House Vision Malaysia

The housing development model in Malaysia is faced with difficulty. Young families aspiring to own their own homes find it increasingly costly. Crime rates in the cities are on the rise, and the lack of green public spaces limits social activity. Extensive highway systems function as arteries to cities, disjointing spaces and reducing community interaction within neighbourhoods. Our lives in cities, neighbourhood and homes are increasingly becoming inefficient. We are in dire need of new ideas on how to live in cities with a ‘newfound sense of living’, as the house becomes the core narration of the city and vice versa.

Some of the critical issues relating to housing in Malaysia that need to be addressed in order to benefit the public are:

1. A new vision in housing design and schemes that respond sensitively to the living context of Malaysians.
2. Issues on affordability.
3. Innovative housing typologies, neighbourhood morphology, community planning, etc.
4. Policies and regulations related issues.
5. Sustainability, sufficiency and technology inventiveness in house/ housing design.

A framework was established in guiding the overall research and design process:

1. House : City – Research and discussion to develop clear understanding on the relatedness of a house to a city by describing and defining them using components of a city as a part of a house.
2. House : Neighbourhood – Research and discussion to develop clear understanding on the relationship between a house to a neighbourhood by describing and defining them using components of a neighbourhood as a part of a house.
3. House : House – Research and discussion to develop clear understanding of what is within a house and defining them using components of a house in relation to neighbourhood / city.