Proceedings of the International Conference on Architectural Research and Design (ARDC 2025)

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The Architecture of Ambivalence: A Semiotic and Postcolonial Analysis of Gedung Sate

Authors
Nur Endah Nuffida1, *, Fachreza Hafiz Tryrachman Hartono1, Airlangga Shah Maulana1, Khusnul Hanifati1
1Department of Architecture, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia
*Corresponding author. Email: nuffida@its.ac.id
Corresponding Author
Nur Endah Nuffida
Available Online 13 April 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-632-6_20How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Gedung Sate; Architectural semiotics; Cognitive metaphor analysis
Abstract

Gedung Sate, Bandung’s iconic seat of government, presents a paradox: it is simultaneously celebrated as a postcolonial civic symbol and preserved as a colonial monument. This study combines semiotic analysis, cognitive metaphor theory, and postcolonial reading to examine how the building’s architectural form, institutional naming, and heritage policies produce and manage this duality. The analysis finds that the building authority is stabilized not by erasing its colonial past, but by continuously re-performing its ambivalent identity through hybrid architectural signs and naturalizing metaphors of order and belonging. This analysis reveals ambivalence as a productive cultural strategy, offering a new framework for interpreting colonial heritage not as a settled artifact but as an active site of meaning-making.

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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Volume Title
Proceedings of the International Conference on Architectural Research and Design (ARDC 2025)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities
Publication Date
13 April 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-632-6
ISSN
2667-128X
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-632-6_20How to use a DOI?
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.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Nur Endah Nuffida
AU  - Fachreza Hafiz Tryrachman Hartono
AU  - Airlangga Shah Maulana
AU  - Khusnul Hanifati
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/13
TI  - The Architecture of Ambivalence: A Semiotic and Postcolonial Analysis of Gedung Sate
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Architectural Research and Design (ARDC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 308
EP  - 325
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-632-6_20
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-632-6_20
ID  - Nuffida2026
ER  -