Uploaded on 2018-09-09 by Keith Yeoh

Pictured here is the Four Seasons Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, which was recently completed. At a height of 342.5m, it is the second tallest building in the city center (next to the Petronas Twin Towers). Globalization is evident in its construction process - the building was constructed by a foreign contractor (China Railway Construction Corp) with imported labor, and uses steel, cement and ready-mix concrete in abundance. These 3 are the most commonly used building materials in Malaysia. While Malaysia has its own cement and steel production capacity, it relies on China and Japan for medium and heavy-section steel materials. In 2016, Malaysia imported 9,139,000 MT of iron and steel products - far higher than exports of steel (source: http://www.mycc.gov.my/sites/default/files/Market%20Review%20of%20Building%20Materials%20in%20the%20Construction%20Industry%20-%20Draft%20Final%20%28091117%29%20v2.pdf). Use of locally available materials are currently still lacking, however exploration of alternative sustainable materials such as bamboo is actively underway by local architects. One such example is the Bamboo Playhouse by Eleena Jamil Architects.