Mapping the Spectrum of Nusantara Architecture: A Critical Reading of Modern Classicism Approach

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-632-6_22How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Nusantara; Architecture; Critical Regionalism

Abstract

Nusantara Architecture is a contested field of identity, resistance, and interpretation, long framed by colonial and anthropological discourse as “traditional.” Prijotomo (2014) reframes it as a “classic” architectural grammar: an autonomous, regionally grounded system of spatial order, material logic, and environmental intelligence. Yet it remains unclear how this grammar can be operationalized for reading contemporary projects beyond folkloric, image-led interpretations, and for distinguishing transformation from replication or theming. In dialogue with critical regionalism, this paper treats Nusantara as a way to mediate universal demands through endogenous architectural logic without slipping into nostalgia. Drawing on Robert A.M. Stern’s modern classicism, it proposes a spectrum-based analytical approach and tests it through comparative case analysis of three projects that resist singular classification: Masjid Said Naum (Jakarta), Pasar Johar (Semarang), and Efteling’s Huis van de Vijf Zintuigen (the Netherlands) as an external comparator. Our findings indicate that while such categorization clarifies how Nusantara architectures transform, it cannot be compartmentalized into five rigid types; it must be read as a flexible, overlapping spectrum. Across the cases, projects occupy overlapping positions and combine multiple logics at once, supporting a flexible spectrum reading and offering a diagnostic lens for interpreting contemporary Nusantara works beyond rigid categorization.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Khusnul Hanifati
AU  - Multazam Akbar Junaedi
AU  - Dhamira Saffana
AU  - Nadia Salwa Syaharani
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/13
TI  - Mapping the Spectrum of Nusantara Architecture: A Critical Reading of Modern Classicism Approach
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Architectural Research and Design (ARDC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 345
EP  - 363
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-632-6_22
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-632-6_22
ID  - Hanifati2026
ER  -