The ACAHUCH and Khoo Salma Nasution come together to present the 2024 Miles Lewis Oration lecture on 28 October. This oration applies the concept of porosity to urban history and heritage conservation, from building materials to city boundaries, to the legibility of historical layering, looking at George Town, Penang as a catalyst.

The term ‘porous city’, introduced by Walter Benjamin and his collaborator Asja Lacis (credited more to the latter) in their 1925 essay on Naples, serves as an analytical lens in contemporary writings on architecture and urbanism. This essay applies the concept of porosity to urban history and heritage conservation, from building materials to city boundaries, to the legibility of historical layering.

Initially, rent control delayed the redevelopment of the old city, and UNESCO listing later placed George Town on a unique developmental path. A port city in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, George Town has long been fertile ground for civilisational exchange and expressions of intangible heritage, particularly related to religious diversity. UNESCO’s 2008 listing of the Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca cited these outstanding universal values, as well as the largest collection of shophouses and townhouses in the region. Urban projects in the old city contend with layers of history, occasionally sparking contestation among Indigenous, migrant, colonial and contemporary narratives.

Khoo Salma Nasution is a writer, publisher, social historian, and an advocate of heritage and environmental protection. She is a leading author of Malaysian place-histories incorporating social history and environmental history; and co-founder of heritage and sustainability initiatives that advance knowledge at the intersection of culture, community and environment.

When & where

Monday 28 October 2024, 6.30–7.45pm
Online & in person
Japanese Room, Level 4, Glyn Davis Building,
Masson Rd, University of Melbourne Parkville, VIC 3010

Learn more through the ACAHUCH MSD website and book through Eventbrite.