Architecture as Identification of Place : The Case of Joglo Kampung Ketandan Surabaya

Abstract

To make a site become a place is the existential function of architecture. The definition of architecture as identification of place (Unwin, 2003), comes with a purpose that architecture is also a process to discover the essence, the meaning conceivably present in the given environment. In the case of Kampung Ketandan Surabaya, the architecture is produced by the community by preserving and revitalizing the character of the kampung, with regards to its history, its activities and its buildings. Balai Pertemuan Warga in the form of Pendhopo is one of many other community centers in the kampung. This paper investigates in what way architecture generates symbolic places. Descriptive criticism is used as a method to investigate the phenomenon by considering architecture as a way of art and finding the interrelationship between the elements in it. To grasp the context of Kampung Ketandan, a case study method is chosen because of its ability to explore and endow the holistic, yet meaningful aspects of a presence phenomenon happening in reallife. The results of the study revealed that place is a holistic phenomenon, determining an 'environmental character' and architecture is a symbol to identify it.

(Re)drawing The Community-based Environment

“…Kampung Ketandan has a long history, from being one of the Chinese cemetery areas around 1866 until it became housing around the 1930s until now. Its strategic location is also one of the uniqueness of this kampung because it has remained a comfortable and calm environment despite being in the middle of the density and crowds of the city [24].…”

“…This study investigates by placing events, programmes, and activities as units of analysis. One of the events that became the starting point for the improvement of the environmental quality of Kampung Ketandan was the renovation and rebuilding of the pendhopo, a pavilion-like structure, in the open space near the tomb of Mbah Tondo [24]. This activity took place in 2016 in collaboration with the Surabaya city government, United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG-ASPAC), UN-Habitat, and the Kampung Ketandan community.…”

“…These visions must be responded to at the community scale with ideas contextualised to their daily lives. Kampung Ketandan, which already has a clean environment and much greenery [24], has some simple sustainability ideas that are well-implemented and successful. Pedestrian favouritism in the neighbourhood is common in many neighbourhoods in Surabaya, and it is consistently applied in Ketandan.…”