Architecture

Architecture

Coming back to Jakarta after 18 years and with the plan to be
once more one of its citizens for a number of years, I was
immensely impressed by the development that has been taking place
in the city, but most of all in its center.

Being an architect myself, much of my interest, quite
naturally, went to the products of my fellow designers of
buildings. And, although the spread of prestigious office
complexes and hotels can easily stand the comparison with similar
projects anywhere in the world, I am also very worried with the
serious decline in the quality of the architecture in general.

While the city center can indeed be compared with that of any
other metropolis in the world, at the same time it looks
disturbingly like any other center; no special character, no
reference to your rich culture, nothing that even remotely builds
on the basis of traditional Indonesian architecture, or uses
anything of its refine language.

As far as I am concerned, this could be Hawaii, this could be
Florida, and if you take out the palm trees, it could be
anywhere.

Maybe this is a deliberate choice, in which case I should
respect it, being a guest in your country. But I simply refuse to
believe that! I fear that, like in so many other cities,
architecture and urban design are the victim of economic
development--no time to think twice, not enough care on the part
of the people who invested in the cityscape.

Now, I realize that criticism like this is easier given than a
better approach is found. To start with, at first glance there is
not much in the history of Indonesian architecture that can be
used as a guideline for the design of multi-functional centers at
the end of the 20th century; you are not dealing with sprawling
one-storey kratons (palaces) anymore, but with offices that must
house thousands of people.

But I am sure a new approach can be found, even if it takes
careful study, painstaking analysis and hard work; good examples
in regards to results of such work can be found in other
countries. In those cases a careful blend of modern requirements,
translated with the use of beautiful old language, has been
tried--with success!

This can also be done in Jakarta and I would like to propose
that my fellow Indonesian architects and city planners take up
the challenge; it is so much more worth it!

HANS W. VAN OS

Jakarta