INDONESIAN

ARCHITECTURE
A. GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCE

 LARGEST
ARCHIPELAGO(17,508
ISLANDS) IN THE WORLD
LYING BETWEEN THE INDIAN
OCEAN AND PACIFIC OCEAN.
 IT CONSISTS MAINLY OF
COASTAL LOWLANDS.
 IT COVERS ABOUT 1,919,000
sq.km (741,000 square miles)
 IT SHARES LAND BOARDERS
WITH MALAYSIA, PAPUA NEW
GUINEA AND EAST TIMOR
B. GEOLOGICAL INFLUENCE
BECAUSE OF ITS
LOCATION, NATURAL
DISASTERS, ESPECIALLY
EARTHQUAKES ARE
COMMON IN INDONESIA.
INDONESIA, PART OF THE
“RING OF FIRE, ” HAS THE
LARGEST NUMBER OF
ACTIVE VOLCANOES IN THE
WORLD
C. CLIMATE INFLUENCE

▪ TRADITIONAL DWELLINGS
HAVE DEVELOPED TO
RESPOND TO NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT
CONDITIIONS, PARTICULARLY
INDONESIA’S HOT AND WET
MONSOON CLIMATE.
BUILDING HOUSES OFF THE
GROUND ON STILTS SRVE A
NUMBER OF PURPOSES.
 D. RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE

 IT IS THE WORLDS LARGEST MUSLIM COUNTRY

86% OF THE POPULATION PROFESSING ISLAM, 9% ARE CHRISTIAN, 2% ARE
HINDU AND 3% ARE BUDDHIST OR ANIMIST.
ISLAM ARRIVED INDONESIA VIA ARAB AND GUIJARATI TRADERS
BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM CAME FROM INDIAN MERCHANTS.
PORTUGUESE INTRODUCED CATHOLICISM
THE DUTCH INTRODUCED PROTESTANTISM
 E. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE

SUKARNO ( r. 1945-1967) ▪ SUHARTO ( r. 1967-1998)

 UNIQUE INDONESIAN ETHNIC TRADITIONS:

▪ MENTAWAI’S SHARPENING
TEETH
▪ DAYAK TATTOO TRADITION
•PANDANUS WAR OR BALINESE ▪ NIA’S TONE JUMPING
MAKARE-KARE

▪ NIA’S FINGER CUT

 F. HISTORICAL INFLUENCE
EARLY INDONESIA
 HINDU KINGDOMS SPRANG UP ON JAVA AND SUMATRA AS EARLY AS 300 BCE.,
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE TRADERS FROM INDIA.
 IN THE 7TH CENTURY, THE POWERFUL BUDDHIST KINGDOM OF SRIVIJAYA AROSE
ON SUMATRA .

COLONIAL INDONESIA
 THE PORTUGUESE TOOK CONTROL OF PARTS OF THE INDONESIA IN THE
16TH CENTURY, BUT DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO HANG ON TO THEIR
COLONIES THERE WHEN THE MUCH WEALTHIER DUTCH DECIDE TO MUSCLE IN ON
THE SPICE TRADE BEGINNING IN 1602.

NATIONALISM AND INDEPENDENCE

 IN MARCH 1942, THE JAPANESE OCCUPIED INDONESIA EXPELLING THE DUTCH.
 IN 1945, INDONESIA LAUNCHED A FOUR-YEAR INDEPENDENCE WAR, GAINING FULL
FREEDOM IN 1949 WITH U.N HELP.
 G. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

▪ DIVERSITY PRINCIPAL STRUCTURES

▪ TIMBER AND ▪ TIMBER
CONSTRUCTION
▪ VARIED AND ELABORATE
ROOD STRUCTURES PRINCIPAL STRUCTURES
▪ USE OF STONES AND ▪ HOUSES
WOOD CARVINGS
▪ PALACES
▪ TEMPLES
FEATURES:
▪ RUMAHADAT OR CUSTOM HOUSE
HOUSES ARE AT THE CENTER OF A WEB OF CUSTOMS, SOCIAL
RELATIONS, TRADITIONAL LAWS, TABOOS, MYTHS AND
RELIGION THAT BIND THE VILLAGERS TOGETHER.
 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
▪ PLAN – COMMUNAL LONG HOUSES ON STILTS; THE NORM IS FOR A POST,
BEAM AND LINTEL STRUCTURAL SYSTEM THAT TAKE LOAD STRAIGHT
TO THE GROUND.
▪ ROOF- SHARPLY INCLINED ROOFS MADE OF THATCH MATERIALS WHICH
CAN BE COCONUT AND SUGAR PALM LEAVES, ALANGALANG GRASS
ANS RICE STRAW, WITH LARGE HANGING EAVES.
▪ COLUMNS –HARDWOOD IS GENERALLY USED FOR PILES.
▪ WALLS – WOODEN OR BAMBOO WALLS THAT ARE NON-LOAD BEARING.
▪ OPENINGS – IN HOT AND HUMID LOW-LYING COASTAL REGIONS, HOMES
CAN HAVE MANY WINDOWS PROVIDING GOOD CROSS VENTILATION,
WHEREAS IN COOLER MPOUNTAINOUS INTERIOR AREAS, HOMES OFTEN
HAVE A VAST ROOF AND FEW WINDOWS.
▪ ORNAMENTS- SYMBOL OF BUFFALO WHICH IS REGARDED AS A LINK
BETWEEN HAVEN AND IN THIS WORLD. THE BUFFALO IS A SYMBOL OF
STATUS, COURAGE, STRENGTH AND FIGHTING SPIRIT.
▪ WOODEN CARVINGS OF WATER BUFFALO & OTHER PATTERNS.
▪ TEDONG (buffalo horns)
▪ SUNGGAD ( fern –shaped ornament)
 H. EXAMPLES OF INDONESIAN ARCHITECTURE
1. HOUSES
 USUALLY CONTRUCTED
WITHOUT NAILS BUT WITH
TENONS AND MORTISES.

TYPE OF HOUSES:
A. LAMIN (DAYAK, BORNEO) –
LONG HOUSES ON STILTS (AS
HIGH AS 4M)
B. RUMAHGADANG (large house of the Minangkabau, Sumatra) – WITH
DISTINCTIVE ROOFS, WHICH LOOK LIKE BUFFALO HORNS. COMMON
MOTIF OF WOOD CARVINGS ARE ROOTS, PLANTS, LEAVES,
TRIANGULAR GEOMETRIC PATTERNS & PARALLELOGRAM.
c. BATAK HOUSE-
RECOGNIZABLE BY THEIR
MASSIVE STYLE OF
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION;
THE ORNAMENTS
CONSISTS OF
ANTHROMORPHIC AND
ZOOMORPHIC
REPRESENTATION, CARVED
DECORATION ORNAMENTS,
AND WALL PAINTINGS ARE
PUT ONTO THE EXTERNAL
WALL OF THE HOUSE TO
DRIVE AWAY THE EVIL
INFLUNCES.
D. TONGKONAN (house of
Tojara, Sulawesi) - THE
DISTINCTIVE FEATURE ARE
THE “BUFFALO HORNS”, THE
ROOF DESIGN AND THE
RICH DECORATIVE ON THE
WALLS .
E. KAJANGLAKO / LAMO
(Jambi traditional house,
Sumatra) –
RECTANGULAR WITH A
LENGTH OF 12M AND
WIDTH OF 9M. THE
ROOF IS MADE FROM
MENGKUANG OR
WOVEN FIBERS.
F. JOGLO (Javanese
readitional House) – with
a trapezium roof; it has a
wide front veranda and
inside the house there is
no partition.
G. KUREN ( Traditional Balinese
House) – CONSISTS OF A
FAMILY OR A NUMBER OF
RELATED FAMILIES LIVING
WITHIN ONE ENCLOSURE,
PRAYING AT A COMMON
FAMILY TEMPLE WITH ONE
GATE AND ONE KITCHEN.
2. TEMPLES

- EXEMPLIFY A SYNTHESIS OF HINDU-INDONESIAN & BUDDHIST-

INDONESIAN FEATURES; THE COMING OF ISLAM ENDED THE HINDU-
BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURAL TRADITION IN INDONESIA, EXEPT IN BALI,
WHERE IT LINGERED ON AS A FOLK ART , WHILE THE ARRIVAL OF THE DUTCH
INTRODUCED EUROPEAN ELEMENTS.
BOROBODUR EAST GATE
PRAMBANAN TEMPLE COMPOUND
THE END