Sungei Pari Towers


Sungei Pari Towers, alternately Sungai Pari Towers is a dilapidated public housing project in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia which was built in 1963. It is located in the Buntong ward in the western part of Ipoh, along Jalan Gurdwara by the Pari River and west of Ipoh Railway Station.

Features

The central tower has 15 storeys with 120 units, and surrounded by 12 four-storey low-rise units with 288 units. The scheme and layout of this public housing project was prepared by Mr David A. Aitken and Mr E. B. Carlos.
It shares many features in common with the Unité d’habitation by Le Corbusier. It has a lively roof landscape that includes a giant asymmetrical overhanging dish that provides shade. Individual residential units are open to both the north and south sides and therefore benefit from cross breezes. Even the wayfinding system utilizes the Charette font that Le Corbusier favored.

Present state

The flats are managed and rented out to low-income groups by the Ipoh City Council. The flats are mostly vacant since almost a decade ago. In 2012 it was reported that only the ground floor of the 15-storey block was occupied, by three tenants. However there already are plans to redevelop the flats since 2013.