Asthetics, Ruins, and Space
William Kellie Smith, the man whom built Kellie’s Castle originated from a village in Scotland named Kellas. In 1890, Smith arrived at Malaya( now Malaysia) and fortunately he met Alma Baker, an estate owner in Malaysia whom had won concessions from the state government to clear 360 hectares of forests in Perak. Smith then works and earns his fortune from Alma Baker. With the much fortune, he then venture into the rubber and tin mining industry, the two most famous industries in Malaysia at that time. He then owns Kinta Kellas Estate and Kinta Kellas Tin Dredging Estate.
Blessed with all the fortune he earned in Malaysia, Smith went back to his hometown, Kellas and married his wife, Agnes. Not long after that, he was blessed with a baby girl, Helen. However Smith was still not satisfied as he had always wanted a son to inherit all his property in Malaysia. After many years, Agnes gave birth to a son named Anthony. Being the happiest man in the world, Smith decided to build a castle/mansion to celebrate the birth of his son and also as a present/gift to his wife for giving birth to Anthony.
How the idea / concept for this castle pops out?? Actually, it is just a simple story behind the design of this castle. As the castle is built for his son, Anthony, of course the design/ the story of the design process is somehow related to him. Generally, as we know that Smith wanted a son so badly, with no doubt, we can know that he would do anything suggested by the villagers just to get Agnes pregnant. Then , one of the Madras laborers tell him to pray to Amman, a Hindu Goddess, in the belief that his wish is granted. He did everything, he prayed and finally he was blessed with his son, Anthony. To show his gratitude and appreciation to the Hindu Goddess, he then decided to build a Hindu temple for the Goddess. Due to his fascination and admiration of Hinduism religion and also Indian culture, he plans to build his castle with influence of architecture similar to that in Madras, with the construction materials imported genuinely from India. Even the construction workers/ laborers hired to build his mansion were all Indians. He wanted a total Indian style in the building. This building was then designed in Greco-Roman style with Moorish arches and walls.
Architecture of the building,
Kellies Castle is connected to the main road by bridge running across the stream. Besides, it believed that there are two tunnels buried under the river that exist in this building. One specially built by Kellie to enable his family to connect to the Hindu temple he built nearby. It is said that this castle contains an elevator that connects to the top floor and the first that existed in Malaysia. This castle is a two storey building with a functional roof top for parties or some other occasions and also a six storey tower, an underground wine cellar also a few secret chambers. While On the second floor William actually planned to build an indoor tennis court. IN addition, Kellies castle not only serves William’s family member only. It also functions like a hotel providing shelter/ place to stay for William business partners or something – a hub for entertaining wealthy colonial partners settled in Malaya.
There are several reasons behind the restoration of Kellies Castle. In my opinion, the castle-a piece of meaningful architecture built at that era with mostly imported materials from other country should be restored to let us know the story/ history which had happened in that area at that time. Without this piece of old history, people wont be able to know / come to know who is William, what had happen to him and why he wanted to build this castle for. His main purpose of building this castle and also the temple nearby this main structure will be a doubt to all of us. Kellies Castle act as a piece of timeless architecture which records all the history happening at that time, bringing us back to that era, not to repeat history but to address/ express history to the new generation.
Besides, Kellies Castle is also restored due to its unique design which was even published in London Financier Newspaper on 15 September 1911. It is impossible to find or produced another exactly the same piece of this architecture again. This is as most of the construction materials are imported from India. Besides, it is impossible to have exactly the same workmanship as the Indian labourers William hired to work for him at that time. Also it is believed that this building is the first in Malaya to contain elevator which runs up the top floor. This kind of memory and meaningful history which had been created in this castle cannot be recreated again in a similar manner…Hence, it is important and wise to have it preserved carefully.
I think that this 6 storey tower made of brickwork is quite interesting and beautiful as nowadays, you can hardly find brickwork building. Nowadays, building are all steel, glass and reinforce concrete. Brick structure with all the unique arches as openings and doors well address the material originality and the age of the building.
All these details taken from Kellies Castle and it is all something very unique and historical. All these wooden structures are something you can’t find in any new/ modern building.
Beauty of the material – originality of the material is showed. No plaster/ finishes. Photo 1 and 2 is actually the floor inside the castle.
The ugly part that I found in this building is the part where the brickwork had collapse and some is not uniform/ not stacked straightly. Possibly, it is the rain that damages this beautiful ancient piece of history. I find this ugly as I thought that if this building is preserved well, these damages would not occur.
How the idea / concept for this castle pops out?? Actually, it is just a simple story behind the design of this castle. As the castle is built for his son, Anthony, of course the design/ the story of the design process is somehow related to him. Generally, as we know that Smith wanted a son so badly, with no doubt, we can know that he would do anything suggested by the villagers just to get Agnes pregnant. Then , one of the Madras laborers tell him to pray to Amman, a Hindu Goddess, in the belief that his wish is granted. He did everything, he prayed and finally he was blessed with his son, Anthony. To show his gratitude and appreciation to the Hindu Goddess, he then decided to build a Hindu temple for the Goddess. Due to his fascination and admiration of Hinduism religion and also Indian culture, he plans to build his castle with influence of architecture similar to that in Madras, with the construction materials imported genuinely from India. Even the construction workers/ laborers hired to build his mansion were all Indians. He wanted a total Indian style in the building. This building was then designed in Greco-Roman style with Moorish arches and walls.
Architecture of the building,
Kellies Castle is connected to the main road by bridge running across the stream. Besides, it believed that there are two tunnels buried under the river that exist in this building. One specially built by Kellie to enable his family to connect to the Hindu temple he built nearby. It is said that this castle contains an elevator that connects to the top floor and the first that existed in Malaysia. This castle is a two storey building with a functional roof top for parties or some other occasions and also a six storey tower, an underground wine cellar also a few secret chambers. While On the second floor William actually planned to build an indoor tennis court. IN addition, Kellies castle not only serves William’s family member only. It also functions like a hotel providing shelter/ place to stay for William business partners or something – a hub for entertaining wealthy colonial partners settled in Malaya.
There are several reasons behind the restoration of Kellies Castle. In my opinion, the castle-a piece of meaningful architecture built at that era with mostly imported materials from other country should be restored to let us know the story/ history which had happened in that area at that time. Without this piece of old history, people wont be able to know / come to know who is William, what had happen to him and why he wanted to build this castle for. His main purpose of building this castle and also the temple nearby this main structure will be a doubt to all of us. Kellies Castle act as a piece of timeless architecture which records all the history happening at that time, bringing us back to that era, not to repeat history but to address/ express history to the new generation.
Besides, Kellies Castle is also restored due to its unique design which was even published in London Financier Newspaper on 15 September 1911. It is impossible to find or produced another exactly the same piece of this architecture again. This is as most of the construction materials are imported from India. Besides, it is impossible to have exactly the same workmanship as the Indian labourers William hired to work for him at that time. Also it is believed that this building is the first in Malaya to contain elevator which runs up the top floor. This kind of memory and meaningful history which had been created in this castle cannot be recreated again in a similar manner…Hence, it is important and wise to have it preserved carefully.
I think that this 6 storey tower made of brickwork is quite interesting and beautiful as nowadays, you can hardly find brickwork building. Nowadays, building are all steel, glass and reinforce concrete. Brick structure with all the unique arches as openings and doors well address the material originality and the age of the building.
All these details taken from Kellies Castle and it is all something very unique and historical. All these wooden structures are something you can’t find in any new/ modern building.
Beauty of the material – originality of the material is showed. No plaster/ finishes. Photo 1 and 2 is actually the floor inside the castle.
The ugly part that I found in this building is the part where the brickwork had collapse and some is not uniform/ not stacked straightly. Possibly, it is the rain that damages this beautiful ancient piece of history. I find this ugly as I thought that if this building is preserved well, these damages would not occur.
Personally, when I walked into the castle from the entrance, it gives me an old and full with history feeling. An ancient piece, strong and massive but the spaces in it are empty and abandoned. Inside the castle, it gives a haunted and creepy feel as the structure is quite high with repetitive high arches added with incomplete spaces without handrails and narrow walkways. Also some of the spaces are labeled with scary names as well.
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