The Embassy of the United States to the Republic of Indonesia is located in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

at Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, just south of the

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

or Merdeka Square and the

Merdeka Palace The Merdeka Palace (; also known in Indonesian as and during the Dutch colonial times as ), is one of seven presidential palaces in Indonesia. It is located on the north side of the Merdeka Square, Jakarta, Merdeka Square in Central Jakarta, In ...

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the Indonesian president.

History

Original building

The original building was designed by

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

architect Antonin Raymond and Ladislav Rado. They began work on the design in 1953.Loeffler 1998, p. 144 The preliminary design for the embassy was criticized by

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

, first

president of Indonesia The president of the Republic of Indonesia () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president is the leader of the executive branch of the Indonesian government and the commander-in-chief of the ...

. He felt that the small two-story design they produced suggested that the post was unimportant to the United States. He wished to have a larger and more prominent building constructed.Loeffler 1998, p. 147 Sukarno, however, ultimately accepted the design after small alterations were made, in part due to pressure directed at him by the U.S. State Department.Loeffler 1998, p. 148

New building

The US Ambassador to Indonesia, Scot Marciel, announced the construction of a new embassy in July 2012. The new embassy will include a 10-story

chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

building, parking garage, building extension, utility building, consular waiting area, three entrance facilities and restoration of a historic building which the Indonesian delegation occupied during negotiations with the Dutch in 1949. The Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations announced the award of a $302 million design or build contract to B.L. Harbert International of

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

in November 2012, and named Davis Brody Bond Architects and Planners of New York,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

as the concept design architect and

Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

as the

architect of record Architect of record is the architect or architecture firm whose name appears on a building permit issued for a specific project on which that architect or firm performed services. Issuance of building permits Building permits are issued by a ...

. Protests against the

foreign policy of the United States The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

have been held at the embassy in response to U.S. policy on West Papua,

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, and the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

. Between 2002 and 2023, the sidewalk directly in front of the embassy had been restricted for pedestrian access with

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

, due to security reasons. Public access was reestablished in June 2023 following public complaints.

References

Bibliography

External links

Embassy of the United States in Jakarta website

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...