Semiotic Approach in Evaluating Traditional Madrasa Design as Communal Development Centre

Abstract

Madrasa is an established religious center that serves as a place for Islamic education and catalyst for communal development. Current madrasas however, do not exhibit contemporary and locally-minded design features in reference to the regional aspects such as the local social cultural context. The madrasa is built as a separate entity from the local communal context. The objective of this paper is to study on two traditional madrasas that uses different approaches in architectural design as an educational institution as well as a communal center for the Islamic society using semiotic approach.  Findings indicate that factors like location and placement, size and scale, facade and structure, access and circulation as well as hierarchy and spatial function contributed to the development of madrasa as a sustainable communal center. The establishment of these referential design guidelines are of benefit to future designers, builders, developer and related authority to build a better sustainable communal madrasa type in the future.