Photos place local architecture in space and time
By Maria Sandra
JAKARTA (JP): The 50-year-old building stands firmly in contrast to a neighboring modern building in Kota, Jakarta.
The new building is constructed of iron, concrete and walls of green reflecting glass. The older building seems only to be a foundation of sand, walls of wooden planks and wrought-iron work.
The building, a residence, seems out of place among Kota's structures, many of which were formerly warehouses and old and new office buildings, is now conserved, at least in the photograph.
The scene is captured in a photograph entitled Yang Terawat dan Yang Terlupakan (The Cared for and The Neglected), one of the works by noted architect Yori Antar. An exhibition of his works, Ruang dan Waktu (Space and Time), at the Galeri Twilite Cafe in Kemang, South Jakarta, runs to Dec. 31.
The 90 photographs display a cross section of Indonesian architecture, including modern houses, multistoried buildings, upmarket shopping malls, and shacks along rivers across the country.
Yori said he wanted to share with visitors "how we sometimes feel strange and lonely in the middle of sophisticated buildings we build for ourselves. Meanwhile, many traditional buildings are being neglected."
For Yori, taking pictures of buildings is part of his profession.
"Actually, I like to conserve every unique building through my photographs. These will become a source of inspiration when I want design a building," said the architect who started taking photographs in 1983.
"One day, these exotic architectural structures will not be able to be enjoyed anymore," he said. His pictures preserve structures which may soon be history in both urban and isolated settings.
Yori, 37, a member of the idealists in Arsitek Muda Indonesia (Indonesia's Young Architects), based a design for low-cost housing in Timor on its traditional style. It won in a competition organized by Plan International, a non-governmental organization concerned with development and sanitation.
Indeed, the photographs seem to help his architectural slant in managing a harmonious blend of the old and the new.
The pictures Simfoni dan Harmoni (Symphony and Harmony) and Rumah Temanku (My Friend's House) display comfortable-looking homes with the styles of different times, incorporating both wood and stone.
Other photographs show a variety neglected buildings, some of which are almost in ruins, and others which are being renovated.
Kehilangan Jiwa (Loss of the Soul) is the title for an old building in Senen, Central Jakarta, showing what is left of a building demolished about five years ago.
People who have never been to the kampong along Kali Code, Yogyakarta, gain an insight of the area from Yori's pictures of the shacks.
One photo, Bunga di Perkampungan Kumuh (Flower in the Slum), shows a row of two-story semipermanent houses built cheek by jowl.
There seems little space left to breathe. The simplicity of the "tiles" of palm fiber and the clothes dried on the rooftops add to the reality of Kali Code.
The fact that residents manage to stay in Kali Code is attributed to the advocacy and work of Father Y.B. Mangunwijaya, or Romo Mangun, who worked with residents in managing to adapt their homes to the environment.
Mangunwijaya is, himself, an architect; one that younger architects look up to as those who believe architecture must serve the needs of people who live in a building.
Other photographs display the lilliputian housing along both sides of an overpass in Jakarta. Conditions are similar to those found in Yogyakarta -- yet the gap seems more painful.
Senior photographer Erick Prasetya commented: "Through this (display) we should be able to ... wake up in our awareness in defending and conserving our inheritance ..."