Journal of a Sustainable Global South, p-ISSN: 2579-6062

The Transformation of Vernacular Architecture

in Indonesia
in Relation to Colonisation By the Dutch
Saskia Vogelsang1

Bachelor Degree of Architecture Study Program

Jade Hochschule Wilhelmshaven/Oldenburg/Elsfleth
Germany
s.vogelsang277@gmail.com

Abstract
During my semester abroad at the Udayana University in Denpasar, Bali, I increasingly felt the need to deal with the culture,
lifestyle and way of life of Indonesians, among other things with regard to their housing situation. During my studies at the
university I realized that the colonization of the Dutch had an influence on the life of the locals and I asked myself to what extent
the colonization had an influence on the architecture. In class I learned a lot about traditional buildings in Indonesia, during an
excursion to Taman Nusa, an Indonesian Culture Park, I was able to examine them personally and draw comparisons. In everyday
life, however, I have seen very little of such architecture in and around Denpasar and therefore wanted to gain an understanding
of its development. In order to be able to deal with the topic, I first of all dealt with what transformation means to me, especially
in relation to architecture. I also dealt with colonization and its temporal implications for Indonesia. It was important for me to
find out what influence the Dutch had on Indonesian lifestyles during the years of upheaval and what changes there were in
architecture as a result. In conclusion, the results were that the influence on architecture might not necessarily be a
transformation, but that architecture was replaced by Western structures and then further developed to adapt it to the
circumstances. This results in a new understanding for the current architecture in cities and also for the fact that vernacular
architecture is not to be found in these.

Index Terms— Colonisation, Replace, Transformation, Vernacular Architecture

area under discussion, and, above all, what connection these

individual themes have with each other is inevitable.
I. INTRODUCTION1 What parallels, differences and connections exist between
The elaboration on the topic The Transformation of the individual themes and what influence do they have on
vernacular Architecture in Indonesia in relation to each other? As a result of this elaboration, I would like to
colonisation by the Dutch confronts one with the deal with these issues and clarify this question.
confrontation with what transformation means, how to
define vernacular architecture, where this architecture can II. RESULT AND ANALISYS
be found and what it is. In addition, the question of what is
A. The Meaning of Transformation
meant by colonization, when was colonization located in the
The term transformations in connection with architecture
has a very personal and individual meaning for me. During
Journal of a Sustainable Global South, Vol. 3 No. 2, August 2019 39

the first two semesters of my studies, I dealt almost daily natural area that has not been used by humans until now and
with the concept and its meaning. the subjugation of a territory including the population living
As new students, we were already confronted with the there as a colony. The first direction is connected with the
term during the week before the course and asked to expansion of human settlement areas into primeval forests,
develop our own definition. What is transformation? What moors, tundra and similar natural areas that are difficult to
does transformation bring about? What can it be used for? use. This process is referred to as internal or inland
The term transformation was familiar to me at that time, colonisation. In contrast, external colonisation refers to the
but I never dealt with its definition. In the Oxford establishment of colonies outside the existing state.
Dictionary, the term is defined as "a complete change in the Colonialism is an approach in which one people
appearance or character of something or someone, subordinates itself to another. The word colonialism comes
especially so that thing or person is improved. It comes from the Latin, it is a derivation of the word 'colonus', which
from the Latin of "transformare", which has the direct means farmer.
translation “transformation” or “change”. From this the practice developed to migrate with a tribe
While everyday life is mostly about the transformation of into a new area and to settle there. The further political
appearance in general, such as a haircut, a hair color or a solidarity to the homeland is to be emphasized here
new clothing style, our studies were about the development however despite permanent settlement. In return there is the
process in finding architecture. How was the planned further word empire, which is often mistakenly also used. Empire
development possible? How does the step from drawing to also comes from the Latin `imperium`and means to
model work, how did it look the other way around? Many dominate. Rather, this means domination over a conquered
projects and developments later, I could see the meaning of territory. In both cases it is political and economic control
the course, which was a combination of drawing, over a dependent territory
representation and design. It was about recognizing the
D. How Took Colonisation Place in Indonesia?
process conveyed through various skill exercises. For my
later professional life I already know that this examination The first settlement of the Indonesian islands took place
of the different methods will take me further, as I already already in the 16th century by the Dutch, almost 350 years
integrate certain procedures in the course of my studies. (1598-1948) the Dutch settled the area and advanced their
In the course of this elaboration, I would therefore like to trading power[5]. In the year 1596 the first settlement of the
deal further with the topic of transformation in architecture. island Java was made and the city Bantan, at the west coast
of the island was taken. While the English took the north of
B. Transformation of Architecture the island of Sumatra in 1602, the Dutch increasingly
In short, one can say that transformations in architecture became the rulers of the region and displaced the
cover different tasks. Transformations can already be Portuguese to the east of the island. Only in short periods of
applied in the development process of a design, in which the time could other powers take over the island, but they were
created one is further developed until it corresponds to what displaced again by the Dutch. During the Second World
one imagines as an architect or as a client. War, however, the Netherlands lost its position of power
However, this paper deals with the transformation of over the Japanese and consequently developed Dutch India.
architecture through external influences. Architecture has In 1602, the VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie;
developed again and again over the last centuries, it has engl. United East India Company) was granted the
been transformed. Different types of architecture are monopoly of trade between the Cape of Good Hope and
constantly being discovered on different continents. South America. In 1607, the island of Ternate, previously
Architecture is influenced not only by climate, but also by inhabited by the Spanish, was divided. The expansion of the
cultural and ethnic influences. While there are countries on Netherlands as a trading and colonial power began in the
earth where people still live in simple huts, there have been seventeenth century, when the Vereenigde Oostindische
skyscrapers and towers in other countries for decades, the Compagnie) and later the WIC (West-Indische Compagnie;
top of which can only be guessed from the ground with the engl. West India Company) established trading posts in the
naked eye. Architecture always develops, in the last 50 East (Dutch - East India, South Africa, Japan) and West (the
years, today, tomorrow and also in the next hundred years. Caribbean, South and North America, and the coast of West
Before, after, it will always develop. Africa), as shown in fig. 1. During the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, the United East India Company and
C. Colonisation and what It Means for Indonesia
later the West India Company maintained trading posts in
The question arises as to what the colonization of North America (Nieuw Amsterdam, now New York), the
Indonesia has to do with this and how it influences the Berbice River in Guyana, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope,
development of architecture, especially with regard to the African West Coast, present-day Sri Lanka, Japan and
vernacular architecture, which will be explained in more the Indonesian archipelago. Under Dutch administration
detail later. What does colonization mean? came Dutch - East India, Suriname and some islands in the
Colonization, colonisation refers to the development of a Caribbean. Dutch - East India was a Dutch colony until
Journal of a Sustainable Global South, p-ISSN: 2579-6062

1949, Suriname was under Dutch administration from 1645 F. Vernacular Architecture in Indonesia
to 1976. The Netherlands is particularly well known for the Indonesia's architecture reflects the diversity of cultural,
settlement of todays Indonesia. On the ruins of the historical and geographical influences that have shaped
conquered Jakartas, Java, a meeting point for the Asian area Indonesia as a whole. Intruders, colonizers, missionaries,
was established. In 1611 the VOC settled in Jakarta, and in merchants and traders brought about cultural changes that
1619 the town of Batavia, renamed after the VOC, was had profound effects on architectural styles and techniques.
finally taken over. From here spices were traded with the Throughout the archipelago, numerous Indonesian folk
world for the beginning, later the focus was set on the houses have been built. The traditional houses and
cultivation of coffee. For this purpose tea and coffee were settlements of Indonesia's several hundred ethnic groups are
imported from India and plantations were established in extremely diverse and have their own history. The houses
Java. The aim of the VOC was to establish a monopoly of have social significance in society and demonstrate local
the spice trade. ingenuity in their relationships with the environment and
The independence of Indonesia proclaimed on 17 August spatial organization. Ethnic groups in Indonesia are often
1945 was not recognised until 27 December 1949. The associated with their own distinctive form of Rumah Adat.
cultural and social diversity, the lack of standardized As shown in fig. 2 and fig. 3 Rumah Adat houses are
education and the total lack of organization shook the new traditional houses in Indonesia in general. They have
independent state of Indonesia. different characteristics depending on the region and differ
in size, shape, roof shape and finish. The houses are at the
centre of a network of customs, social relations, traditional
laws, taboos, myths and religions that hold the villagers
together. The house is the focal point for the family and its
community and is the starting point for many of the
activities of its inhabitants. Traditional or vernacular homes
of Indonesians area unit the most effective illustration of
their endemic culture. Called the Rumah Adat, these homes
varied across regions and cultures however conjointly had
bound similarities. They were manufactured from fibre,
Fig. 1. The Dutch colonial empire 1598-1975 bamboo and sound property and had sloping roofs.
Designed to adapt to Indonesia's hot and wet climate, these
E. Vernacular Architecture homes were created on stilts, that protected product from
The term vernacular architecture describes building moisturizing and reduced the chance of water-borne
constructions and building methods in which local materials diseases. The most strength of those stilt-houses lay in their
and building traditions are used to fulfil concrete building ability to soak up shock waves. The standard applies to a
tasks. post, beam and lintel construction system that brings the
The term can be used in today's language to describe load directly to the ground with either wood or bamboo
historical building forms that are no longer erected in this walls that are not load-bearing. Traditionally, tenon joints
form today. Vernacular architecture is also referred to as and wooden pins are used instead of nails. Natural materials
regional architecture or traditional architecture, which also - wood, bamboo, straw and fibres - form rumah adat. The
means today's buildings erected in traditional architectural traditional house of Nias has post, beam and lintel
language. construction with flexible nail-free joints, and non-bearing
In general, these are forms and constructions which, walls are typical of Rumah Adat. The different examples
based on the needs and habits of the people, have developed show the variance of these houses and the different regions.
as a result of locally available materials and the climatic
conditions, have been passed on over centuries and
modified slightly or more strongly. They are not
architectural inventions in the narrower sense of the word,
but rather buildings could be described as types or
typologies. Moreover, this building is not primarily
interested in form, but rather in three criteria that are central
to the exhibition: First, that the creation of spaces for human
communities is a central concern of vernacular building,
second, that it is closely related to nature and does not see it
as a contradiction to architecture, as is often the case in
modern architecture and finally that the materials used are
primarily clay, wood or stone, which are available locally. Fig. 2. Rumah adat: Batak Toba Houses, Lake Toba, Indonesia. The
Journal of a Sustainable Global South, Vol. 3 No. 2, August 2019 41

picture shows a row of the typical Rumah adat houses, their roof form sets typical Javanese roof forms. It also has large gardens,
itself off optically from the roofs built today in western regions of the
galleries and verandas. Also many Javanese construction
world.
elements can be found. The architecture of Java was further
developed and extended by modern western design and
construction elements. The cosmological spatial concept of
the Javanese house naturally had a completely different
background. The ordinary, genuine Indian houses are now
very open and furnished according to the Indonesian model,
but still preserve this classicist style. At the front there is a
living gallery with columns supporting a high hipped roof
and behind it the actual house with a central gallery and a
rear gallery. The roofs themselves are covered with Dutch
tiles, which are still popular in Indonesia. The galleries are
increasingly losing their stately classicist character. They
receive an additional front gallery clad with corrugated iron
Fig. 3. Rumah adat: Tana Toraja. Another representation of a and sometimes thin iron columns. After 100 years, the idea
traditional village in the style of the Rumah adats also shows the very of classical forms and quality has completely faded
special roof shape and the construction with stilts.
https://www.seva.id/blog/tradisi-pemakaman-harga-sultan-ala-tana-toraja-
102019/

G. Influences on Indonesian Architecture

At the beginning of colonisation, the Dutch used urban
structures from their European homeland; for example, the
city of Batavia, illustrated in fig.4 and fig.5, with its canals
and canal houses, was very similar to the old city of
Amsterdam. For almost two centuries, the colonists have
done little to adapt their European architectural habits to the
tropical climate. The building style was closed at first
without paying attention to ventilation and insulation, but
later people started to look at the local building and the
style was much better adapted to the tropical conditions. Fig. 4. Batavia, the old city of Jakarta, as it was built by the Dutch. The
Although houses, ducts and enclosed solid walls were illustration shows the comparison to the Dutch city of Amsterdam, the
canals run through the city as they are typical for the Dutch capital.
initially designed as protection against tropical diseases https://www.ikons.id/akhir-riwayat-batavia-di-utara-jakarta/
from the tropical air, the Dutch later learned to adapt their
architectural style with local building elements (long eaves,
verandas, porticoes, porticoes, large windows and vents).
Consequently, there was a reversal that changed the style
of architecture in Indonesia:
“The Indonesian and Dutch cultures became mixted and a
kind of mestizo culture was established which is called
Indische culture. The word Indische refers to Indo-
Europeans of mixed Dutch-Indonesian blood, but it is also
used for mixtures of cultural elements (...) This Indische
culture is not Dutch, nor yet Indonesian, and was fostered
by the contacts of the Dutch with the Indonesian official
classes, the priyayi, in the public domain and with the
Indonesian concubine, the nyai, in the private domain. The
Indische culture has greatly influenced both the Dutch and Fig 5. Pasar Baru, Postweg, a colonial building on one of the canals of the
old town of Bavaria, which was later renamed Jakarta
the Indonesians and has achieved a certain degree of
https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227949&page=4
homogeneity through this. (...) The Indische culture implied
a spacious life-style and induced the Indische town.” H. Is There a Transformation or a Replacement By Dutch
This Indian culture was expressed structurally in a new Architecture? an Outlook
kind of house building, the Indian house. The Indian House While the style of Netherland cities influenced the
is characterized by a generous and pompous architecture. architecture through colonisation, the image of traditional
There is talk of a manor house, which is decorated by buildings in cities disappeared increasingly for the time
Journal of a Sustainable Global South, p-ISSN: 2579-6062

being and even today hardly any such houses can be found
in the urban area. The obvious assumption for this is that in
a small area much larger and more densely populated areas
could be created by the Netherland architectural style. The
cityscape of today's cities resembles that of Western cities
in many respects and gives rise to the assumption that the
development of the local architecture is not a transformation
of the Indonesian architectural style, but a replacement of
traditional houses. In urban areas, as you can find in the
Netherlands, stone, steel and concrete are used, while only a
few elements are made of bamboo or wood. Roofs are also
covered and no longer often have the typical charm of
Fig. 5 National Archives Museum around 1760, Jakarta. The picture
South-East Asian architecture. But since the architectural
shows the old residential house built in Colonial Sil, the private residence
style has evolved from traditional to more modern, many of Governor. General Reinier de Klerk, which is now used as the National
houses are struggling to withstand the humid, warm climate. Archives Museum.
The question is no longer whether there has been a https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1227949&page=4
transformation or a replacement, but whether the
transformation of architecture in these countries is good. If
III. CONCLUSION
one crosses the large cities of Indonesia, one notices that
many to almost all buildings are very dilapidated. In Finally, it is difficult to assess the extent to which the
contrast to European or generally Western countries, Dutch have intervened in the development of contemporary
buildings in Indonesia are rarely renovated or refurbished. architecture in Indonesia. It is obvious that the Indonesians
Many buildings are neglected until they are no longer usable have tried in many aspects and try to maintain their
and ready for demolition. After the plots are free again, they traditional style. Many buildings are artfully decorated,
are often rebuilt in the same style and the period of the ornamentation decorates doors, entire entrance areas are
disintegration of the structures of the building begins. It is painted golden, ornamentation is particularly prevalent
reasonable to assume that knowledge about the correct among wealthy families. The family temples are also very
handling of the maintenance of buildings has not yet made splendidly decorated. On the other hand, it is becoming
its way into Indonesia, or has done so too little. increasingly rare to see Indonesians clinging to the more
It can be seen that the adoption of the western important construction elements such as stilts. The
architectural style is initially an advantage that offers architectural style in Indonesia is due to the climatic
Indonesians other ways of protecting themselves from the conditions not at all as comprehensible as it can be found in
sun and animals, among other things. Over the years, western countries.
however, it has become apparent that the locals have not Nevertheless the question arises to what extent the
without reason developed certain building styles to architecture would have developed in the last centuries, if
withstand precisely the conditions that the weather brings there had not been the settlement by the Europeans, in
with it, and these findings have increasingly changed the particular by the Dutch. The colonisation has pushed
elaboration of the Western style. The buildings, which were forward the expansion of the knowledge of building
kept closed for the time being, were adapted to the climate materials, it could well be that building materials such as
and opened and thus better ventilated. Even today it can still probation would not have been able to enter the country
be seen that the construction of houses made of stone and without them and that the dimensioning of the buildings
concrete works, but not well. Many houses show large mold would still be limited to bamboo and wood. Due to the
problems, which are promoted by the high air humidity in to population growth it was very important to create enough
closed areas. The lessons learnt from traditional architecture living space, the architecture had to develop to create
are thus introduced but not always sufficiently implemented. enough living space. On the other hand, the population
could only multiply through the development of
architecture. In rural regions the Indonesians still live much
easier, in poor regions simple wooden or bamboo buildings
are not uncommon. If one does not have the possibility to
remedy the climatic conditions by technology such as air
conditioning it is however also very important to provide
sufficient lighting and ventilation of the houses, which is
very well possible with the traditional architectural style like
that of the Rumah Adat. In the cities, on the other hand,
there are more "modern" elements to be found, wood and
bamboo seem to have been largely replaced by stone,
Journal of a Sustainable Global South, Vol. 3 No. 2, August 2019 43

concrete and steel. At this point I ask myself whether this

development would have made it to the islands of Indonesia
without colonization. The assumption suggests itself that the
development that has taken place to this day would not have
taken place if the Dutch and today's tourism had not
contributed to it. This is intensified if one takes a look at
parts of Indonesia that are clearly away from tourism, as it
can be found on the island of Bali, for example. Away from
heavily populated areas, there's a much less developed
infrastructure, houses with few modern moves.
Consequently, not everything that the Dutch have brought to
Indonesia seems to be bad. If the architectural elements
were not an improvement, the Indonesians would probably
have returned to their traditional architecture much earlier.
However, since this is not the case in the more prosperous
areas, it seems to be an improvement. In addition, it seems
difficult to use the traditional architectural style in urban
areas today, it is difficult to integrate into the cityscape and
takes up much more space than today's architectural style.
If we look at the question of whether vernacular
architecture is still being built today, we can only confirm
this for rural and poor regions. Far away from mass tourism,
there are still traditional settlements that still use the Rumah
adat architectural style today and accordingly create living
conditions without much technology that make the climate
more bearable. Despite these commendable efforts to define
Indonesian architecture through inspiration from indigenous
elements of Indonesian architecture and traditions, the
practice and results may not meet expectations. Sometimes
the result is mediocre, criticised as a superficial addition to
modern building - using only traditional ornaments or
simply attaching traditional roofs.

REFERENCES
[1] Nas, Peter J.M., “The Indonesian City. Studies in Urban Developing
and Planning”. 1986.
[2] Markus Zahnd, “Traditionelle Stadtquartiere in Semarang und
Yogyakarta”, Indonesien, Teil