Menteng Cinema (Indonesian ''Bioskop Menteng'', Dutch ''Bioscoop Menteng'') was a cinema in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The cinema was designed by Dutch architect J.M. Groenewegen in 1949, one of the architect who was active in Indonesia before and after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Menteng Cinema is Groenewegen's first cinema project, which would give birth to several other cinemas in Indonesia which has the same architectural style of

Nieuwe Bouwen Dutch architecture has played an important role in the international discourse on architecture in three eras. The first of these was during the 17th century, when the Dutch empire was at the height of its power. The second was in the first half ...

. Menteng Cinema was demolished in 1988, standing above the site now is the Menteng Huis shopping complex.

Design

Menteng cinema was designed by Dutch architect J.M. Groenewegen. Han Groenwegen was among many Dutch people who moved to the

Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in East (disambiguation)#Geography, the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and ...

to avoid the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in Europe. Groenewegen continued as an architect in the Indies when he established a consultant in

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. Groenewegen was very active in Medan between 1927 until the

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. Like many Dutch nationalities in Indonesia, he was placed in a Japanese internment camp. After the war, Groenewegen decided to move to Jakarta. Unlike many of his colleagues, Groenewegen remained in Indonesia following the independence of the country. The Menteng Cinema of Jakarta is among Groenewegen's first project in Jakarta. The Menteng Cinema is also Groenewegen's first cinema project. His design for the cinema is greatly influenced by the work of

Willem Dudok Willem Marinus Dudok (6 July 1884 – 6 April 1974) was a Dutch modernist architect. He was born in Amsterdam. He became City Architect for the town of Hilversum in 1928 where he was best known for the brick Hilversum Town Hall, completed in ...

e.g. the Town Hall of Hilversum, but conformed to the tropical climate of Jakarta. The cinema building has a seating capacity of 1,088.http://data.collectienederland.nl/detail/foldout/void_edmrecord/dcn_nai_10199 The building boasted six "exhausters" to regulate air quality inside the building, an early form of air conditioning. The cinema featured a large Balinese mural in its spacious main hall, a bar, a café-restaurant with terrace, and a powder room. There were several classes of seating with tickets priced accordingly. Following the completion of Menteng Cinema, Groenewegen received other professional works for cinema in Indonesia. Four of his designs for cinema was realized, among them ''Olympia Bioscoop'' in

(1952) and ''Sovya Bioscoop'' of

Bukittinggi Bukittinggi ( min, Bukiktinggi, Jawi: , formerly nl, Fort de Kock) is the third largest city in West Sumatra, Indonesia, with a population of 111,312 in 2010 and 121,028 in 2020, and an area of 25.24 km2. It is in the Minangkabau Highlands ...

(1957), both cinemas have a very similar design with the Menteng Cinema. Menteng Cinema was one of the cinemas named "Menteng" during the 1950s, the other Menteng Cinema was located on Jalan Cokroaminoto and was built in 1947.

References

Cited works

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Design

References

Cited works

See also