page_title: Bandung
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Bandung / Culture / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: The cathedral, built in Dutch colonial era, serves as the center of catholic community in Bandung. Taken by Umar Khatab on October 6th, 2007
context_page_description: Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia. Based on the official mid-2020 estimate, it is Indonesia's fourth most populous city after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bekasi with 2,510,103 inhabitants. Greater Bandung is the country's third-largest metropolitan area with over 8.5 million inhabitants. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 kilometres southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler year-round temperatures than most other Indonesian cities. The city lies on a river basin surrounded by volcanic mountains that provides a natural defence system, which was the primary reason for the Dutch East Indies government's plan to move the capital from Batavia to Bandung.
  The Dutch first established tea plantations around the mountains in the 18th century, and a road was constructed to connect the plantation area to the colonial capital Batavia. In the early 20th century the Dutch inhabitants of Bandung demanded the establishment of a municipality, which was granted in 1906, and Bandung gradually developed into a resort city for plantation owners.
context_section_description: Bandung is home to numerous examples of Dutch colonial architecture; most notably the tropical Art Deco, dubbed New Indies Style. Henri Maclaine Pont was among the first Dutch architects to recognise the importance of combining each architectural style with local cultural traditions. He stressed that modern architecture should interact with local history and native elements. In 1920, Pont planned and designed buildings for the first technical university in the Dutch East Indies, Technische Hogeschool te Bandung (the present-day Bandung Institute of Technology), after which he was named as a Professor of Architecture at the university. A striking local Sundanese roof style is clearly seen adorning the top of the campus' ceremonial hall and is embedded in his artwork.
  In the same year, another Dutch architect J Gerber designed Gouverments Bedrijven (Government Companies) in line with the colonial government plan to move the capital from Batavia to Bandung. The building is an example of a harmonious mixture between West and East architectural styles, particularly the Italian Renaissance style of arch structures in the wings and pendopo-like structures commonly found in Java in the middle section. The building is known as Gedung Sate, named after the distinguished small satay-shaped structure on the roof, and is today used as the head office of the West Java provincial government and House of Representatives.
  The architectural blending of modern and native traditional was followed by several Dutch architects who shaped the city landmarks. In the 1930s, Bandung became known as an architectural laboratory due to the many Dutch architects who experimented with new architectural designs. Albert Aalbers added the streamline moderne style to the Art Deco by designing the DENIS bank (1936) and renovated the Savoy Homann Hotel (1939). Charles Prosper Wolff Schoemaker was one of the architects who strongly added native elements in his artworks, including the Villa Isola (1932), Hotel Preanger (1929), the regional military headquarter (1918), Gedung Merdeka (1921) and ITB Rectorate Building (1925).
  Though Bandung is known for its large number of old Dutch architecture buildings, the city is going through a high-rise building boom recently. At present, there are more than 100 high rise building in the city and many more under construction or planned. The following list includes buildings in Bandung, which are completed or topped off and which are above 300 ft 91 metres.
caption: Bandung Cathedral, seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bandung
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