Design Pre-thesis 1 | Social Culture

Kampung Medan is located at Petaling Jaya which in the state of Selangor of Peninsular Malaysia. It falls under jurisdiction of Petaling district that is considered as one of the most progressive districts in Selangor. Petaling Jaya was sub-divided into two parts where the northern side is called Petaling Jaya Utara (PJU) and the southern side is named Petaling Jaya Selatan (PJS). Kampung Medan located within the area of Petaling Jaya Selatan. Kampung Medan are one of the several squatter settlements came to existence to the area now known as PJS. Those who migrated from other states and can’t afford to buy or rent a house will opted to stay in the squatter’s area which located near to the city. Majority of Kampung Medan settlers were Malays while a minority were Indians.

A Low-cost terrace housing scheme was eventually planned to be built in Kampung Medan as an effort by the state government to encounter squatters’ issue in the state. Kampung Medan is classified as Urban Poverty area in Klang Valley. Due to poverty issue, other residents who have extra space in their house will opted to rent part of their house for their income. Based on observation and interview with the resident of Kampung Medan, another issue is lack of event space to do activities such as wedding, sports day, open day and etc. There is only 1 number of Multipurpose Hall provide as public amenities in Kampung Medan. Therefore, they will utilize the school hall to organize these kinds of activities which will damage the school hall facilities. There is also only 1 number of library provided but the location is far within the housing area that and have limited road access.

This project focusing on the proposed of FLEXIBLE housing that can be defined as housing that is designed for choice at the design stage, both in terms of social use and construction, or designed for change over its lifetime. It can evolve by the change in user requirements and adaptability to their living conditions. This spatial adaptability is thought as a tool to meet spatial requirement and to enhance every life quality. It is also the link to the economical part because it doesn’t require any renovation works to restructure the house to meet the space requirements and functions. Flexible housing can transform small-space houses or apartments into functional, spatial, social, economic, stylish, comfortable, and highly space-efficiently personal residences.