Charles Prosper Wolff Schoemaker & Vincent Van Romondt Modernism

INAUGURAL SPEECHES AND OTHER STUDIES IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT SPEECHES AND OTHER STUDIES IN THE BUILT INAUGURAL Abidin Kusno [Guest Editor] ISSUE 5 Charles Prosper Wolff Schoemaker & Vincent Van Romondt Modernism and national characteristics #5 | CHARLES PROSPER WOLFF SCHOEMAKER & VINCENT VAN ROMONDT CHARLES SCHOEMAKER & PROSPER WOLFF VINCENT VAN Inaugural Speeches and Other Studies in the Built Environment Charles Prosper Wolff Schoemaker & Vincent Van Romondt TU Delft Open 2020 Abidin Kusno [Guest Editor] ISSUE 5 Charles Prosper Wolff Schoemaker & Vincent Van Romondt Modernism and national characteristics TU Delft Open 2020 Inaugural Speeches and Other Studies in the Built Environment Inaugural Speeches and Other Studies in the Built Environment Series Editors: Herman van Bergeijk and Carola Hein [Chair History of Architecture and Urban Planning, TU Delft] ISSUE 5 C.P. Wolff Schoemaker and Vincent Van Romondt Modernism and national characteristics Guest Editor: Abidin Kusno Design: Sirene Ontwerpers Layout: Phoebus Panigyrakis The works of Dutch architects and educators whose careers were spent mostly in colonies far away from the Netherlands, received little attention in their home country. But in Indonesia, the former largest colony of the Dutch empire, they have always been part of the country’s architectural history. They continue to be recognized and referred to, even after a generation has passed. This small booklet contains the speeches of two of the most influential Dutch professors who mentored the majority of the first generation of Indonesian architects: C.P. Wolff Schoemaker (1882-1949) and Vincent van Romondt (1903-1974). Clearly Schoemaker and Van Romondt held different views about the challenges of architecture in the world as well as in Indonesia. They sought to bring the notion of modernism and tradition into the context of their time. They talked about modernity, architecture and the complex processes shaping citizens. Put together, these two lectures offer an insight into the intellectual world of Dutch architect- educators as they sought to register architectural identity, modernize society, and contribute to the nation-building of Indonesia at two different moments: Schoemaker (1930) during the time of colonial occupation, and Van Romondt (1954) in the era of early Independence. Introduced by Abidin Kusno this volume deepens our understanding of what it takes to globalize Dutch architectural history, that is by recognizing its connection with the colonial past. © 2020 TU Delft Open ISBN 978-94-6366-321-2 PRINT ISSN 2667-0232 E-ISSN 2667-0240 Preface to the series Inaugural Speeches and Other Studies in the Built Environment Inaugural speeches have long been unique moments in the careers of academics in many countries: As an important moment in the career they offer a moment to pause, to reflect, and to envision new approaches. Planners and architects in particular have used such speeches to tie together insights into design work and education and to offer a programmatic view on their own operating within the academic community. Prepared with great care for a university and general audience, inaugural lectures also offer later researchers insight into the thoughts of these scholars at a specific moment in time. Material gathered for and notes written on the occasion of these lectures can help such researchers understand the work habits and thought processes of their authors, perhaps even their relationships with colleagues and students. This series offers inaugural lectures – translated into English and contextualized with scholarly introductions – and other seminal studies to unlock information for comparative research and set the stage for new investigations. The expanded series continues with a study on Charles Prosper Wolff Schoemaker & Vincent Van Romondt by Abidin Kusno. Herman van Bergeijk and Carola Hein Contents Abidin Kusno Introduction 9 C. Wolff Schoemaker The Aesthetics of Architecture and the Art of the Moderns 39 Vincent R. Van Romondt Towards an Indonesian Architecture 71 Bibliography 95 List of Figures 99 On the Editors 101 Abidin Kusno Abidin Kusno Introduction Dutch architects whose careers were spent mostly in colonies far away from the Netherlands generally had little influence on the architectural development of their home country. Little is known about them. These architects were often discovered rather late, long after they had died. Architect and professor Wolff C.P. Schoemaker (1882-1949) is just such an example. A book devoted to his work was only published in 2010, a half century after his death.1 For Dutch professors whose work was limited to teaching and research in distant colonies, things were not any better. Leaving no architectural monuments behind, they were easily forgotten. Their lecture notes and publications could be easily ignored by a generation with little interest in their country’s colonial history. Dutch professor Vincent van Romondt (1903- 1974) is considered lucky, for his notes and papers at least are kept as a “rare” collection in a specialized library in old Leiden.2 It remains to be seen how they might be integrated into an increasingly “globalized” Dutch architectural history. Outside the Netherlands, in the former colony of the Dutch empire previously known as the Dutch East Indies (today’s Indonesia), these professors have a different afterlife. They have always been seen as part of the country’s architectural history. They continue to be recognized and referred to and they remain influential, even 1 see: Jan van Dullemen: Tropical Modernity: Life and Work of C.P. Wolff Schoemaker, SUN architecture, 2010. 2 See KITLV – inventaris 44 for the Van Romondt’s collection. 9 after a generation has passed. Schoemaker, who designed many landmark buildings in Bandung, is a hero of the city’s mayor, who seeks to rebrand Bandung as a center of modernist architectural heritage. Van Romondt, who mentored the majority of the first generation of Indonesian professors of architecture, has been referred to by subsequent generations as the “father of Indonesian traditional architecture.” This volume contains the inaugural lecture of Professor Vincent van Romondt, titled “Towards an Indonesian Architecture,” on the occasion of receiving his professorship in 1954 at Fakultet Teknik Universitet Indonesia (known as Bandoeng Technische Hoogeschool, when it opened in 1920), then the only technical college in colonial Indonesia. Schoemaker’s speech, held during a gathering in celebration of the tenth anniversary (Dies Natalis) of the university, delivered in 1930, was titled: “Aesthetics of Architecture and the Art of the Moderns.”3 In his speech, Schoemaker discusses modernism, showing how the world of architecture has developed, making hardly any reference to Indonesia, whereas Van Romondt discusses the possibility of Indonesia creating a new culture of its own. Schoemaker represents architectural history in terms of the linear, chronological development of style, which makes his historiography remarkably Eurocentric and his conception of the Indies rather Orientalist. 3 “Inaugural lecture” applies only to Van Romondt (1954); During the time of Schoemaker (from since the opening of Bandoeng Technische Hoogeschool in 1920 until Japanese occupation) the most prestigious lecture was “Anniversary Lecture” delivered each year by a professor. Either “inaugural lecture” is less significant or non-existent, but it clear that an “Anniversary Lecture” is considered the most prestigious speech of a professor. For a list of “Anniversary Lectures,” see: “Technische Hoogeschool Bandoeng,” <https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technische_ Hoogeschool_te_Bandoeng> 10 Abidin Kusno Van Romondt, on the contrary indicates that time (especially in Indonesian history) is cyclical and that the arrow of time could return through a cultural crisis. Another difference between the two figures concerns the domains of their works. While the architectural work of Schoemaker, such as Villa Isola (1932 – figure 3), could be described as the physical manifestation of his speech, the same could not be said about Van Romondt, who did not produce architectural design work, except for, in 1948, proposing the construction of Kebayoran Baru, a satellite town which he expected to be the “future Javanese town.” Van Romondt was, however, known for his archeological work and the reconstruction of monuments of Hindu-Buddhist Java. While their professional worlds did not meet, their lectures represented two important strands of architectural strategy in the history of twentieth-century architectural thinking in (colonial) Indonesia. The lectures were both held in the school’s auditorium hall and were attended (as indicated in their speeches) by faculty members and students of the time. The 1930s and the 1950s, however, were two radically different worlds. The socio-political environment changed with the shift from the colonial to postcolonial era. In the 1930s, there were fewer native Indonesian students than in the 1950s. In 1926, for the first time in the history of the Technische Hoogeschool, four Indonesian students graduated, of whom one was Ir. Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia and a student of Schoemaker.4 At the time that Sukarno was a student, there were subjects called bouwkunst, bouwkunde, assaineering, werktuigbouwkunde, electrotechniek, stadsaanleg, and it is likely that Schoemaker taught bouwkunst and stadsaanleg. By the time Schoemaker delivered his Anniversary Lecture in 1930, there were 4 Goenarso,

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