The Tropical Malaysian House 1

The question of what truly defines a tropical house is answered through a comprehensive study of the 25 homes across Malaysia featured in this book.

Featuring a total of 25 dwellings across Malaysia completed in the decade between 200 and 2018, The Tropical Malaysian House 1 puts the spotlight on some of the most innovative and engaging residential projects by local architects and designers. It was launched by PAM President, Ar. Ezumi Harzani Ismail that took place on 19th January 2019 at PAM Centre. Its author Professor Robert Powell who is Professor of Architecture at Taylor’s University Malaysia worked together with accomplished professional photographer Lin Ho to put its contents together and Dr Tan Loke Mun the founding Director of ArchiCentre Sdn. Bhd, DTLM Design Group and principal of DrTanLM Architect, who was the editor and publisher.

The idea for the book first formed when Professor Powell had a friendly conversation with renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa over lunch at Bawa’s home about tropical houses. They discussed the criteria for a residence to be considered a tropical house and Bawa outlined three which were providing the experience of living ”out-of-doors”, being in harmony with nature especially by not destroying any substantial trees and having a minimal amount of glass in its design.

Considering these to be the most important criteria and a possibly purist view of the subject at hand, Professor Powell then brought the matter up with other Southeast Asian architects. Based on those conversations, he expanded on Bawa’s original list and came up with a total of 12 necessary attributes. Based on this newly expanded list of criteria, he identified a total of 25 houses which satisfied most if not all of these features. Additionally, he referred to the Malaysian Green Building Index (GBI) which extensively lists the requirements for a tropical house to efficiently use energy, water and materials throughout its life cycle.

Carefully selected to illustrate contemporary life in the tropics, the chosen abodes are sustainable and take the grave issue of climate change into consideration. On a fundamental level, they exemplify critical regionalism which is a modern architecture that fuses contemporary culture with concepts learned from tradition and vernacular precedence. Altogether, the houses featured in this book show that there is a strong ecological message in the definition of a tropical house. It is Professor Powell’s view that these residences serve as a primer for anyone in the region embarking on the journey of finding a new home.