Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Central Market (Pasar Seni) began in 1888 as Kuala Lumpur's wet market, serving the tin-mining town from the banks of the Klang River. The powder-blue Art Deco building that stands today was designed by architect T.Y. Lee and completed in 1937 after the colonial Sanitary Board declared the old market obsolete. When the wet market moved out and the Urban Development Authority proposed demolition in 1983, a landmark campaign by the Heritage of Malaysia Trust (Badan Warisan Malaysia) saved the building, and after an RM8.5 million conversion it reopened on 15 April 1986 as Pasar Seni, an arts, crafts, and culture market. It remains one of Malaysia's most celebrated examples of heritage conservation, extended by the Kasturi Walk pedestrian arcade in 2011.
Central Market
From 1888, as the town's principal wet market
Pasar Seni (Art Market)
Since the 15 April 1986 relaunch
1888
Central Market is established as Kuala Lumpur's wet market beside the Klang River, supplying the fast-growing tin town's miners and townsfolk with fresh produce, meat, and fish.
1930
The colonial government declares the ageing market obsolete: Kuala Lumpur's population has outgrown the cramped 19th-century building.
1936-1937
The Kuala Lumpur Sanitary Board commissions a new building, with T.Y. Lee as architect and designer. The result, completed in 1937, is the Art Deco hall that stands today, with its stepped central clock feature and long ventilated market floor.
1970s-early 1980s
The wholesale wet market relocates and the building falls quiet. In 1983 the Urban Development Authority proposes demolishing it for redevelopment.
1983-1985
The newly formed Heritage of Malaysia Trust (Badan Warisan Malaysia) and public campaigners fight the demolition and win, one of Malaysia's first major heritage conservation victories. The federal government funds an RM8.5 million adaptive reuse of the empty market.
15 April 1986
The building reopens as Pasar Seni, the Art Market, officially launched by Minister Rafidah Aziz, reborn as a centre for Malaysian handicrafts, batik, antiques, and art.
2011
Kasturi Walk opens alongside the market: a covered open-air arcade of stalls along Jalan Kasturi, extending the market experience onto the street.
Today
The market houses craft and batik stalls, art galleries, and eateries, with the Annexe behind it hosting exhibitions and performances. It is protected as a heritage site and remains a fixture of every Kuala Lumpur heritage trail.
1937 Art Deco hall
T.Y. Lee's design pairs a functional ventilated market shed with Art Deco styling, its stepped facade and geometric details now painted a signature powder blue.
Heritage rescue story
The successful 1980s campaign against demolition, led by the Heritage of Malaysia Trust, set the precedent for building conservation in Malaysia and turned adaptive reuse into national policy long before it was fashionable.
Craft and batik stalls
Since the 1986 relaunch as Pasar Seni, the hall has been organised into lanes of Malay, Chinese, and Indian crafts, batik, songket, pewter, and antiques, a deliberate showcase of Malaysia's three main cultures.
Kasturi Walk
The covered outdoor arcade added along Jalan Kasturi in 2011, marked by a giant wau (Malaysian moon-kite) sculpture over its entrance, with street stalls and snacks.
Riverside origins
The market stands where the young town met the Klang River, steps from Masjid Jamek and the river confluence that gave Kuala Lumpur its name; the wet market once received produce landed straight from the river.
The market was founded in 1888 as the town's wet market. The present Art Deco building was designed by architect T.Y. Lee and completed in 1937, after the colonial authorities declared the original structure obsolete in 1930.
Pasar Seni is Malay for Art Market. The name dates from 15 April 1986, when the building reopened after an RM8.5 million conversion from a disused wet market into a centre for Malaysian arts, crafts, and culture. The nearby LRT station takes the same name.
When the Urban Development Authority proposed demolishing the vacant market in 1983, the Heritage of Malaysia Trust (Badan Warisan Malaysia) and members of the public campaigned to save it. The government relented and funded its conversion instead, making it one of Malaysia's first great heritage conservation victories.
For nearly a century it was Kuala Lumpur's principal wet market, selling fresh produce, meat, and fish beside the Klang River from 1888 until the wholesale market moved out in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Architect T.Y. Lee designed the current building for the Kuala Lumpur Sanitary Board, which tendered the project in 1936. Completed in 1937, it is among the finest surviving Art Deco buildings in Malaysia.
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