Anthony Palmer – Klang housing (Feb 2025)

At the February meeting, Anthony Palmer presented photographs that were from a recent trip to Malaysia. Having previously shown how car-centred, transport infrastructure is in Malaysia, the photos from this series were about suburban housing in the Klang valley.

The background to the talk was how the Klang suburbs expanded rapidly in post-colonial Malaysia. Despite the country becoming independent in 1957, Klang only dropped its British name, Port Swettenham, in 1972. Much of the Klang valley housing has been built since, establishing many new residential areas. Where single storey properties with large plots used to be a feature of these suburbs, many have been extended upwards and outwards. The photographs showed a variety of typologies and it was common to see houses that were unoccupied and presumed awaiting renovation or development.

After the presentation there was lively discussion on the direction that the project should take in future. Anthony thanked everyone for their insights and will continue with the project later in the year.