Architecture

of
Indonesia

Architectural Influences

Geographical
The Malay Peninsula is bounded by southern Thailand
in the North, and on the west and South by the straits of
Malacca which separate it from Sumatra, which in turn is
separated from Java on the SE by the Sundra Straits. Java
is the first of a Chain of Islands extending eastward.
Borneo is the largest island in the archipelago separated
by the straights if Macassar on the East from Celebes, to
the North of Borneo and Celebes lies the Philippines.

Geological
Much of this vast region is mountainous, a long curving
band of active and extinct volcanoes passes through
Sumatra, Java and Bali, and Volcanic rock has been
extensively used for construction work.

Climatic
Indonesia almost bestrides the equator, with a tropical
climate and not great seasonal variation in temperature.
The climate is also generally humid and under the
influence of both monsoons.

Historical
Indonesian culture, especially its architecture has been to a great
extent dominated and influenced by the Indian, although European
influences have also been particularly strong since the nineteenth
century. Traditional buildings in Indonesia are built on stilts with
oversized saddle roofs which have been the home of the Batak and
the Toraja. The Torajan use the buffalo horns, stacked one above
another in front of the house as an indication of status. Scenes from
the Ramayana adorn the outer walls in different colors. However,
Chinese, Arab, and European architectural influences have also
been quite significant in Indonesian architecture.

Architectural Character
In Middle Java, an architecture of solid stone walls,
corbelled arches and with no loadbearing columns, which
reached its consummation with the stupa of Borobudur
and the Temple complex of Prambanam. This is always
associated with isolated religious communities and never
with large Centres of population.

Borobudur

Temple complex of
Prambanam

Architectural Character
A new development began with the shift of power to
East Java in the 11th century characterized by a
lessening of Indian Influence and increased evidence of
the native Indonesian tradition, reflected especially in
the sculpture which already foreshadows the folk-art of
the Javanese wayang puppet drama.

Wayang Puppet Drama

Architectural Character
Timber is abundant and varied throughout Indonesia,
and has always been used for houses, the traditional
dwelling is a long house generally raised on stilts and
often sheltering an entire clan. It is seen at its
architectural best in the Menang Kabau homes of South
central Sumatra, which are carried on carved and
decorated wooden pillars, the facades adorned with
colour patterns of interwined flowers in white, black and
red, the inward-sloping ridge(saddle back) rood with
high gables at each end ornamented with buffalo horns.

menang kabau

Architecture in Indonesia

"Architecture"are often perceived as cultural symbols

and as work of art. Also as Historical Civilizations are
often identified with their surviving architectural
achievements.
"Indonesia"is acountryinSoutheastAsia,whichis
crossed bythe equatorandlocated betweenthe
continents of AsiaandAustraliaas well asbetween the
Pacificand Indian Ocean.Also
Indonesiaconsistsofvarious ethnic,
linguisticandreligious groups.Indonesiahas

TheArchitecture of Indonesiareflects
the diversity of cultural, historical and
geographic influences that have shaped
Indonesia as a whole. Invaders,
Colonizers, missionaries, merchants and
traders brought cultural changes that
had a profound effect on building styles
and techniques. Traditionally, the most
significant foreign influence has been
Indian. However, Chinese, Arab - and
since the 18th and 19th centuries European influences have been
important.

Religious Architecture
Architectural heritage influenced by religious are
commonly found in Java. The beginning areHindu
Buddhist kingdomsbetweenthe 8th and 14th
centuries.The earliest surviving Hindu temples in Java
are at the Dieng Plateau. Thought to have originally
numbered as many as 400, only 8 remain today just 100
years later the secondKingdom of Matarambuilt the
Prambanan complex near Jogjakarta; considered the
largest and finest example of Hindu architecture in Java.

Prambanan Temple

Religious Architecture
The World Heritage-listed Buddhist monument
Borobudur was built by the Sailendra Dynasty between
750 and 850 AD, but it was abandoned shortly after its
completion as a result of the decline of Buddhism and a
shift of power to eastern Java. Majapahit influences can
be seen today in the enormous number of Hindu temples
of varying sizes spread throughout Bali. Several
significant temples can be found in every village, and
shrines, even small temples found in most family homes.

Borobudur

Religious Architecture
By the fifteenth century, Islam had become the
dominant religion in Java and Sumatra, Indonesia's two
most populous islands. The new religion and the foreign
influences that accompanied it, were absorbed and
reinterpreted, with "mosques" given a unique
Indonesian/Javanese interpretation. At the time, Javanese
mosques took many design cues from Hindu, Buddhist,
and even Chinese architectural influences. For example;
Grand Mosque- Yogyakarta. They lacked, for example, the
ubiquitous Islamic dome which did not appear in
Indonesia until the 19th century, but had tall timber,

Grand Mosque- Yogyakarta

Traditional Architecture
Indonesia has 33 provinces, Each of province has its
own distinctive form and identity of traditional vernacular
architecture, known as Rumah Adat in Indonesian. The
concept of Rumah Adat are base on social relations,
traditional laws, taboos, myths and religion. The main
focus of that house for family, theirs community and
some residents activities. Design of Rumah Adat didn't
have an architect designer but that build their own
homes or community under direction of a master builder
or a carpenter. Also the amazing unique is every province
has different ethnic and they have different distinctive

Rumah Adat/ Custom House

Rumah adat or Custom Houseare at the centre of a
web of customs, social relations, traditional laws, taboos,
myths and religions that bind the villagers together. The
house provides the main focus for the family and its
community, and is the point of departure for many
activities of its residents. Traditional Indonesian homes
arenot architect designed,rather villagers build their
own homes, or a community will pool their resources for
a structure built under the direction of a master builder
and/or a carpenter.

Different Traditional House of

Provinces in Indonesia

Province of Aceh

Rumah Aceh : Rumoh Aceh

Province North Sumatra / Batak

Batak Toba : Bolon

Batak Karo : Siwaluh Jabu

Province West Sumatra / Padang

Rumah Gadang

Province Riau

Rumah Lancang

Province Riau Islands

Rumah belah bubung

Province Jambi

Rumah Panjang

Province South Sumatra /

Palembang

Rumah Limas

Province Lampung

Nuwo Sesat

Province South Sulawesi /Ujung

Pandang

Toraja Houses

Province DKI Jakarta

Rumah kebaya

Province West Java / Sunda

Kesepuhan

Province Banten

Kasepuhan

Province Central Java

Rumah joglo

Province DI Yogyakarta

Rumah Bangsal Kencono

Palace Architecture
Istana(or "Palace") architecture of the various
kingdoms and realms of Indonesia, is more often than not
based on the vernacularadatdomestic styles of the area.
Royal courts, however, were able to develop much
grander and elaborate versions of this traditional
architecture. the Pagaruyung Palace is a three-storey
version of the MinangkabauRumah Gadang. while
theomo sebua("chief's house") in Bawomataluo, Nias is
an enlarged version of the homes in the village and the
palaces of the Balinese such as thePuri Agungin Gianyar

Pagaruyung Palace

Palace Architecture
Similar to trends in domestic architecture, the last two
centuries have seen the use of European elements in
combination with traditional elements, albeit at a far
more sophisticated and opulent level compared to
domestic homes such as the JavaneseKraton, for
example, largependoposof thejogloroof form
withtumpang sariornamentation are elaborate but based
on common Javanese forms as well.

Kraton Yogyakarta

Colonial Architecture
From the 17th century to the end of World War II, the Indonesian
identity was that of a Dutch colony, an extension of the
Netherlands. In fact, the name for Indonesia while under the Dutch
administration, Netherlands Indie, translates to "the Netherlands
that lies in the Indie." Architecturally, Indonesia was not a virgin
land when the Dutch came. Its architectural tradition and heritage
contrasted greatly with western architecture in general, and Dutch
architecture in particular. The Dutch imported their building types
and construction methods to Indonesia, and in fact when
colonizing bureaucracies matured, the buildings themselves were
designed in the Netherlands, materials were shipped to Indonesia,
and constructed under Dutch supervision (and probably at the
hands of a Dutch or Chinese master mason or master carpenter).

East Javanese Bank Office in Surabaya

Colonial Architecture
By the end of the nineteenth century this imported European style
begin to influence Indonesia's traditional architecture. In the Yogyakarta
and Surakarta palaces, indigenous architectural forms are juxtaposed
against European styles. Still more extreme an example, The Royal
Cemetery of Sumenep Sultanate, built in the mid-19th century, was
completely European in style. How European architecture entered the
'center and peak of Javanese culture' is still in debate. A more revealing
question might be what influenced the king's or sultan's decision to allow
European styles to infiltrate traditional design so much? Certainly the
wholesale adoption of European architecture may suggest an acceptance
of cultural inferiority by the sultan, or possibly an architectural message
and exemplar of how two architectural sources (local and European) meet.

The Royal Cemetery of Sumenep Sultanate

Palace Architecture
Although row houses, canals and enclosed solid walls were first
thought as protection against tropical diseases coming from tropical
air, years later the Dutch learnt to adapt their architectural style with
local building features (long eaves, verandahs, porticos, large
windows
and ventilation openings). The of the 19th century were among
the first colonial buildings to incorporate Indonesian architectural
elements and attempt adapting to the climate. The basic form, such
as the longitudinal organisation of spaces and use
ofjogloandlimasanroof structures, was Javanese, but it
incorporated European decorative elements such as neo-classical
columns around deep verandahs.

Ceremonial Hall,Bandung Institute of

Technology,Bandung

Post Independence Architecture

Early twentieth century modernisms are still very evident across
much of Indonesia, again mostly in Java. The 1930s world depression
was devastating to Java, and was followed by another decade of war,
revolution and struggle, which restricted the development of the built
environment. Further, the Javanese art-deco style from the 1920s
became the root for the first Indonesian national style in the 1950s.
The politically turbulent 1950s meant that the new but bruised
Indonesia was neither able to afford or focussed to follow the new
international movements such as modernist brutalism. Continuity
from the 1920s and 30s through to the 1950s was further supported
Indonesian planners who had been colleagues of the Dutch Karsten,
and they continued many of his principles.

Bundaran Hotel Indonesia - Jakarta

Post Independence Architecture

Despite the new country's economic woes, governmentfundedmajor projectswere undertaken in the modernist style,
particularly in the capitalJakarta. ReflectingPresidentSukarno's
political views, the architecture is openly nationalistic and strives
to show the new nations pride in itself.Projects approved by
Sukarno, himself a civil engineer who had acted as an architect,
include:
A clover-leaf highway.
A broadby-passin Jakarta (Jalan Sudirman).
Fourhigh-risehotels including the famous Hotel Indonesia.
A new parliament building.
The 127 000-seatBung Karno Stadium.
Numerous monuments includingThe National Monument.

Jalan Sudirman

Istiqlal Mosque

Post Independence Architecture

The 1950sjengkistyle, so named after Indonesian
references to the American armed forces as 'yankee', was
a distinctive Indonesian architectural style that emerged.
The modernist cubic and strict geometric forms that the
Dutch had used before World War II, were transformed
into more complicated volumes, such as pentagons or
other irregular solids. This architecture is an expression
of the political spirit of freedom among the Indonesians.

Jengki Style House

Post Independence Architecture

The International Style dominated in Indonesia in the
1970s, as it did in much of the rest of the world. The
1970s saw the Indonesian government promote
indigenous Indonesian forms. Constructed in 1975, the
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah theme park re-created over
twenty buildings of exaggerated proportions to showcase
Indonesian traditional vernacular forms. The government
also called for Indonesian architects to design an
Indonesian architecture, and by the 1980s in particular,
most public buildings were built with exaggerated
elements of traditional vernacular forms.

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
The 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw foreign investment
and economic growth; large construction booms brought
major changes to Indonesian cities, including the
replacement of the early twentieth styles with late
modern and postmodern styles. The urban construction
booms have continued in the 21st century and are
shaping skylines in Indonesian cities. Many new buildings
are clad with shiny glass surfaces to reflect the tropical
sun.Architectural styles are influenced by developments
in architecture internationally including the introduction

Indonesian Bamboo Restaurant

BNI Building, Jakarta.

References
http://
juliesartoni.blogspot.com/2012/06/traditonal-toraja-hous
e-of-south.html
http://
juliesartoni.blogspot.com/2012/03/architecture-of-indon
esia.html
Architectural Character and the History of Architecture
by: George S. Salvan