This project, which provides one particular reading of urban space and culture transformation in a specific Indonesian city; is framed by larger issues regarding globalization in Southeast Asia and post-colonial theory. As the title suggest, the focus is on the locality which takes place in urban public space; and how it is transformed through time by aspects of local culture. For the time mentioned here; it stressed out the unity of the three words - before, now and after – that should be considered as three different axis which create a possibility for the existence of a range of time we frequently called "the present".
Depart from questions about modernization in Southeast Asian cities, and theoretical discourses in architecture about globalized capitalism in the context of a city – this exploration has been informed by a number of different theorists. This work takes modernity, cultural, and postcolonial theories as the basis for consideration. It includes and emphasizes the terms: culture, cultural and locality following Arjun Appadurai’s[1] view, while also takes into consideration the concept of ‘beyond’ – mentioned by Homi. K. Babha[2]. With postcolonial Indonesia as a specific context, this study is informed by Abidin Kusno’s[3] notion of nationhood with its political backdrop and its relation with urban spaces. Questioning the validity of the same discourses[4] on Asia and what we usually call the ‘West’, the whole process leads to a re-reading and reframing of the term ‘public space’ within a particular locality in the Indonesian city.
The thesis investigates the transformation of cultural processes in the urban life which then incorporated a study upon collective memory, temporality, and hyperreality – in extent to how it related to the specific context of diverse Indonesia. Taking culture as the dimension of difference (a notion coined by Arjun Appadurai) – it makes the city of Bandung, Indonesia – a site of examination, which should not to be read as a study case, example or instance of something larger than itself. Why? Despite my own personal interest in this city, this is the ‘place’ in which the transfer of power mostly happened. In this regard, the thesis argues that the performativity – as locality is embedded in the way people use the urban space, and how it survives the ever-changing context of place.
In the endeavor to explore the locality, the analytical part of this project thus provides a journey through the transformation of ‘alun-alun’ which very much represents the concept of open public space in most Indonesian cities. This part peels out the concept of cosmology attached to the space, and how it’s been reflected through the political-religious changes. The locality though, is being peeled out from cultural capacity of Bandung – which is rooted in Sundanese culture. It implies an idea that the performativity – riung mungpulung, is the intangible which very much defines the space itself. As a whole, it contains “before” and “now” based on historic definitions. At the end, it produces other question on the validity of the absorbed terminology of ‘public space’ in the architecture study.
The product of this project is what it defines as ‘after’. Using blog as the tool, the whole exploration is proposed as stories open for public to read and criticize. The whole investigation of the research on the history of places and regional culture will be presented as series of journal-writing narratives. The theoretical studies would act as the background, and will be presented separately in the similar narrative. The idea is to share a perspective on viewing this issue, by a very simple language that could be read easily. As to the follow through, it would provide links to several discussion boards or forums, and social networks related to the city - that could possibly build a better relation for the whole stakeholders involved in the urban space development.
[1] Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large. Oxford University Press, London: 1996.
[2] Bhabha, Homi. K, The Location of Culture, Routledge. New York: 1994.
[3] Kusno, Abidin. Behind the Postcolonial: Architecture, Urban Space and Political Cultures (Architext Series). Routledge, London and New York: 2000.
[4] Stimulated by a quote taken from Thay Keng Soon: “…Re-reading history: the fact that Asia and the West exist in contemporaneous time has led many to assume that the same forces of history apply and thus the validity of the same discourses. While there are some points of universal validity, many perspectives obviously need to be re-framed. But it would appear that this is not obvious after all…”
