The Minangkabau architecture: students' personal experience at Pariangan Village, West Sumatera

Living within the community one is studying, is one of the best (qualitative) method to experience and learn the architecture of the particular community. Architectural education requires students of architecture to experience, communicate and understands explicitly the living environment of people whom they are assigned to design the subjects' habitat so as to match the needs effectively. Sensitivity to other cultures and belief systems would inculcate the sense of respect and appreciation towards others and their surroundings apart from ones own. This chapter captures twenty nine (29) architectural students perspective and experiences in appreciating the Minangkabau architecture and cultures through HUM Heritage Studies course field work to Sumatra, Indonesia. HUM Heritage Studies (AAR 3301) course is a core course for the Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies programme in International Islamic University Malaysia that enable students to experience a brief life of the community whom they researched, on their architecture, history and culture. The Heritage Studies for year 2009 was carried out at a Minangkabau village ofPariangan, located in West Sumatera, Indonesia. The students' tasks were to learn and appreciate the Minangkabau architecture through learning of the customs (odat) that influence the architecture, the surrounding environment where the society live, the cuisine, the music and most importantly the basic physical structures built (the buildings) for daily living. For these students, despite initial difficulty in adapting to the village life, the experiences they had was unforgettable. Their positive feedback as outcome of this field study confirmed the importance of having fieldwork as the core part of the architectural education and should therefore be continued to enhance the teaching and learning of architecture outside the studio environment