice from the perspective of cultural landscape by looking at Masjid Kampung Kling, Malacca. The mosque is a traditional building gazetted under National Antiquity Act (2005) and is located within the area of UNESCO World Heritage Site. A qualitative case study was conducted to identify past practice of sustainability. The cultural landscape approach was used by searching for the implicit meanings of shapes and patterns of the mosque’s features. This method gives a new angle of view to the landscape as an expression of symbols, icons, and metaphors. The concept of sustainability and cultural landscape were analyzed in order to establish connectivity between the two. In order to prove that the practice of sustainability was once present, data was collected from several series of observations and interviews. Masjid Kampung Kling can be viewed as a subcosmic of the various cultures found in Malacca. Findings from the study suggested that the mosque portrayed the practice of sustainability both by contextual mean and testimonial proofs. The sustainability practice can be viewed from three significant values of cultural landscape of the mosque namely history, architecture, and archaeology. Current management should recognise the Masjid Kampung Kling and other traditional mosques in general, as having the potential to present sustainability from the cultural landscape perspective. Though the Masjid Kampung Kling is already known as a tourist attraction, conceptual improvement in the context of tourism will definitely add more values especially for academic and learning purpose.