The Indonesian Ministry of Transportation Building is a historic building and a cultural property 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 ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The building is currently the headquarter of the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation. The building, established as the headquarter of the

Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM, Dutch for Royal Packet Navigation Company), was a Dutch shipping line in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. It traded form 1888 to 1966. It was the dominant inter-island shipping line in the Dutch Eas ...

(KPM), was the first project of AIA Bureau, the biggest architecture consultant in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

History

In 1914, Frans Ghijsels designed the Petamboeran hospital for the KPM in Petamburan, Batavia, now

Pelni Pelni (abbreviation of , ) is the national cargo and passenger shipping company of Indonesia. Its services network spans across the Indonesian archipelago. Mainly serving as connector between bigger cities and to remote islands, Pelni plays an i ...

Hospital Jakarta. In the same year, the shipping company also commissioned Ghijsels to design the new headquarter for the KPM on a plot of land at Koningplein Oost 5. This project led to the formation of the private architectural consultant AIA (''Algemeen Ingenieurs- en Architectenbureau''). Ghijsels established the AIA together with architect H. von Essen and contractor F. Stoltz. The design of the building was prepared by Ghijsels in 1916. The construction of the building took two years in the period of 1917 to 1918. At its completion, the project for the headquarter of the KPM shipping company was considered a huge success and won critical acclaim. After the KPM headquarters project, AIA received many commissions for commercial buildings, making AIA Bureau the most successful architecture consultant in the

. During the early period of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1939, the "Protection of the Civilians against Air Attacks" department was formed to protect the civilians from possible air attacks by the Japanese. This department was under the auspices of the State Mobilization Council of the

. The department formed 18 regional of protection circles within the Dutch East Indies, where Batavia and its surrounding fell under the Air Protection Circle I. The Air Protection Circle I was subdivided into seven sectors, each with several district observation posts known as the "air-watch post". The air-watch posts were set up on tall buildings in the city. In Batavia, the

Factorij Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, of ...

in the Benedenstad and the KPM Headquarter at the Koningsplein were set to become the air-watch post.

Design

The KPM headquarter was designed as a four-storeyed Art Deco building. The building quality is monumental, displaying a symmetrical rigid facade design with a visible balcony on the third floor at the front facade. The building features two towers between the representation front offices. An inner courtyard and the open galleries provided enough cross ventilation for this Indies building, a design principle that would be the core concept of the

New Indies Style New Indies Style () is a modern architecture, modern architectural style used in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) between the late 19th century through pre-World War II 20th century. New Indies Style is basically early modern (western) archit ...

. The building was designed in Art Deco. The building is very monumental, displaying a rigid facade design with an attic third floor at the front.

References

Cited works

* * * * {{refend Colonial architecture in Jakarta Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Jakarta

History

Design

See also

References

Cited works