Colonial architecture of Indonesia

Dutch colonial architecture in Indonesia were built across the archipelago that once was known as Dutch East Indies. Most of the better and permanent colonial era structures were located in Java and Sumatra, which economically were considered more important during the Dutch imperial period. As a result, there are more surviving colonial buildings in the two island. Plenty of old VOC era forts and warehouses are scattered throughout the archipelago, particularly around Maluku Islands and Sulawesi

Upon arriving in the East Indies, the Dutch's architecture were mainly derived from knowledge and workmanship of the home country. On most cases masonry were favored for much of their construction. Previously timber and its by-products had been almost exclusively used in the Indies, with the exception of some major religious and palace architecture. During the early period of colonization the Dutch colonies were mainly ruled by the VOC, who were mainly concerned with functionality of its construction rather than making structure as prestigious display.

One of the first major Dutch settlements was Batavia (later Jakarta) which in the 17th and 18th centuries was a fortified brick and masonry city built on a low lying terrain. The Dutch settlements in the 17th century were generally intra-muros, within walled defences to protect them from attack by other European trade rivals and native revolt. The fort was both a military base and a center of commerce and administration. The city was laid out into a grid with blocks that are divided by canals, complete with a Town Hall and Churches, just like any Dutch city would have been at the time. The houses within Batavia are described as being "fairly tall with a narrow façade and plastered walls inset with crossbar windows provided with rattan wickerwork for ventilation". And as in the Netherlands they were mainly terraced houses with small courtyard. Similar behavior of town planning and architecture can be noted in the development of the VOC port of Semarang in the 18th century.

For almost two centuries, the colonists did little to adapt their European architectural habits to the tropical climate. In Batavia, for example, they constructed canals through its low-lying terrain, which were fronted by small-windowed and poorly ventilated row houses, mostly in a Chinese-Dutch hybrid style. The canals became dumping grounds for noxious waste and sewage and an ideal breeding ground for the anopheles mosquitos, with malaria and dysentery becoming rife throughout the Dutch East Indies colonial capital. And by the second half of the 17th century people inside walled Batavia started to build their large countryside estates and villas alongside the Molenvliet Canal, the best examples to survive are former mansion of Reyner de Klerk which was built in rigid European style.

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Wikipedia