Indies Empire style

Indies Empire style (Dutch Indische Empire stijl) is an architectural style that flourished in the colonial Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) between the middle of the 18th century and the end of the 19th century. The style is an imitation of neoclassical Empire Style which was popular in mid-19th-century France. Conformed to the tropical setting of Indonesia, the style became known in the Dutch East Indies as Indies Empire style.

The development of the Indies Empire style is strongly related with the Indies culture, a society of mixed descendants which developed in the Dutch East Indies. Indies people associated themselves with high status and expressed themselves by building opulent country houses usually associated with European aristocrats. Many of these country houses appeared in the periphery of Batavia around the middle of 17th-century, the architectural style of which reached its peak when it merged completely with the Javanese local architecture, a new style known as the Old Indies style.

With the arrival of Herman Willem Daendels in early 19th-century, the development of the architecture style of these country houses took a different course. Daendels was a former colonel-general of Louis Bonaparte from France. At that time, a neoclassical architectural movement named Empire Style was popular in France. When Daendels was made the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, he made Empire Style popular in the Dutch East Indies. Conformed with the tropical architecture of Indonesia, the style became known as the Indies Empire Style.

By the end of 19th-century, clubhouses and playhouses were built in big cities of the Indies such as Batavia, Semarang and Surabaya; most were built following the Indies Empire style trend. City development at the end of 19th-century also influenced the form of Indies Empire style. The lack of available space in city centers required modification of typical Indies Empire styled houses. Stone columns were replaced with wooden or narrow iron columns, usually imported from the Netherlands. Also changing was the additions of corrugated steel shades supported by cast iron consoles to protect the windows and the front porch from rain water and sun. Examples of Indies Empire style houses from this later period are the Jakarta Textile Museum and some houses in Jalan Bubutan, Surabaya.

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