Redevelopment of Tamansari complex

Tamansari is one of the finest examples of bathing complexes of Classical Javanese architecture. It was built alongside the palace complex of the Kingdom of Yogyakarta. It is special in the sense that it is being built mostly with brick, and it borrowed some ideas from European architecture that were present on Java at the time. It is also has a unique design of a mosque in the form of Sumur Gumuling, which is round in shape. Unfortunately, Tamansari was used only for two generations of Kings due to the presence of prolonged war. A huge earthquake in 1867 also damaged the complex. After its abandonment, Tamansari began to decay, and an expanding residential sprawl began to develop around the complex. By the mid 20th century, only small amounts of the buildings of Tamansari survived, and some of the surviving buildings are already in the state of ruin, such as Pulo Kenanga, the biggest building in the complex. Efforts to stop the decaying process began in 1970s by the Ninth King of Yogyakarta, and major intervention started in 2004. Most of the approach of the intervention is more into reconstructing the damaged buildings, and do not give any functions to the buildings. The intervened building would then become just an example of the product of classical Javanese architecture, but the building would not be able to function in its contemporary surroundings. The writing will not only deal with the decay intervention, but also the development of the complex in building scale and also in an urban scale. The thesis would also deal with the problem of the expanding sprawl around the complex, and also with the touristic issues of the complex itself. Thus, the thesis would give another option on how to approach and intervene a decaying heritage building, and the final product of the thesis would be the application of the guidelines produced in the analysis. The final product then can become a reference for the future development of other heritage buildings in Yogyakarta, and also in Indonesia.