A study of Indonesian architectural history

Abstract

When we speak of Indonesian architectural history, what are we actually speaking of? What do we understand from this field of study? How it has been done, and why? How can we make it more relevant and useful to the present? This thesis attempts to investigate the historical development of Indonesian architectural history and to illustrate how its various traditions took root and developed. Extensive materials published since the turn of the twentieth century have been scrutinised, in order to identify the many strands of architectural writing produced in different institutional locations, which to a great extent constitute our present knowledge of Indonesian architecture. The general position adopted in this thesis suggests that Indonesian architectural history is deeply rooted in Dutch academic practices in the former Indies—including archaeology, anthropology, urban sociology, town planning and architecture. The legacies of these intellectual traditions live on through their doctrines, basic concepts, theories and methods, but certainly with some reinterpretations and adjustments. The single most important advance made by this thesis is that it presents a multiple, rather than reductive view of Indonesian architectural history. It refers to various forms of the history of architecture, rather than seeing the subject as a single entity. Such an analytical strategy has enabled us to capture the complexity and breadth of the domain of Indonesian architectural history, and to map more accurately the contemporary pluralism and fragmentation within the discursive field. The first chapter explores the main features of the early writings on architecture in Indonesia. The second, third and fourth chapters delineate the legacy of the Dutch academic traditions (archaeology, anthropology, urban sociology and town planning) in Indonesian architectural history. The fifth chapter considers in detail the manner in which the problems of architectural style and identity were addressed by architects in the former Indies and the contemporary Republic of Indonesia. This thesis concludes with a prospective view for a self-reflexive and critical history of architecture.