VIRTUAL Barcelona
Abstract
Vernacular building practices usually feature sustainable design approaches that successfully react to specific ecology, culture and economy. Southeast Asia shop houses are a great example of vernacular housing typology that demonstrates many effective design techniques that adapt to humid subtropical climate and evolving social context. Unfortunately, many Southeast Asia shop houses were demolished to make way for new development. Parallel to the destruction of these invaluable vernacular houses is an increased of effort to preserve and reuse these shop houses. In Malaysia and Singapore, the adaptive reuse of shop houses had gained many international attentions. However, most reporting on these restorations focusses on the historical value of shop houses. This paper is a report of a month-long visitation to shop houses in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This paper documents the evolution and adaptation of Southeast Asia shop houses in terms of building layout and architectural elements as a way to stay relevant to the contemporary environment, culture and economy.
Zui Ng is the founding principal of ZDES and Professor of the Practice at Prairie View A&M University. His projects had been exhibited worldwide such as the International Venice Architecture Biennale, United States National Building Museum, Sweden Virserum Art Museum, Panama Canal Museum, Thailand KMUTT, and Los Angeles Architecture and Design Museum. Ng’s design projects were published in Architectural Record, Smithsonian Magazine, Texas Architect, Houston Chronicle, ArchDaily, and numerous books on housing design. His housing projects received award such as House of the Month by Architecture