Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

UNVEILING THE SECRETS OF PASSIVE DESIGN CONSTRUCTION OF NUSANTARA MASJID ARCHITECTURE THROUGH THE ROOF DESIGN FOR REGION’S SUSTAINABILITY

Nur Athirah Khalit, Noor Hanita Abdul Majid, Zaiton Abdul Rahim and Norwina Mohd Nawawi

Abstract

Old masjids are living historical monuments that contribute to the establishment of Islamic civilization around the world. In the Nusantara or the Malay Archipelago, the existence of vernacular masjids with unique localized characteristics is a testament of the existence of Islam as early as the 1300 AD. The tiered pyramidal roof of vernacular masjids in Nusantara is significant visually and symbolically and demonstrated an indigenous passive design approaches. This paper examines how roof design of vernacular masjids of Nusantara provides comfort through passive design approaches. Visual analysis of nine (9) selected vernacular masjids in Malaysia were employed to examine the characteristics of the roof in relation to passive design. Findings indicate that the roof tier, pitch, opening, and overhang play important role in giving comfort to the masjids.