Abstract
A great urban and architectural experimentation was under way during the period 1959–1965 in Indonesia, specifically in Jakarta, initiated by Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno. As a key figure in international postwar politics, Sukarno utilized architecture and urban design as a form of international and national political communication. Urban architectural projects transformed a formerly colonial city into a modern metropolis marked with “symbols” of modernity and patriotic messages.
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Notes
After making Jakarta a special territory headed by a governor (in 1960), Sukarno appointed Henk Ngantung (1921–1991), a well-known painter, as the deputy of the governor of Jakarta. Then Ngantung held the position of governor from 1964 until he was dismissed by Sukarno’s fall in 1965-Ngantung’s main challenge was to transform Jakarta artistically into a representative international venue and Indonesia’s modern capital. See Jacques Leclerc, “Mirrors and the Lighthouse: A Search for Meaning in the Monuments and Great Works of Sukarno’s Jakarta, 1960–1966,” in Urban Symbolism, ed. Peter Nas (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1993), 38–58.
A term developed by Clifford Geertz, used by Kusno for the subject. See Abidin Kusno, “Modern Beacon and Traditional Polity: Jakarta in the Time of Sukarno,” Journal of Southeast Asian Architecture 2, no. 1 (November 1997): 30–38.
Farabi Fakih, Membayangkan Ibu Kota: Jakarta di Bawah Sukarno (Yogyakarta: Ombak, 2005), 152–157.
Abidin Kusno, Behind the Postcolonial: Architecture, Urban Space and Political Cultures in Indonesia (London: Routledge, 2000), 52.
Marco Kusumawijaya, “Jakarta, Sang Metropolis,” Kalam 19 (2002): 26–7.
Benedict Anderson, “Notes on Contemporary Indonesian Political Communication,” Indonesia 16 (October 1973): 39–80.
For the late colonial and modern architectural development in Indonesia, see Huib Akihary, Architectuur & Stedebouw in Indonésie 1870–1970 (Zutphen, The Netherlands: De Walburg, 1988).
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© 2009 Tuong Vu and Wasana Wongsurawat
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Sopandi, S. (2009). Indonesian Architectural Culture during Guided Democracy (1959–1965): Sukarno and the Works of Friedrich Silaban. In: Vu, T., Wongsurawat, W. (eds) Dynamics of the Cold War in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230101999_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230101999_4
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