Making 'new' Muslim places in urban Malaysia and Indonesia

My research in 2013 brought me to various cities in Malaysia and Indonesia. It gave me the opportunity to visit a multitude of interesting venues, ranging from sacred places (Chinese-style mosques), to eating places (Chinese halal restaurants), retail places (shopping malls and Islamic boutiques) and living places (Muslim gated communities), and led me to develop a new research project in which I will study Muslim identities and aspirations in contemporary societies, by examining the constructions of place, claims on space and the architecture of built forms.