Sasando Building (Indonesian: ''Gedung Sasando'') is a building and official residence of
East Nusa Tenggara
East Nusa Tenggara ( id, Nusa Tenggara Timur – NTT; pt, Sonda Oriental) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the nor ...
governor. The building is located in city of
Kupang
Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...
, in Kota Raja District.
It is a relatively new building, built in 2015 and inaugurated on 9 January 2017.
The building was modeled after traditional music instrument from the province,
sasando
The sasando, also called ''sasandu'' from Sandu or Sanu, is a tube zither, a harp-like traditional music string instrument native to Rote Island of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
The name ''sasando'' is derived from the Rote dialect word ”sasa ...
. It has five floors in the middle section and three floors in both left and right rear section. According to an article in
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
, the construction cost around Rp 178 billions or around 12 millions USD funded partially by the provincial government. It was constructed after the old governor residence building was destroyed by fire in 2013. The construction was initially criticitzed as waste of money and insufficient building permit.
It was damaged on 2018 by strong wind, sparking criticism and questions regarding quality of its building material and alleged corruption. The building was again lightly damaged by
Cyclone Seroja
Severe Tropical Cyclone Seroja was a deadly tropical cyclone that brought historic flooding and landslides to portions of southern Indonesia and East Timor and later went on to make landfall in Western Australia's Mid West region, becoming the fi ...
in 2021, followed by another wave of criticism that the building was not built to withstand strong wind and poorly designed.
The building is open to public and frequently used by local artists for performance, as it has a performance stage inside.
References
{{coord missing, Indonesia
Kupang
Provincial capitals in Indonesia