| Summary: | This study reviews the spatial and formal translations across indigenous vernacular and European colonial architecture in the formation and development of two nineteenth-century colonial-era house forms: first, the Compound House as it was called in building drawings, and the equivalent single story, raised-floor form, the Rumah Limas, in British Malaya (today’s Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore); and second, the Indies-style town residence (Indische woonhuis), which is related to, but distinguishable from, the larger, eighteenth-century country house (Indische landhuis) in Java. The discussion moves beyond the typical focus on climatic adaptation and style to consider a number of striking parallels in the interior layout and formal composition of these colonial-vernacular house forms with Malay, Sundanese (West Java) and Javanese customary house traditions, including Javanese urban dwellings. In addition, two key spatial-formal translations and their related architectural nomenclature are reviewed: the neo-Palladian portico as Malay anjung/surong, and the Javanese pringgitan or transition terrace as voorgalerij. Through these considerations, different narratives emerge that supplement or problematize the focus on Europeans in the colonies in existing studies.
|
|---|