Field Trip: Asthetics, Ruins & Space

Monday, August 9, 2010



Get to do some research about Kellie's Castle.

So famous about it being haunted! *exciting* !

But behind all these, it's famous for it's love story behind too, just like the scenes from movies. Haunted Mansion? lol.

Found a website where the author had been describing and comparing the Kellie's Castle with the Taj Mahal. The great love beyond this big mansion.

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A symbol of love

Kellies Castle is symbol of love, like the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. And in the architecture, there is definitely some moghul influence visible.

Kellie's Castle was built by a Scottish planter called William Kellie Smith. He built the castle for his wife. Smith himself was from a little town in Scotland: Kellas. He built the castle for the same reason as Shah Jahan a few centuries earlier the Taj Mahal: Love

Shah Jahan built the Taj as a monument for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. The original idea was to build a black and a white Taj on both sites of the river. Shah Jahan didn't come further then the known white Taj. Smith however, never had the idea of building two castles.

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Kellies-Castle.html

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Mr William Kellie Smith had a great fond over the Indian and Moghul style, therefore the mansion was built in Moghul and Indian style. Even the materials and workers were all "imported" from India.

http://www.indianetzone.com/41/features_mughal_architecture.htm

From the websites, I learned that Mr William Kellie Smith is quite ambitious over the design of his mansion. He planned to have an indoor tennis court in second floor and top floor will be used
as courtyard for parties.

Besides that, he wanted to have lift in his house, and that will be the first lift in Malaya that time .The elevator connects the very top roof of the house with two underground tunnels that run under the river just outside the house. One of these tunnels connects to the Hindu temple nearby.

It was to become to the hub for colonial planters who have settled in Malaya.


http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Kellies-Castle.html

I think the government refurbished and restored the mansion to its original state was to make it an tourist attraction. It had been abandoned in ruined state for more than 80 years. It's kinda hard to find a mansion this big in mughul style in Malaysia, especially one than already aged more than a century! The loves story behind it and the mysterious legends had made it quite special and attracts curiosities of the tourists.

I think Kellies Castle is a little similar with the KTM railway main station in KL with the same moghul style as well. I somehow thinks that it looks a bit too new.


It is a great contrast to the Kellas House just beside it which was in a great degree of ruin. By comparing like that, the Kellies castle somehow look so majestic standing together.


The uncompleted underground wine storage. and the ugly sketch of the completed one.@.@


I like the feeling when I first saw it after getting off from the bus. I felt that it was so huge and fascinating. People standing on the roof top and every where of the buildings. The exposure of the raw materials such as the bricks and mortar.


The guard house was all covered by plants and moss, I like the state of it being this way. Giving a mysterious and ancient feeling!


Anyway, I think it's good they didn't put in any furniture to suit and create the same surrounding and atmosphere. It'll look a bit too fake if they did. Being left empty is a good way in potraying the architecture inside.


I feel it's kinda amazing with the circulation all around the building. There are staircases lead to everywhere. Underground, upstairs, and even roof top. Too bad the tunnels the legend said it lead to a Kuil and another secret place were closed. It would be nice if we could get in.


Standing inside the rooms and by the mystery corridor that's full of bricks. Maybe because that they are empty, and surrounded by all bricks, it will create an eerie feeling as how people described. Addition to the rumor outside saying the spirits of Mr. William Kellie Smith and family are hanging around the house.




At the Kellas house, some of the structures had been neglected since long ago. Somehow with the growth of plants within the bricks, and the structure left in it's own state, such as a stairway to no where had been a nice thing to be seen, At least we could trace it's history and feeling it wanted to achieve. haha.

It's nice to keep this structures here. The abandoned ruined structure kept gave a mysterious feeling to the people who see it. And through this way, the great idea of love, of history, of culture, could be seen and much appreciated by the future generation. Gave a soul to the site itself, and to the people who see it. =D
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Run to the city.
Theories of Architecture