Temporary architecture has a unique capacity to raise awareness and thereby act as a catalyst to change. Structures can be erected in places where permanent buildings are not possible. They can be articulated with a degree of freedom that is often lacking in permanent buildings. With these understandings in mind, students are tasked with the creation of an inclusive temporary cultural venue on Taman Fatahillah, the central square of Kota Tua, Jakarta. It is a hectic megacity in constant flux, where the popularity of neighbourhoods changes rapidly as new housing estates, office towers and shopping malls emerge on vast scales every year. As new places are developed, older ones fall out of favour and are left on a downward spiral. This happened to the city’s historic centre Kota Tua, where crumbling, grand heritage buildings serve as an attraction mainly to tourists and the city’s low-paid working-class families.
Through its design brief, the studio explores how temporary architecture can become a form of civil expression in response to social issues, how it reflects the interplay between past and present collective memories of the city, and how it can draw attention to the plight of the city’s historic old centre.
