User:PenangLion/sandbox 4
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The Tun Abdul Razak Complex (Komtar), formerly the Penang Urban Centre, is a civic complex located in the central business district of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. It opened on 2 December 1976. At the time of its completion in 1985, Komtar Tower, at 231.7 m (760 ft), was the second tallest building in Asia and the tallest building in Malaysia. Other buildings in the complex include a hotel building, four shopping malls, an urban park, and a central transportation hub. The complex contains 1,420,000 square feet (132,000 m2) of office and retail space on a 27 acres (11 ha) superblock. It currently houses the administrative offices of the Penang state government.[5]
Tun Abdul Razak Complex | |||||||||||||||||
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Record height | |||||||||||||||||
Tallest in Southeast Asia from 1 January 1985 to 10 November 1986[I] | |||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | 6 Shenton Way | ||||||||||||||||
Surpassed by | One Raffles Place | ||||||||||||||||
General information | |||||||||||||||||
Status | Completed | ||||||||||||||||
Architectural style | Brutalism | ||||||||||||||||
Location | Penang Road, George Town, Penang, Malaysia. | ||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 5.4145°N 100.3292°E / 5.4145; 100.3292 | ||||||||||||||||
Groundbreaking | 1 January 1974; 50 years ago (1 January 1974) | ||||||||||||||||
Construction started |
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Topped-out | 1 January 1985 | ||||||||||||||||
Completed |
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Opening |
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Inaugurated | 1 January 1977; 47 years ago (1 January 1977) | ||||||||||||||||
Cost | RM 279.5 million[lower-alpha 1] | ||||||||||||||||
Owner | |||||||||||||||||
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Design and construction | |||||||||||||||||
Architect(s) | Lim Chong Keat Buckminister Fuller Architects Team 3 | ||||||||||||||||
Developer | Penang Development Corporation | ||||||||||||||||
Structural engineer | Ove Arup & Partners | ||||||||||||||||
References | |||||||||||||||||
I. ^ [1][2][3][4] |
The main complex was built between 1974 and 1986, at an initial cost of RM279.5 million (equivalent to RM642.5 million in 2023). Plans for a civic complex and commercial centre in central George Town was first proposed by the Penang state government in 1962, and was approved in 1969 by chief minister Lim Chong Eu. The project was extensively studied in 1971 and was implemented by the Penang Development Corporation in 1972.[6] The brutalist complex and skyscraper was designed by Lim Chong Keat, and was to be built in five phases, although only two were completed in its original form. The three phases were later repurposed and built in separate periods between 1996 and 2019. Renovations of the main complex in 2015 extended the height of the building to 249 m (817 ft).[7]
Receptions of Komtar's construction are mixed. Described as a "city within a city", the complex was seen as ahead of its time, and was the largest urban regeneration project in Malaysian history.[8] In spite of this, it ultimately failed to achieve its aims of rejuvenation.[9] Komtar was also controversial for causing mass urban displacements and the demolition of a portion of the city's heritage quarters, which sparked the rise of heritage preservation movements in Penang.[10] In its later years, the complex was plagued by neglect and dilapidation from insufficient maintenance.[11] Despite its controversial status, Komtar has come to symbolise Penang's post-industrialisation prosperity and is one of the most recognised landmarks of George Town.[12] It is also hailed as the last "great national symbols of the 1970s".[13]