Traditional houses are the most essential architectural experience that is in harmony with the people's culture, beliefs, environment and lifestyles. The development of design values in contemporary architecture by tracking traditional design values in architecture paves the way for arguments concerning the implementation of authentic Malay traditional house design values in contemporary Malay houses. In addition, it is hypothesized that the Malay traditional houses theoretically provide a constructive innovative framework for the design performance of the contemporary Malay house. In this research, data was compiled through field observation and documentary review. The evidence revealed that Malay traditional houses convey a concrete message of richness encompassing architectural design values and theoretical propositions. The credibility of the results was improved and confirmed by a confluence of evidence via a confirmation process. The findings suggested that there is a rich source of subjective support, lending proof to the premise of the research investigation. The research has highlighted the significance of traditional architectural design values towards innovative design in the architecture of contemporary Malay houses as a workable pattern for use in the design of contemporary architecture.

In the 19th century, Chinese immigrants were drawn to Johor via the entirely unique Kangchu system that was only adapted in the state, later contributed significantly to its economic progress. The Chinese came for pepper and gambier plantation and settled at riverside which formed the frontier Chinese settlement called “Kangkar”. It is also believed that kangkar is the earliest established Chinese settlement in Johor, then many of them substituted by New Village in 1950s, and today’s modern housing in the 20th century. Irony the kangkar settlements are declining while some already abandoned. Furthermore, study of Chinese settled at Johor in kangkar settlement is still lacking, which severely constrain the preservation of such historical settlement. To help fill this gap, this paper aims to delineate the kangkar settlement which represents strong historical significance to Chinese architectural paradigm in Johor. It is crucial to start paying attention on this Chinese heritage to avoid irreversible loss of humanity’s heritage as well as diversity. As the formation of kangkar settlement was mainly ranged from 1844 to 1917, historical data was collected through content analysis of archival documents, literature reviews, and interviews of scholars. The special terms used were revealed such as Kangchu, kangkar, and “surat sungai”. Kangkar as a unique Chinese living settlement which existed due to Kangchu system, plays important and positive roles in Johor development in terms of economy, co-existence, and identity. It is hence crucial to preserve the kangkar settlements by providing insight of guideline to sustain and avoid further decline.

This paper presents the research proposal initiated based on needs of high developing country like Malaysia in energy efficiency studies. The research proposal developed based on a “current” research gap to enhance design related building user comfort criteria towards efficient energy used. Research aims to develop index analysis model to enhance consideration of user comfort towards efficient energy use. The relevant objective and methodology of research in four (4) phases is presented. Firstly, it is to investigate building design attributes related to user comfort in sample size of office buildings. Secondly, it is to capture architectural design related “Energy Efficient” attributes using the same sample size of energy efficient consultants within conducting quantitative interviews. Thirdly, it is to evaluate interrelation of EE attributes versus user comfort attributes with in professional group discussion. Finally, it is to develop index analysis model in consideration of user comfort towards efficient energy used. Accordingly, each objective comply novel findings. In conclusion this paper brief proposed research steps to aims to develop index analysis model to enhance consideration of user comfort towards efficient energy use.