This research proposal aims to study how the context of different spaces influences the cuisine served. It hypothesizes that the social class living in an area can determine how Malaysian cuisine is served, presented, enjoyed and priced. The research will examine 4 restaurants in different locations of a city, analyzing how location affects food service, pricing, quality and marketing. It will also study how a restaurant's design attracts certain customers and how customers influence design. The goal is to understand how context tailors spaces to specific demographics and emotions.

1. RESEARCH PROPOSAL: DOES DIFFERENT CONTEXT OF
SPACE INFLUENCE THE CUISINE SERVED
Introduction
Malaysia is a unique country filled with many cultures and races, which makes Malaysian
Cuisine very diverse and unique in this world. As Malaysia is a developing country, cities with
different levels of development means the social class living in the city can determine how they
serve Malaysian Cuisine. The three social classes, Lower Class, Middle Class and Upper Class,
could affect how a certain food is served, presented, enjoyed and priced.
Objective
The goal of this research is to achieve the following:
1. To find out the effects of the location context of a restaurant/establishment onto the food
including how it is served, how much it costs, the quality, and how it is marketed.
2. To examine how the location context of a restaurant affects its architectural space, i.e. its
spatial arrangement, its façade, its use of lighting, etc.
3. To study how a restaurant’s design consideration affects the customer it attracts and how
the customer affects the restaurant’s design.

2. Significance
The reason for the proposal of this research is to identify each element of different
restaurants which causes it to attract a certain demographic. How a restaurant’s technique to
attract a certain demographic can be applied to other architectural spaces to create a space tailor-
made to a certain emotion found in those kinds of contexts.
The other reason is to find out how a restaurant chooses their place of business, designs
its space, and how its food is served. To a certain area, certain designs are expected for a
restaurant that serves different customers. This lets the atmosphere of the restaurant be decided
by customers instead of the other way around. Playing with this could create interesting spaces.
Method
1. 4 different restaurants located close to each other in a city are selected.
2. Each restaurant’s information, for example its rent, its size, its price of food, etc., will be
collected and tabulated, under the shop owner’s permission.
3. The restaurants customers are chosen at random with consent to be asked questions
retaining their reasons for choosing this establishment for dining.
4. All information is collected and tabulated in an infographic.
ExpectedOutcome
1. Upper class restaurants tend to be lavishly decorated, with heavy emphasis on spectacle.
2. Middle class restaurants are more rustic in terms of design, focusing on quality food.
3. Lower class restaurants are simple and have more seats, to serve more customers with
cheap, hearty meals.