T4

Site Model

Program Narrative

Site Documentation

Below showing old maps of Jakarta (Batavia) harbor canal and photograph.

Precedent Study "Water Pavilions"

Looking back the history of architecture in Indonesia, Bali, in 1940s there is a floating palaces/ water pavilions called bale kambang. They are more poetically known, occupy a special place in Balinese architecture. This design may have originated in cosmographical terms as a representation of the Hindu-Buddhist universe with the ruler positioned at the center, his temporal powers sanctioned by the gods.
Similar ideas existed in Bali. The temple complex at Taman Ayun (Ayun's Park) in the former kingdom of Mengwi is completely surrounded by a moat and was built as an earthly replica of the heaves where the deified ancestors of the royal family of Mengwi are supposed to disport themselves in floating pavilions attended to by celestial nymphs. a delightful idea and one that was replicated in the ornamental lotus pools and bale kambang of Balinese palaces.