BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY TOUR
Thirty five 3rd year students from Department of Landscape Architecture visited Yogyakarta and Surakarta in Central Java. The field visit last for seven days, 2nd to 8th August 2009.
- History of Yogyakarta
The name Yogyakarta or Yogya is derived from the Sanskrit ‘Ayodya’, the capital city of Rama in the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. The city was officially founded in 1755, although there where a succession of earlier settlement near the site, most notably the capital of the great Mataram Kingdom in the early 17th century. Yet, this period saw a flowering of Javanese culture, and one of the centers was the city of Yogya. The art of batik achieved its classical from and colors, the repertoire of wayang kulit (puppet) was enlarged and its music refined and developed, and a new dance drama, wayang orang, grew out of the wayang kulit tradition. The Javanese language was polished into an instrument of superb social precision, so that Javanese came to speak what were almost different dialects, according to whether they where addressing social superiors, inferiors, and equals”. It is as if the sultans or priyayi or aristocracy of Yogyakarta or elsewhere, denied power, had redirected their energies in the arts and into the perfection of social custom.
- History of Surakarta
Surakarta is situated between three of Java’s highest volcanoes; Mount Merapi, (2911m), Mount Merbabu (3242m), to the west, and Mount Lawu (3265m) to the east Surakarta which better known as ‘Solo’ is Central Java’s second royal city of the Kraton or palace, of the great ancient kingdom of Mataram was moved to Surakarta in the 1670s and the town remained the Negara or capital of the kingdom until 1755. Although foreigners usually regard Yogya Java’s cultural heart the Javanese often attach the sobriquet to Surakarta.
Solo is quieter, smaller, and more relax than Yogya. It has pleasant, wide, clean, and tree lines streets. The city has gained a reputation as a good place to shop, not only it is the center for the sale of batik, but there’s also an antique market which is worth visiting.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY TOUR
- To study spatial typology of urban spaces and residential neighborhoods of Solo and Yogyakarta.
- To study the culture and life style of Indonesian people.
- To design an urban space for young children that promotes their physical and social well-beings.
PARTICIPANTS
Thirty five members of 3rd year student from Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. There were:
- Ahmad Benbela Muzakal Bin Mohd Zawawi
- Mat Rasid Bin Othman
- Mohamad Khairul Bin Din
- Mohd Asri Bin Mohamad
- Mohd Azmi Erip Bin Mat Usof
- Mohd Rajab Bin Palil
- Mohd Syakirin Bin Rosli
- Muhammad Arif Bin Wahab Udin
- Nik Hafzan Bin Mohd Hasnan
- Wan Saiful Nizam Bin Wan Mohamad
- Zairul Haffiz Bin Zolkiffli
- Syafiq Afendi Bin Abd Rahman
- Fathin Faiqah Binti Abdullah
- Hafizah Binti Pulli
- Hazlinda Binti Abd Aziz
- Lee Hui Yien
- Mahfuzah Binti Musban
- Noor Ain Bt Awaludin
- Noorliyana Binti Ramlee
- Nor Iza Syazwani Binti Lokman
- Norhashima Binti Abd Manaf
- Nur Shulaili Binti Sareh Husin
- Nurul Anis Shazreena Binti Muhamad Adilah
- Nurul Huda Binti Anuar
- Siti Hawa Binti Pungut
- Siti Khairunnisa Binti Ali Rahman
- Syumi Rafida Binti Abdul Rahman
- Mohd. Ridhuan Bin Ahmad
- Teo Kien Hee
- Irra Shazni Binti Shamsuri
- Khairil Asraf Bin Abu Bakar
- Norsafikah Binti Salehan
- Siti Nur Athirah Bt Ruzain
- Nur Shahirah Bt Mohd Ishak
- Nursyazwani Binti Md Johari
Lecturer and staffs academic also participate in this trip. There were Assoc. Prof. Dr Ismail Bin Said and Lee Yoke Lai.
THE JOURNEY YOGYAKARTA AND SURAKARTA
ACTIVITIES
YOGJAKARTA
2 AUGUST 2009, SUNDAY
- Visit Kota Gede.
- Yogyakarta is the kingdom’s capital city had several main physical urban components as the centre of political administration, economy, religion, social life and culture.
- Visit alun-alun and Malioboro street.
- Alun-alun Kidul (the South Square) attraction called masangin namely walking through two banyan trees in the square with eyes being closed with black cloth. The belief says that those who successfully do it will get unlimited blessing.
3 AUGUST 2009, MONDAY
- Visit Kasongan.
- Visiting Kasongan village, the tourists will be welcomed warmly by local in habitants.
- We learn and enjoyed the art of making pottery from clay.
- Depart to beaches of South Indian Ocean at Depok (Bantul).
- Enjoyed a fresh seafood meal.
- We enjoyed the scenery at the beach.
- This beach is fisherman area.
- Depart at Kg.Brayut.
- Girl students learn Javanese dance.
- Boy students learn gamelan.
- Homestay at the village.
4 AUGUST 2009, TUESDAY
- Lesson of paddy planting.
- Male students learn how ploughing.
- Female students learn how planting the paddy.
- Visit Salak pondoh farm.
- Visit Borobudur Temple.
- Learn about history of Borobudur and its architecture.
- Watching Ballet of Ramayana at Candi Prambanan.
SOLO
5 AUGUST 2009, WEDNESDAY
- Visit kraton and market.
- Site observation at Klewer, Beteng and Pasar Gedher area for assingment urban vocab.
- Lecture of design workshop at Pak Alpha’s residence in Kampung Laweyan.
- History of Kampung Laweyan.
- Briefing by Ibu Juliani Prasetyaningrum and Ibu Lusi NurYanti about children play behavior in traditional setting.
- Learn how to make batik in Laweyan.
- We get opportunity to make our own batik.
6 AUGUST 2009, TUESDAY
- Briefing on workshop program at Pak Alpha residence by Head of Department at UMS, Bu Dani.
- Briefing workshop program by Pak Alpha Febela.
- Site visit of urban neighborhood and children spaces in Laweyan.
- Briefing designing place/space for children by Aad Satria Permadi in Pendapa Laweyan.
7 AUGUST 2009, FRIDAY
- Workshop discussion by student of Landscape Architecture Department of UTM , Architecture and Psychology Department of UMS.
- Presentation preliminary plan in UMS.
- Critique the work of other groups.
- Farewell dinner and performence by UTM and UMS students.
8 AUGUST 2009, SATURDAY
- Depart to Solo Airport.
OUTCOMES OF THE STUDY TOUR
- The seven days study tour to Central Java had surely benefits the UTM students and staff in many ways. One of the benefits is knowledge sharing. The participant from UTM was from Landscape Architecture Department while the participants from Universitas Muhammadiah Surakarta (UMS) were from Architecture and Psychology Department. The collaboration between the three different courses yet with one similar purpose and aim towards creating “A Place For Children” has created a wider perspective on how “Place For Children” was define according to the participant background respectively. As the result, the design proposal and point of view of each participant has changed and develop tremendously.
- In term of generic skill, the participants have improved their team-working as well as fostered sense of respect towards each other’s background. Working together created sense of friendship and brotherhood among them. It has also proved to them that they were not much different and shared the same ancestor as well as cultural heritage. This has succeeded to minimize the gap and prejudice among the participants through hands-on team activities and knowledge sharing.
- During the visit around the Central Java, the participant has gain the opportunity to learn about the cultural landscape, heritage architecture, urban landscape and people’s behavior. The cultural landscape of Central Java illustrates people’s action on the natural landscape. For example, in Yogjakarta the people’s cultural landscape are very much influence by the landform, economic activities especially farming of paddy and salacca. In contrast for the people in Solo, specifically in Laweyan village, the people cultural landscape was influenced by their batik painting as their livelihood. The heritage architecture and urban landscape were also influenced by the people’s background and way of life. The arrangement and design ware according to what the people do daily. This mean that the people behavior influenced what their urban landscape look like based on their need and background.
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