Jengki' was an eccentric architectural style developed in the 1950s in Indonesia, after it became an independent state.[1][2]
The style reflected the novel influence of the United States on Indonesian architecture after hundreds years of the Dutch colonial rule. This influence was possibly brought through American teachers working at the Department of Architecture at Bandung Institute of Technology in the mid-1950s, and the name 'Jengki' itself is thought to derive from the Indonesian phonetic pronunciation and spelling of the word 'Yankee'.[1][2]
In the new style, the modernist cubic, strict geometric forms that the Dutch had used before World War II were transformed into more unusual shapes, such as pentagons. Jengki style asymmetrical roofs and facades, playful cut-out doors and windows and oddly tilted roofs and eaves were imbued with a spirit of cheerfulness and freedom. The surface and composition were festive – characteristics that were not commonly found elsewhere in Europe and America at the time. They were associated with an expression of the political spirit of freedom among the Indonesians. Frances Affandi, the executive director of the Bandung Heritage Society, says that the structures are "... charming and noteworthy, but underresearched, underdocumented and underappreciated.”[1][2]
These distinctive forms were for the most part designed by construction companies or architecture students of Bandung Institute of Technology, where a Department of Architecture was established in 1951.[2] Many Jengki style buildings have been demolished but examples remain across Indonesia, particularly in the capital Jakarta, in Bandung, in the Javan cities of Yogyakarta, Solo and Semarang, as well as outside Java – in Biak, Makassar and Balikpapan. Examples of the buildings in Bandung include the Gedung PDAM (Regional Water Utility Company Building), Gedung BPI (Scientific Research Institute Building) and the Gedung Politeknik Kesehatan (Health and Polytechnic Building).[1]
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