Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemHousing and neighbourhood change : a study of attitudes and behaviour of middle-class householders in Yogyakarta, Indonesia( 1998)An improvement in public housing development in Indonesia in recent time has coincided with national development towards modernisation. Modernisation occurs in all aspects of Indonesia's everyday life, including improved education. The context for the changing role of women - in part as a result of improving education - as well as for new trends in house and neighbourhood design, is first the rapid economic modernisation pursued in Indonesian society in recent decades, and second a seemingly related cultural westernisation. The design of both house and local neighbourhood accordingly faces dilemmas relating to new economic imperatives, cultural tensions, and tensions in values relating to gender differences and the role of women. Additionally, there are changes in the context of the family and its roles and tasks, as economic modernisation interacts with the pressure of safeguarding traditional values and cultural differences. The aim of this study is to examine the question whether, in the face of economic modernisation and cultural westernisation, the persistence of traditional values and local culture is manifest in present dilemmas concerning the planning and use of the house and its neighbourhood. This question will be explored within the specific context of middle-class housing. In pursuing this aim we turn to the theory of modernisation advanced by Jurgen Habermas, and then to Nancy Fraser's critique of this theory on the grounds that it ignores issues of gender. Yogyakarta is selected as a case study, and the intention is to obtain information on behaviour and attitudes of educated middle-class people residing in the study area. Households are selected from recently developed neighbourhoods characterised by KPR-BTN housing which is typically purchased by the educated middle-class. Households interviews are employed, with a focus on examining the relations between different aspects of attitudes and behaviour. Data are obtained from 67 households, in four neighbourhoods of Yogyakarta. It is an exploratory case study where the intention is not to obtain generalisable results, nor to rigorously test hypotheses, but rather to explore the relationships between phenomena. This is achieved by reducing a mass of different variables measuring attitudes and behaviour down to a simpler set of "summary" measures, employing multivariate statistical techniques - mainly factor analysis. The analyses are accordingly more directed towards description and explanation than towards generalisation to the broader population, or towards prediction. Stated briefly, it is found that for the surveyed group there is a strong correspondence between men's and women's attitudes to issues of work, home, children and culture. There is however also a fair degree of independence between these attitudes on the one hand, and on the other hand the levels of satisfaction with aspects of the dwelling, and levels of satisfaction with aspects of neighbourhood. These findings suggest that there is an interplay of three sets of processes: (1) the persistence of local culture, most notably in the orientation to family, in ideas of respect and deference, and in a conservatism in gender relations and attitudes; (2) there is the excitement of rapid economic growth; (3) there is of course also a negative side to economic growth and "progress", as older values and culture are eroded by new, global influences. While it is not possible to extrapolate from this group to Yogyakarta society generally, nevertheless the complexities of the responses tell us a great amount about the interweaving of attitudes and behaviour affecting use of the house and neighbourhood. Furthermore, it is necessary to reinterpret Habermas's theory of modernisation for a non-western society.
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ItemThe Javanese mosque: a regional interpretation of form and mystical concepts( 1996)The expression of mystical concepts in the architecture of Muslim communities in Indonesia is the subject of this dissertation. The oldest tradition of Islamic building in the region is found on the island of Java. Mysticism in this study is defined as the relationship between members of the ummat and Allah expressed through efforts to establish a spiritual union, and in this case, making use of the long traditions of artistic and architectural expression beginning with Animism and continuing through the great period of the Hindu-Buddhist royal cults. Formal continuities through megalithic remains and the great temples (candi flowed into the mosque building programs of political and spiritual leaders within what is defined by the historian, M.C Ricklefs, as the modern period of Indonesian history. Fifteen Javanese mosques from the fifteenth to the eightenth century have been identified. They form the central focus of this study which elucidates the adaptation of older forms and the incorporation of iconographical elements from rich local traditions of sculptural and architectural expression. Major variations are observed and analyzed in relation to geographical regions and historical periods. Although these building complexes are less monumental in their physical fabric than many other traditions of religious architecture, even within Islam, the powerful continuities in the spiritual life of Java have resulted in strikingly persistent iconographic expression. Manifestations of the strength of cultural traditions within Javanese communities are pursued through study and the analysis of one of its most important forms, the shadow puppet theatre (wayang kulit) which has spanned centuries of political and social change. The rich twentieth century scholarship of Indonesian and foreign interpreters of these periods of cultural interaction have been brought to bear in this study, but important local interpretations have also been carefully considered. A profound syncretism is revealed through this comparative analysis, drawing particular insights from developments and change in the organization of the mosque form during these three centuries. The introduction of mystical doctrines within Islamic practice from the earliest periods is shown to have been interpreted with great originality in many aspects of built form and detail. Javanese beliefs which have persisted long before and after the advent of Islam, view this world as a temporary living place in which it is possible to make preparation for life in the eternal realm. Thus, the passing of time is regarded symbolically as a spiritual journey through a variety of spaces which contain guides towards, what the Javanese people of all faiths believe to be, The Right Path.