GEOGRAPHY

THE STEEPLY SLANTED ROOF ALLOWS HEAVY TROPICAL RAIN TO

RAPIDLY SHEET OFF, AND LARGE OVERHANGING EAVES RETAIN
WATER OUT OF THE HOUSE WHILE ALSO PROVIDING SHADE IN THE
HEAT.
INDONESIA IS A SOUTHEAST ASIAN ARCHIPELAGO OF ISLANDS
HOMES IN HOT AND HUMID LOW-LYING COASTAL REGIONS MAY
LOCATED BETWEEN THE INDIAN AND PACIFIC OCEANS. IT IS
HAVE MANY WINDOWS TO ALLOW FOR GOOD CROSS-VENTILATION,
STRATEGICALLY LOCATED ASTRIDE OR ALONG MAJOR SEA LANES
WHEREAS HOMES IN COOLER MOUNTAINOUS INTERIOR AREAS MAY
FROM THE INDIAN TO THE PACIFIC OCEANS. ALTHOUGH INDONESIANS
HAVE A LARGE ROOF AND FEW WINDOWS. TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN
ARE NOW LESS VULNERABLE TO THE EFFECTS OF NATURE AS A
BUILDINGS ON STILTS WITH OVERSIZED SADDLE ROOFS HAVE BEEN
RESULT OF IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS, TO
THE HOME OF THE BATAK AND TORAJA.
SOME EXTENT THEIR SOCIAL DIVERSITY HAS EMERGED FROM

GEOGRAPHICAL
INDONESIA HAS THE WORLD'S LARGEST ARCHIPELAGO. IT IS MADE UP
OF FIVE MAJOR ISLANDS AND ABOUT 30 SMALLER GROUPS. THERE
ARE A TOTAL OF 17,508 ISLANDS, WITH APPROXIMATELY 6000 OF THEM
INHABITED. THE ARCHIPELAGO IS LOCATED ON THE EQUATOR AND
CONNECTS TWO OCEANS, THE PACIFIC AND THE INDIAN OCEAN, AS
WELL AS TWO CONTINENTS, ASIA AND AUSTRALIA.

HISTORICALLY DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF ADJUSTMENT TO THEIR

PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

BUILDING OFF THE GROUND ENABLES BREEZES TO COOL THE HOT

TROPICAL TEMPERATURES; LIFTS THE DWELLING ABOVE STORM
WATER RUNOFF AND MUD; ENABLES HOUSES TO BE BUILT ON RIVERS
AND WETLAND MARGINS; PROTECTS PEOPLE, GOODS, AND FOOD
FROM DAMPNESS AND HUMIDITY; ELEVATES LIVING AREA ABOVE
MALARIA-CARRYING MOSQUITOS; AND MINIMIZES THE LIKELIHOOD GEOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES ON INDONESIA AS A WHOLE. INVADERS,
OF DRY ROT AND TERMITES. COLONISTS, MISSIONARIES, MERCHANTS, AND TRADERS INTRODUCED
CULTURAL CHANGES THAT INFLUENCED CONSTRUCTION STYLES AND TROPICAL AIR, THE DUTCH LEARNED OVER TIME TO ADAPT THEIR
PRACTICES SIGNIFICANTLY. ARCHITECTURAL STYLE TO LOCAL CONSTRUCTION FEATURES (LONG
EAVES, VERANDAS, PORTICOS, LARGE WINDOWS, AND VENTILATION
OPENINGS).
THROUGHOUT THE ARCHIPELAGO, A LARGE NUMBER OF INDONESIAN
VERNACULAR DWELLINGS HAVE BEEN BUILT. THE TRADITIONAL
HOUSES AND VILLAGES OF INDONESIA'S HUNDREDS OF ETHNIC
GROUPS ARE IMMENSELY DIVERSE, WITH EACH HAVING ITS OWN
RELIGION
DISTINCT HISTORY. THE DWELLINGS HAVE SOCIAL RELEVANCE IN
INDONESIAN ARCHITECTURE EMPHASIZES THE DEFINITION OF
SOCIETY AND SHOW LOCAL INVENTIVENESS IN THEIR RELATIONSHIPS
RELIGIOUS TERMS SUCH AS ISLAM, BUDDHIST, EARLY INDONESIA
TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND SPATIAL ORGANIZATION.
HINDU, AND BALINESE HINDU. THEY MAKE SCULPTURES, CARVINGS,
AND TEMPLES THAT ARE RELIGIOUS IN NATURE. IT IS CRITICAL TO

CLIMATE RECOGNIZE THAT THE INDONESIAN FORMS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED

RELIGIONS HAVE BEEN ADAPTED TO ACCOMMODATE PRE-EXISTING
INDONESIAN BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS, AS EVIDENCED BY THE
INDONESIA'S CLIMATE IS ALMOST ENTIRELY TROPICAL. RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE FOUND IN INDONESIA TODAY. RELIGIOUS
TEMPERATURES RANGING LESS FROM SEASON TO SEASON, AND THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE INFLUENCES ARE COMMON IN JAVA.
DURATION OF DAYLIGHT HOURS IN INDONESIA TENDS TO VARY
LITTLE FROM SEASON TO SEASON; THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE
LONGEST AND SHORTEST DAYS OF THE YEAR IS ONLY FORTY-EIGHT
MINUTES. THIS ENABLES CROPS TO BE GROWN ALL YEAR.

EVEN THOUGH RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE HAS BEEN PREVALENT IN

INDONESIA, THE MOST IMPORTANT WAS BUILT IN JAVA. THE ISLAND'S
LONG HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM SPREAD TO
ARCHITECTURE, WHICH CULTIVATED UNIQUELY JAVANESE STYLES
OF HINDU, BUDDHIST, ISLAMIC, AND, TO A LIMITED EXTENT,
CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE.
ROW HOUSES, CANALS, AND ENCLOSED SOLID WALLS- ORIGINALLY
DESIGNED TO PROTECT AGAINST TROPICAL DISEASES CARRIED BY
SOCIAL
KNOWN AS RUMAH ADAT, VARIED ACROSS REGIONS AND CULTURES,
BUT SHARED SOME CHARACTERISTICS. THEY HAD SLANTED ROOFS
AND WERE MADE OF FIBER, BAMBOO, AND TIMBRE. THESE HOUSES
WERE BUILT ON STILTS TO ACCOMMODATE INDONESIA'S HOT AND
INDONESIAN SOCIETY IS HIERARCHICAL, WITH AGE BEING THE MOST HUMID CLIMATE, PROTECTING GOODS FROM MOISTURE AND
IMPORTANT FACTOR. WOMEN HAVE FULL CIVIL RIGHTS AND THE LOWERING THE RISK OF WATER-BORNE DISEASES. HOWEVER, THE
ISLAMIC CODE THAT PROMOTES GENDER SEPARATION IS NOT MAIN ADVANTAGE OF THESE STILT-HOUSES WAS THEIR ABILITY TO
STRICTLY ENFORCED. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN JAVA AND THE
MALAY-INFLUENCED COASTAL PRINCIPALITIES WAS MARKED BY
CEREMONIAL ISOLATION OF THE PRINCES AND ARISTOCRATS,
TRIBUTE BY PEASANTS AND LESSER LORDS, DEFERENCE TO

ABSORB SHOCK WAVES.

RUMAH ADAT HOUSES ARE RARELY, IF EVER, USED TODAY, THANKS

TO MODERNITY AND AN ECONOMY THAT DISCOURAGES COLLECTIVE
RESOURCES. SOME LOCALS HAVE COMBINED THE TWO, PUTTING
TRADITIONAL MINANG AND TORAJA ROOFS ON MODERN CONCRETE
AUTHORITY BY PEASANTS, SUMPTUARY RULES, ARISTOCRATS OF STRUCTURES. THIS COMBINATION IS POPULAR FOR OFFICES OR
POWERFUL REGALIA, AND HIGH COURT ARTISTIC AND LITERARY MUSEUMS AS A SYMBOL OF NATIONAL HERITAGE. SOME
CULTURES. THE COURTS WERE ALSO EXEMPLARY CENTERS FOR THE VERNACULAR HOMES, HOWEVER, HAVE BEEN PRESERVED AS TOURIST
ARTS, SUCH AS MUSIC, DANCE, THEATER, PUPPETRY, POETRY, AND ATTRACTIONS, PARTICULARLY IN TANAH TORAJA, SOUTH SULAWESI.
CRAFTS. THE MAJOR COURTS BECAME MUSLIM BY THE SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY, BUT SOME OLDER HINDU PHILOSOPHICAL AND ARTISTIC
PRACTICES CONTINUED TO EXIST THERE OR WERE BLENDED WITH
MUSLIM TEACHINGS.
POLITICAL
HISTORICAL
IN THE 1950S, THE 1920S JAVANESE ART DECO STYLE MADE A
COMEBACK AND BECAME THE PRIMARY NATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL
STYLE. POLITICALLY, IT WAS AN EXPRESSION OF FREEDOM AND A
WAY FOR INDONESIANS TO FREE THEMSELVES FROM DUTCH
INDONESIANS' TRADITIONAL OR VERNACULAR HOMES ARE THE BEST INFLUENCE. THE JENGKI STYLE, NAMED AFTER THE WORD "YANKEE"
REPRESENTATIONS OF THEIR INDIGENOUS CULTURE. THESE HOMES, OF THE AMERICAN ARMED FORCES, WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY
AMERICAN MID-CENTURY STYLE ARCHITECTURE. IT EMPLOYS A
MORE COMPLEX VOLUME OF STRUCTURES THAN THE PREVIOUS
MODERNIST CUBIC AND STRICT GEOMETRIC STRUCTURES OF DUTCH
STYLE ARCHITECTURE.

IN THE 1970S, THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN TO PROMOTE INDIGENOUS

ARCHITECTURE IN INDONESIA ONCE MORE. BY THE 1980S, MANY
PUBLIC BUILDINGS HAD FUSED THEIR DESIGN WITH LOCAL
ELEMENTS, SOME OF THEM EXAGGERATEDLY.