Local wisdom defined a space meaning of heritage building: A case study of Zhongshan building in Malaysia.

Culture and heritage are two significant components that need to be understood and appreciated by key stakeholders such as local authorities, residents, users, etc., within rural and urban development. Having reliable and holistic data on a particular culture and heritage, including taking the local wisdom of a community into account, could help in understanding the community and developing a meaningful place for the present and future generations. Whereas local communities arrange, practise, comprehend, and apply a system of values and norms based on their knowledge of and experience with interacting with the environment is referred as local wisdom. It is very instrumental in interior design and can also be integrated into designing a space. To preserve tangible and intangible cultural assets, cultural mapping is used to understand a place and is also a fundamental issue in any redevelopment projects. This paper takes Zhongshan Building to study the local social-cultural identity elements of The Zhongshan Building, which are reflected in the interior environmental design. In this paper, the author focused on examining the application of local wisdom in interior design that is connected to the design development. To carry out the goal of this paper, the two-method methodology was conducted; (a) desk research, and (b) a SWOT Analysis. On the other hand, a pilot survey of the respondents is also required to complete this study, and the result shows that the respondents do acknowledge The Zhongshan Building as a creative hub. Through the discussion of this paper, The Zhongshan Building plays a vital role in portraying the creative culture as a creative hub in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The strength of the interior environment and the significance of local wisdom on site can re-defined the meaning of the building and show the identity of The Zhongshan Building. For future reference, this paper suggests that any research instruments for future data collection in heritage buildings should be considered significant without ignoring the elements of the local wisdom of a community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]