The Golden Green: A Journey on the Land of the Deep-rooted
PROGRAMME
STUDENT
Luh Astrid Mayadinta
YEAR
2
ADVISOR/TUTOR
Erik G. L'HEUREUX
The Golden Green: A Journey on the Land of the Deep-rooted
The enthusiasm of Teak as exotic hardwood implanted by the colony in the 1600s has created a misleading appreciation towards the value of material production in Blora. Being on the equator has brought up sensitivity towards its enormous forest resources and the intrusion of modernism that affect the methods of architecture in hot and wet climates. Different age of trees will produce different sizes of trees with different qualities to be harvested for a more specific use. Back to the 1600s the Dutch found a stretch of forest populated with more than 40 years old teak trees (Perhutani 2019). The allure starts immediately and it becomes more valuable than spices, the main reason for colonization in Java. Further research and technology has been implemented to translate the fantasy of luxurious timber into an everyday banal material.
The thesis aspires to have a series of details as theoretical concern in architecture and to deal with this “new gold” as a product of capitalism to offer Teak as a choice of construction material in small to medium Javanese cities that carries a deep historical value in this ever changing political climate. More importantly, the investigation aims to position Teak and its craftsmanship in this context to understand in which way to help the practice of architecture in the growing urban settlement.