BWM Talk Series: Kampong Bharu KL: Unsung Past, Uncapped Present, Unclear Future by Ar. Najib Ariffin

Posted on January 7, 2025

.

Organised by Badan Warisan Malaysia
Kampong Bharu KL: Unsung Past, Uncapped Present, Unclear Future
Date : 25 January 2025
Time : 10.30 am
Location : Badan Warisan Heritage Centre, No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur

Light refreshments will be served.

Click HERE to register.

About the Talk
Pretty much all KL-ites know Kampung Bharu, but most don’t realise that it is one of the most unique places in any Southeast Asian capital; an over 120-year-old Malay Agricultural Settlement that’s now a ‘crater’ of low-rise mixed residential buildings plus popular eateries and shops, all surrounded completely by skyscrapers including the Petronas Twins, and where you can find the last of the traditional Malay family timber houses in the city. For now it’s still a surviving repository of history, lifestyle and architecture, but it may not be long before re-development makes them all disappear. This talk explores what made Kampong Bharu unique, why is it important, and what next?

About the Speaker
Ahmad Najib Ariffin or Nadge is a man of many interests. Born in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of 1967, he was raised in Europe, Singapore and elsewhere, and speaks 7 languages. One of his first professional interests was in architectural history and cultural heritage, which were stirred when studying Building Sciences and Architecture across the USA, also in Italy and Turkey, earning Degrees in each field. His personal interest in heritage and history were then raised when he discovered that his father descends from Javanese kings who built the great Borobudur and Prambanan temples, while his maternal grandmother was a lesser princess of the Qing Dynasty. He left full-time architectural practice in 1996 to pursue consultancy work under his own research academy, NADGE. He has since travelled the world including presenting research papers at LVDM-Naples, Italy; DoCoMoMo-Tokyo and Xi’an, China where he was conferred the L’Union Internationale des Architectes Heritage Award. His passion and knowledge keep him free being a salaryman, even though he lives like the proverbial penniless prince.