Independence Museum of Malaysia Part 2 Project 2012 Keian Ann Lim University of Malaya | Malaysia The National Monuments is an important complex that commemorates those who perished in Malaysia's struggle for freedom, principally against the Japanese occupation during World War II and the Malayan Emergency (1945-1968). The proposal is an extension to the existing National Monuments, located at the Northern terrain of Kuala Lumpur. The interior spaces critically address the journey of the Malay state and hidden layers of Malayan history. Perhaps as a result of the yearning for an identity that every new architectonic intervention seems to demand self expression by means of objects, volumes and experiences. In contrast, the extension of the National Monuments emerged from the intention of acting within the strict limits of the gently undulating topography, offering a new public space based on an architectural proposal that is paradoxically simple in its surface and complex in its depth. To ensure that the Independence museum does not affect the existing views framed by the mature landscape, the majority of the building is located underground and blends to surrounding forests. Thus, the new programme establishes, almost imperceptibly, a permanent dialogue with the existing Monuments. The museum emerges silently from the landscape, with a humble combination of composed geometric volumes and forms to make use of light as part of the ambiance. This enhances the awareness of time and subsequently of history itself. Tutor(s)