Manifestation of Modernist Architecture in Malaysia:

Case Study of Petaling Jaya City

Helena Aman Hashim 1 Zuraini Md Ali2 & Megat Ariff Shah3
1, 2
University of Malaya, Malaysia
3
City University, Malaysia

Abstract: Modernism was a global architectural movement of the twentieth century which arrived in Malaysia during the British colonial
period. The modernist style and philosophy influenced a wide range of local building types such as commercial, residential, educational,
governmental, industrial, and religious buildings. A variety of modernist-inspired building types can be found in Petaling Jaya (PJ),
Selangor, which is now a thriving city initially established in the 1950s as a satellite township for Kuala Lumpur. However, the steady
development of PJ has affected these unique built forms in varying degrees, with a number of buildings already demolished or its
architectural features irreversibly altered. Therefore, this paper aims to highlight the significance of PJ as an important site of Malaysian
modernist architecture. This was achieved by identifying the historical and architectural importance of selected buildings through literature
and archival reviews. Findings have shown that the development and evolution of PJ is a manifestation of a tropical modernist movement
as well as the earliest application of modern urban planning principles in the first planned township of Malaysia. This assemblage of
buildings reflects invaluable experiments with modernist design principles that left a lasting impact on Petaling Jaya city and its inhabitants.

Key words: Urban heritage, modernist architectural heritage, Petaling Jaya

1. INTRODUCTION 1 twentieth centuries by providing a vision of a ‘new urban society in

Petaling Jaya or PJ is considered as the first planned township in
Peninsular Malaysia and was established to address the economic
and population growth of Kuala Lumpur in the post-war years.
Plans for the new town of Petaling Jaya began from the early 1950s
with the acquisition of approximately 1,200 acres of land by the
State Government of Selangor. The name Petaling Jaya was
derived from the Petaling tree (Ochanostachys amentacea) as well
as the Malay word Jaya which means success or prosperity
(McWilliams, 2002).
Comprising agricultural as well as ex-mining land, the new
town of Petaling Jaya was projected to cater to an initial population
of about 70,000 (Lee, 2006). It is strategically located adjacent to
the southwestern portion of Kuala Lumpur at an area that is
relatively level with ‘undulating terrain’, with neither economically
viable tin deposits nor of ‘great agricultural or forestry value’, as
well as reachable by good road and rail connections between Kuala
Lumpur and Port Swettenham (now known as Port Klang)
(Concannon, 1957, p. 3). Currently, the city of PJ covers an area
of 97.2 square kilometres with a population that exceeds 600,000
residents.
Generally, PJ is divided into sections which are fundamentally
‘residential precincts’ (Ju, Zaki, & Choi, 2011) or ‘localities’ (Lee,
2006) and developed in different phases or periods. The pioneering
area of development is fondly known as PJ Old Town (comprising
Sections 1, 1A, 2, 3, 4 and 51) and dates to before 1953. This zone
was planned with identifiable neighbourhood units alongside
commercial, industrial and administrative areas with pockets of
green spaces. To the north of PJ Old Town is an area known as PJ
New Town (Sections 6,7,8,9,10 and 52) that is more of an
administrative heart of PJ with publicly-accessible green space.
In general, the early planning of PJ reflected the global
modernist planning principles that respond to the ‘changes brought
by industrialisation and industrial capitalism’ of the nineteenth and
——————————————————————————————
1 Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture, University of Malaya,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Email: helena@um.edu.my
2 Senior Lecturer, Department of Building Surveying, University of
Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Email: zuraini_mdali@um.edu.my
3 Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture, City University,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia; Email: megat.ariff@city.edu.my
an ideal physical urban structure’ (Hobson, 1999, p. 2). Effectively
a satellite town to serve the overcrowded living conditions and
booming economic growth of Kuala Lumpur, PJ was literally a
blank canvas upon which Western-trained planners could apply
their modernist, utopian ideals. Thus, PJ was envisioned to be a
new development that included areas for industrial, commercial,
administrative, recreational, educational, and residential functions
(Concannon, 1957) and developed from the idea of British New
Towns (Lee, 2006).
In Malaysia, this post-war British planning approach
overlapped with increasing interests in modernist architectural
styles, bold experimentations with building technology as well as
the presence of expatriate and local architects and planners
(Vlatseas, 1990; Yeang, 1992). All these creative energy found
their outlet in the development of PJ in the 1950s up until the
1970s, by which time modernist-inspired built forms fell out of
favour locally and globally. Currently, the assemblage of modernist
architecture in PJ are scattered throughout the city, and with rising
land price and prime location, it is inevitable that a number of
buildings from that era were demolished or subject to insensitive
alterations which irreversibly altered their characteristics.
Therefore, this paper aims to highlight the architectural
significance of selected building types in PJ so that a case can be
made for their historical and architectural significance to the
Malaysian built environment.
2. METHODOLOGY
This research employed several methods to ascertain the
significant architectural values of the Petaling Jaya area. The work
began with a comprehensive archival research on the historical
development, planning and architecture of PJ. This was followed
by site observation and a windscreen survey to assess and
determine the body of original buildings that remain in existence
and the state of their authenticity and integrity to see if they can
convey the modernist principles behind them. The study area is
focused on buildings dating back to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Selection criteria is based on historical and architectural
significance of buildings in PJ.

44
3. DISCUSSION The planning of the overall enclave provided for the front of
these houses to open onto a shared garden path that led to a
3.1 Tropical Modernist Architecture of PJ children’s playground which was centrally located, while the back
faced the street allowing direct access for cars. This segregation
Modernism was the dominant movement of the twentieth century. minimised conflict between the pedestrian route and vehicular
The movement’s approach is associated with functionalism of traffic and provided a safe environment for children to walk to the
buildings, elimination of decorations, rational use of materials and playground.
acceptance of structural innovation. Modernist buildings had open
plans, steel or concrete construction, rectangular or cubist shaped
plans, large windows with metal and glass frames, minimal or no
decorations (Waters).
Tropical modernist architecture is the adaptation of modern
architecture principles to the local tropical environment. Hence
tropical modernism in Malaysia is associated with buildings that
have respect for the site, oriented to minimise heat gain and glare
from the sun as well as strategic use of architectural elements (e.g.
hoods, screens, and overhangs), enhance natural ventilation,
openness in interior spaces and minimal or judicious use of
ornamentation (Mohamad Tajuddin, 1998; Vlatseas, 1990).

3.2 Housing

The earliest houses in PJ can be found in the PJ Old Town and

were primarily constructed out of timber. Allocated modest lots
measuring 50’ X 90’, approximately 1,000 timber houses were
constructed by the year 1952 (Entry & Majlis Bandaraya Petaling
Jaya, 2008). At the same time, the provision of quality affordable
housing for the public was recognised as a concern in the
Federation of Malaya (Newcombe, 1955). This led to the Figure 1: Layout of the Housing Trusts’ Scheme in Section 1A,
emergence of a Housing Trust set up through the Housing Trust Petaling Jaya with the playground highlighted (Edited from
Ordinance, 1950. The role of the Trust was to construct houses and Newcombe, 1955)
to encourage purchase by organising an affordable loan scheme for
their buyers. Invariably buyers who purchased houses through the
Trust paid a lesser amount for their monthly loans compared to
what they paid for their rental accommodations.
Nevertheless, the multi-racial community and income groups
in Malaysia led to the need to innovate designs schemes to suit the
varied cultural tastes as there were no design manuals on this
matter which architects could follow. This experimental period in
the country invariably led to freedom in design and resulted in
inspiring new ideas and schemes. The first housing scheme built by
the Housing Trust in Petaling Jaya was in Section 1A and consisted
of 110 houses (refer to Figure 1). The original design of these
houses which were completed in March 1955 remains
distinguishable even today despite having been renovated and
extended over the years (refer to Figure 2).
Two principles guided the designs of these buildings. These
principles are as follows:

1. Houses are oriented to the north-south direction to

minimise direct exposure to the morning and afternoon
Figure 2: Current images of the housing scheme showing
sun as well as to catch the prevailing breezes.
shared garden path leading to the central playground
2. Provide safety for the children walking to the centrally
(bottom) (Source: Authors)
located playground from vehicular traffic.

The houses were modern and utilitarian in design with

ventilation blocks, louvres and permanent openings to provide
passive means of comfort through natural ventilation and
permanent air-movement. The thick loadbearing walls of these
houses also kept their interior cool by minimising heat transfer.
The houses had pitched roofs and were devoid of ornamentation
with the use of pattern arising from the design of the ventilation
blocks.

45
 The experimentation in tropical housing design led to the technology at the time (refer to Figure 5). This building has now
Ideal Home competition organised by the 27 commercial firms been completely demolished and a new structure erected in its
related to the building industry in conjunction with Federation of place.
Malaya Society of Architects and the Malay Mail in 1960
(Geeraerts, 1962). The top three winning entries were subsequently
constructed along Jalan Utara in Petaling Jaya to demonstrate to
the public design ideas and lifestyles that could be achieved
through these houses (refer to Figures 3 & 4). These houses which
were completed in September 1961 showcased a suburban lifestyle
which evolved among a less formal existence. Houses had open
concepts which merged the dining and living areas and bedrooms
which opened onto outdoor terraces. The north-south orientation
was emphasised to control glare .and permanent openings, as well
as louvres, were provided to encourage cross ventilation and
promote stack effect for cooling.

Figure 5: An early image of the Century Battery Factory

(Source: Booty, Edwards & Partners, 1962)

3.4 Government and Institutional Buildings

The use of sun-shading devices was also common in government

Figure 3: Perspective drawing of the winning Ideal Home
design by Kington Loo (Source: Geeraerts, 1962)
and institutional buildings. The office of the Employees Provident
Fund Board (E.P.F.) which was completed in 1962 along the
Federal Highway, had a glass facade which was shaded by an
external skin of aluminium grilles (Yeang, 1992). According to
Honey (1961), Bailey who’s practice designed the offices
commented that the building was intended to be suitable in
whichever country it was located (refer to Figure 6). Currently the
façade of this original buildings has been replaced with a more
contemporary design with no trace of the original deisgn.
At the Government of Offices of Petaling Jaya, concrete
louvres and grilles were placed 3 feet away from the windows to
prevent glare, and heat transfer into the building. This sun-shading
element became the main design feature for the facade. The
building was the largest building in Petaling Jaya at the time of
completion and was the seat of the local administration (refer to
Figure 7). It is currently still used as a government office, whereby
the National Registration Department is located in the main
building.

Figure 4: Current images of the Ideal Home design by

Kington Loo (Source: Authors)

3.3 Industrial Buildings

The progressive design of factories in this period mirrored the

country’s economic growth. The designated industrial area in
Section 13 which comprised of 101 hectares had some of the most
inspiring factory designs. Several of the factories featured concrete
parabolic and shell structures in their design. Among the most
striking factories built in PJ during this period are the Colgate-
Palmolive Factory and the Century Battery Factory both of which
has a concrete shell roofs, one in the form of barrel shell while the
other had four continuous hyperbolic paraboloids supported on
four pairs of buttresses. The roof of the Century Battery factory
was possibly one of the first factory buildings in the country to
have a hyperbolic-parabolic structure. These roof forms were
influenced by western designs that were products of cutting-edge
46
 Figure 6: Early image of the Employees Provident Fund
Board office (Source: Yeang, 1992)
Figure 7: An early image of the Government Offices of
Petaling Jaya (Source: Ashley & Merer, 1959)
3.5 Religious Buildings
A significant number of mosques and churches were constructed to
cater to the population boom of PJ. Some of the earliest PJ
mosques, for example, experimented with large-span concrete
roofs and unusually shaped floor plans. The Masjid Kolej Islam
Malaya (also known as the Masjid Al Malek Faisal back then) at
Section 16 was completed in 1974 and has a distinctive vaulted
shell roof over the hexagonal main prayer hall and barrel shell over
the secondary hall and annexe structures. Designed by Baharuddin
Kassim of Jurubena Bertiga International Partnership, who was
part of the team at the Public Works Department (JKR) responsible
for the National Mosque (completed 1965), the roof has six arched
clerestory windows that let diffused light into the main hall.
Another notable mosque is the Masjid Tun Abdul Aziz at
Section 14. Designed by John Ho of the Public Works Department
(Azim, 2016) and fondly known as the Masjid Bulat, i.e. Round
Mosque, it was officially opened in 1977. The circular plan and
off-centre onion dome over the flat roof echoes modernist
experimental designs of that time, whilst the deep-set windows
surrounding the main prayer hall allows plenty of light while
filtering the harsh sunlight.
One of the earliest mosques in PJ was the Masjid Jamek
Sultan Abdul Aziz at Section 3, also by Baharuddin Kassim.
Completed in 1964 but demolished and replaced by a new, larger
mosque in 2008, the original simple yet iconic folded plate
concrete roof is a variation of the National Mosque roof which
proliferated for a short period in Peninsular Malaysia (Abdul
Halim, 2004). However, most mosques with these types of folded
plate roof, like this one, has since been replaced with typical
domed construction (refer to Figure 8).
As for churches, the prominently located Trinity Methodist
Church at Section 5 was built in the 1960s (refer to Figure 9). Its
A-frame reinforced concrete structure can be seen from the Federal
Highway and seemed to be part of a larger trend of using similar
structures as an early ‘modern attempt at a modern interpretation of
vernacular timber architecture’ in Malaysia (Lim & Tay, 2000).
Figure 8: The Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Aziz, since
demolished (Source: Azim, 2016)
Figure 9: The Trinity Methodist Church (Source: Lim & Tay,
2000)
4.0 Conclusion
Mid-twentieth century buildings dominate the urban landscape of
Petaling Jaya. An analysis of selected buildings during its early
period indicates that these buildings had specific common
characteristics. They typically had interior plans that were open
with fewer walls, encouraged natural ventilation and lighting,
placed an importance on building orientation in order minimise
heat gain and solar glare, were sensitive to the topography of the
site, and used simple, clean lines and geometric forms.
This design style is referred as tropical modernist architecture
and utilises design strategies that are in line with today’s green and
sustainable building philosophies. This assemblage of tropical
modernist architecture emerged from an initial idea to the first
planned new township and became a testbed for innovative
modernist architecture. There are very few areas in Malaysia with
such significant concentration of buildings in this style other than
in the Petaling Jaya area.
Although the result of this research indicates that numerous
original modernist style buildings in Petaling Jaya have today been
demolished or renovated, there is still a sufficient body of works in
the city that will be able to impart the ideas and ideals of the
modernist planning principles and architecture across. These
buildings remain today as a reminder of the approach and mindset
of the architects in this era who returned to work in Malaysia after
receiving their tertiary education abroad.
47
 Since the enactment of the NHA 2005, there are today 51
properties listed as National Heritage, and a substantial number
included on the Heritage Register. Although there isn’t an age limit
for buildings to qualify for gazettal, buildings constructed in the
twentieth century are often under-appreciation due to the limited
passage of time from when they were built. As a result, these
buildings are usually unprotected and threatened by new
development. There is, however, since the 1990s, a growing
movement internationally to raise awareness of the significance of
these buildings. Therefore, efforts should be made to protect the
urban architecture in Petaling Jaya before they disappear entirely.
These individual building types may not be particularly
significant but taken collectively; they represent the ideals or spirit
of the times. The sentiment of the country at this time leading up to
independence and the period after was to create harmony in a
References
Abdul Halim, N. (2004). Mosque Architecture in the Malay World (Omar
Salahuddin Abdullah, Trans.). Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia:
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Ashley, H. I., & Merer, S. P. (1959). Petaling Jaya Government Offices.
PETA, 2(4), 1-7.
Azim, A. A. (2016). Masjid: Selected Mosques and Musollas in Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur: ATSA Architects Sdn. Bhd.
Booty Edwards & Partners. (1962). Factory for Century Batteries Petaling
Jaya. PETA, 4(1), 4 - 5.
Concannon, T. A. L. (1957). Petaling Jaya: Malaya’s Second New Town
Merdeka Souvenir: Reprinted from The Malay Mail.
Entry, J., & Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya. (2008). PETALING JAYA
Truly SHE. Petaling Jaya: Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya.
Geeraerts, A. A. (1962). Ideal Homes Competition & Exhibition. PETA,
4(1), 16-23.
Hobson, J. (1999). New Towns, The Modernist Planning Project and Social
Justice. Retrieved from London:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/development/case-
studies/1999/sep/108-new-towns-modernist-planning-project-
and-social-justice
Honey, R. (1961). Discussion on "What is Malayan Architecture". PETA,
3(4).
multi-racial country consciously and to push economic
development to promote growth in the post-war period. The design
of the township represented an ideal lifestyle for modern Malaysia.
The policies and design outcomes were products of the first wave
of western-trained local architects who were returning from the UK
to practise locally and expatriates who had come to Malaysia after
the second world war. The post-war building boom and the
infusion of new ideas from the west lead to a period of
experimentation which was expressed in the architecture.
This phase of development in Malaysian history if left
unrecognised and unappreciated will eventually be forgotten with
the demolition of the buildings which remains as evidence of this
past. At the very least efforts should be made to comprehensively
record the history and the memory of the place before they vanish.
Ju, S. R., Zaki, S. A., & Choi, Y. K. (2011). Contextual Modernization;
New Town Planning in Petaling Jaya, of Malaysia. Journal of
Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 10(1), 93-100.
doi:10.3130/jaabe.10.93
Lee, B. T. (2006). Petaling Jaya: The Early Development and Growth of
Malaysia's First New Town. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society, 79(2 (291)), 1-22.
Lim, T. N., & Tay, L. (Eds.). (2000). 80 Years of Architecture in Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: PAM Publication.
McWilliams, F. (2002). Pray Silence for 'Jock Whittington': From Building
Sewers to Suing Builders. London: Malu Publications.
Mohamad Tajuddin, M. R. (1998). Developing a Modern Malaysian
Architecture. In V. F. Chen (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of
Malaysia: Architecture (Vol. 5, pp. 106-107). Singapore:
Archipelago Press.
Newcombe, V. Z. (1955). The Work of The Housing Trust in the
Federation of Malaya. PETA, 1(2), 17-27.
Vlatseas, S. (1990). A History of Malaysian Architecture. Singapore:
Longman.
Waters, S. Modernism. Retrieved from
https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-
resources/knowledge-landing-page/modernism
Yeang, K. (1992). The Architecture of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: The Pepin
Press.
48