DPR\/MPR building a silent witness<\/p>\n
By Sri Wahyuni<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Over the past 30 years, the People's
\nConsultative Assembly\/House of Representatives compound on Jl.
\nGatot Subroto, Central Jakarta, has been a silent witness to many
\nmomentous decisions made by the country's legislators and
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
Changes and renovations have been conducted at regular
\nintervals -- the most recent was completed on March 11 last year
\n-- that have transformed what was a relatively modest 8,000-
\nsquare-meter facility into a grand complex covering 42,000 square
\nmeters.<\/p>\n
The newest part of the compound is a 24-story tower, the
\nLokawirasabha Tama building, next to a previously built three-
\nstory podium building. The two stand to the left of the main
\nGrahatama building that was built in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Grahatama, with its roof shaped to resemble the wings of a
\ngiant bird in flight, dominates the compound. It houses the main
\nassembly hall.<\/p>\n
Its unique construction has invited the admiration of many.
\nDutch Minister of Development Cooperation J.P. Pronk, chairman of
\nthe now defunct Inter-Governmental Group for Indonesia, said when
\nhe visited Indonesia five years ago that his country should learn
\narchitecture from Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The history of the buildings dates back to 1965 when then
\npresident Sukarno declared that an international organization
\ncomprising newly independent and emerging nations in Asia, Africa
\nand Latin America should be established.<\/p>\n
The campaign was acknowledged as a counterattack to the United
\nNations which Sukarno considered was dominated by the U.S. and
\nits Western allies and was insensitive to the aspirations of
\nnewly independent countries.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, on Sukarno's orders, withdrew its UN membership in
\nJanuary 1965 following the admission of Malaysia, with whom the
\nJakarta government was at the time embroiled in a political
\nconfrontation, into the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n
Calling his planned organization the Conference of the New
\nEmerging Forces (Conefo), Sukarno suggested that the first Conefo
\nmeeting should be held the following year. This meant that the
\nconstruction of a huge and imposing building fit for an
\ninternational organization equivalent to the UN had to be
\nerected in just 12 months.<\/p>\n
A team to coordinate the huge project was set up. Architects
\nand civil engineers from prestigious universities and technical
\ncolleges in the country and large local construction firms were
\ninvited to bid to participate in the project.<\/p>\n
The design and construction of the Conefo building were
\nundertaken entirely by Indonesian engineers.<\/p>\n
It was two brilliant young engineers Sujudi and Sutami, who
\nwere entrusted by Sukarno to design the Conefo building. Sujudi
\nwas put in charge of the design while Sutami was entrusted with
\nthe construction.<\/p>\n
The whole project was supervised by the then minister of
\npublic works, Dadang Suprayogi.<\/p>\n
The ground-breaking ceremony in April 1965 was witnessed by
\nprominent leaders from other Asian countries, including Chinese
\nPremier Zhou Enlai, North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il-sung and
\nCambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk.<\/p>\n
The construction work was carried out around the clock, for
\nmonths on end, by some 27,000 workers who were divided into three
\nshifts. Progress was not easy as there were not enough building
\nmaterials or heavy equipment available in the country. Even the
\nmixing of concrete had to be done manually.<\/p>\n
And worst of all was that Indonesia had to import much of the
\nmaterial needed for the project while having to cope with soaring
\ninflation.<\/p>\n
The project would have been accomplished as planned had it not
\nbeen hastily canceled by the government in the wake of the
\nabortive coup in September 1965 blamed on the Indonesian
\nCommunist Party.<\/p>\n
As a result, the Conefo project was never realized despite the
\nfact that its foundation and frame were ready and the assembly
\nhall was nearing completion.<\/p>\n
It was almost a year later that construction of what would
\nhave been the Conefo building resumed. The then head of the
\nCabinet Presidium, Gen. Soeharto, instructed Sutami -- who had
\nbeen appointed minister of public works -- to continue the
\nproject.<\/p>\n
However, it was not for Conefo but for the People's
\nConsultative Assembly\/House of Representatives. It was first used
\nin March 1967.<\/p>\n
Awesome<\/p>\n
The 700-square-meter concrete shell roof with a pair of arched
\nbeams supporting it in the middle makes the main building look
\nimposing and awesome. Even for experts in developed countries,
\nthe architectural work is said to be an almost impossible
\nundertaking.<\/p>\n
During it s lifetime Grahatama has been branded an imitation
\nof either the Stadthaus Congress Hall in Berlin or the Raleigh
\nArena in North Carolina.<\/p>\n
Yet a closer looks reveals a major difference between
\nGrahatama and the two other buildings. Grahatama's accidentally
\nchosen shell-shaped roof has no pillar to support it, which is
\nnot the case with the German and American buildings.<\/p>\n
In his book Structure and Form in Modern Architecture (1993,
\nVan Nostrand Reinhold Co.), Curt Siegel wrote that the
\nconstruction of the Berlin Congress Hall has certain weaknesses,
\nespecially with the roof's design -- which is not the case with
\nthe Jakarta building.<\/p>\n
Now, more than 30 years since its completion, the building has
\nbecome one of only a few landmarks in the capital.<\/p>\n
Supporting facilities -- including the legislators'
\nLokawirasabha office building, the Ganagraha commission meeting
\nhall, the Grahakarana auditorium, the Pustakaloka library, the
\nCenter for Information Studies and Service, a health center,
\npublic phone booths and cafeteria -- were added for the
\nlegislators' convenience.<\/p>\n
The recently completed Lokawirashaba Tama tower cost more than
\nRp 116 billion (US$48.33 million when the U.S dollar rate was Rp
\n2,400) of taxpayers' money. The funding came from the state
\nbudget between 1993 and 1997.<\/p>\n
The construction work was done by Citra-Adhi Joint Operation,
\na joint venture of PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada owned by
\nPresident Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and
\nthe state-owned PT Adhi-Karya.<\/p>\n
Gubahlaras Arsitek & Perencana PT was in charge of the design
\nof the building. The ground-breaking ceremony was held on Jan. 5,
\n1994. On March 11, 1997, the tower was officially opened.<\/p>",
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