Malaysia Architecture Weeks (MAW)

MAW TOKYO 2026

Exhibition · KOCA, Kamata, Tokyo · 2026

KATA-KATA · Form. Way. Story · 型・方・語 — of Tropical Malaysian Architecture.

Kata is a word that Malaysia and Japan happen to share in sound, though not in meaning. In Bahasa Malaysia, kata-kata are words. In Japanese, the same sound can be written 型, form; 方, way; and, as kataru, 語, story. It describes exactly what we wanted to show in Tokyo: architects telling where they come from, and then showing what they have built from it.

Malaysia has no single architectural identity, and this exhibition does not pretend to offer one. What these practices share is not a style but a set of conditions: water, heat, rain, ground and a plural culture still learning to speak with itself.

How the exhibition is read

Part A, 語 (Story): each architect tells their origin story in their own words. Part B, 型 (Form): each presents one work as a physical model. In Japanese, an architectural model is 模型 (mokei); the model is kata in the most literal sense.

The practices are gathered under four conditions: Waterways — How did we arrive? Ground — What do we inherit? Roofs — What do we construct? Graft & New Roots — Where are we going?

Dates and venue

6–11 November 2026. KOCA, Kamata, Tokyo.

Opening

Friday 6 November 2026: 5 pm press preview, 6 pm lecture and talk, 7 pm launch by the Ambassador of Malaysia, H.E. Dato’ Ahmad Rozian Abd Ghani, 7.30 pm party.

Programme

Tropical Architecture talk, Japan Women's University, 9 November 2026, 7 pm.

We do not share a single story, nor do we build a single form. Malaysian architecture is not a fixed identity, but a continuing conversation in many voices, spoken in words and built in form.

Participants: Beu Tan Architect, O2DA + CPLA, DEKODA Architects, DRTAN LM Architect, Firadaus Khazis Architect, LCSC Architects, Mentahmatter, MJ Kanny Architects, PAB Architecture, Razin Architects

MAW x SHIFT 2026

Exhibition · Sunway Square Gallery, Level 1, Sunway Square · 2026

MAW 2026: Design Code | SHIFT 2026. The Design Code exhibition shown in conjunction with SHIFT 2026.

Dates

Exhibition 5–20 September 2026, 10 am – 4 pm. Opening 5 September 2026, 6 pm.

Venue

Sunway Square Gallery, Level 1. Held in conjunction with SHIFT 2026 at the Jeffrey Cheah Performing Arts Centre, Sunway Square.

Partners

Aga Khan Award for Architecture, DOMA, Sunway University Architecture.

MAW JAKARTA 2026

Travelling exhibition · Kopimanyar, Bintaro, Jakarta, Indonesia · 2026

MAW's first international stop, under the theme 'Design Code': models, strategies and spatial thinking from Malaysian practices, with Borak-borak talks.

Dates

Opening 28 April 2026, 2.30 pm. Closing session 15 May 2026, 3 pm.

Venue

Kopimanyar, Bintaro, Jakarta.

Hosts and officials

Hosted by Andra Matin. IAI represented by Denny Setiawan. Officiated by Farzamie Sarkawi, chargé d'affaires, Embassy of Malaysia in Jakarta.

Participants: 23 Malaysian practices, including EJ Architect, LCSC Architects, MJ Kanny Architect, DEKODA Architects, HXA and Afi Jamalludin

MAW 2026

Travelling exhibition · The Project Room, Level 4, UR-MU @ Toffee, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur · 2026

Theme 'Design Code' (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division): the systems and values behind architecture. A crowdfunded travelling exhibition.

Dates

Launch Friday 22 May 2026, 5–8 pm, at The Crave, Level 3 @ Toffee. Exhibition 22 May – 20 June 2026, 10 am – 6 pm, closed Mondays and public holidays.

Programme

Borak Borak: The Beginning, 20 June 2026. MAW Award 2026 Under-30 winners, 20 June 2026.

Curators

Beh Ssi Cze, Wong Lot Yee, Yong Leng Chee, Afi Jamalludin, Hedzril Jaafar, Firadaus Khazis, Cheryl Quan, Choong Wei Li.

Launch

Officiated by Hannah Yeoh. PAM president Dexter Koh spoke.

Participants: AAT Architects, Afi Architect, Architects 91, Asima Architects, BEu Tan Architect, DEKODA Architects, DRTAN LM Architect, Eleena Jamil Architect, FABKL DESIGN, Firadaus Khazis Architect, Futureground Architects, Hedzril Architect & Associates, Lateral Architects, LCSC Architects, Mentahmatter Design, MJ Kanny Architect, Mukabumi Architecture, O2OA + CPLA, PAB Architecture, Qhawarizmi Architect, SPX Architects, Think Cloud Design Lab, TKCA Architects

MAW x MELAKA 2025

Exhibition, talks, walks · NUS Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre and The Bendahari, Melaka · 2025

'Roots & Roofs: Grounded Futures': exhibition, workshops, walks and talks on sustainability, cultural continuity and community-rooted design, including a Heeren Street shophouse walking tour, plus the MAW exhibition and Borak-borak.

Dates

18–20 December 2025, 10 am – 5 pm.

Venue

NUS Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre, 54-56 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, and The Bendahari, 147-149 Jalan Bendahara, Melaka.

Programme partner

NUS Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre / Prof. Johannes Widodo.

MAW x JOHOR 2025

Exhibition · Kota Jail (former Ayer Molek prison), Johor Bahru · 2025

A travelling exhibition at Kota Jail, Johor Bahru, under the theme 'Heritage & Horizons: Experience the Future of Malaysian Architecture at Kota Jail': 3D models, talks and panels.

Dates

12–19 September 2025.

Organiser

PAM Southern Chapter (PAMSo), as a pre-event to Festival Seni Bina (FSB) Johor 2025 (28–30 November 2025, Desaru Coast Riverside), with World Architecture Day.

Participants: Architects, designers, lecturers and students from the Southern region, including Raffles University students

MAW x WAD 2025

Exhibition · PAM Centre, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur · 2025

The MAW exhibition for World Architecture Day 2025, with 18 PAM member architects.

Dates

16–24 October 2025, 9.30 am – 5.30 pm.

Venue

PAM Centre, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

Participants: 18 PAM member architects

MAW 2025

Exhibition · UR-MU @ Toffee (The Project Room, Level 4), Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur · 2025

The inaugural edition, under the theme SUARA (Space, Urban, Adaptation, Resilience, Avant-garde), with sectional models and six Borak-borak talks. Inspired by 'Houses: 7 KL Architects', Ginza, Tokyo, 1985.

Dates

Opening Friday 23 May 2025 at Toffee KL, Level 4. Open 24 May – 22 June 2025. Tickets RM10, students free.

At ARCHIDEX 2025

MITEC, Hall 4, Level 1, 21–24 July 2025. KLCC, Hall 8, Level 4, 23–26 July 2025.

Curators

Beh Ssi Cze, Cheryl Quan, Firadaus Khazis, Yong Leng Chee, Choong Wei Li.

Launch

Officiated by YB Nga Kor Ming, Minister of Housing and Local Government, and Ar. Adrianta Aziz, PAM president.

Participants: AAT Architects, Mentahmatter Design, EJ Architect, Loka Studio x UCSI, StudioKAIZEN, Think Cloud Design Lab, Mukabumi, DEKODA Architects, Hedzril Architect