archaeology

Left. Railway Station Square Jakarta Kota 1937

Tentang BEOS …

Stasiun kereta api ini dulunya biasa disebut dengan nama B.O.S = Bataviasche Ooster Spoorweg [Batavia Eastern Railway], namun bagi penduduk Jakarta tempo dulu, stasiun ini sering dilafalkan dengan Bé-OS. Kini nama stasiun ini dikenal dengan nama STASIUN JAKARTAKOTA.

Stasiun ini didirikan pada tahun 1929.

Stasiun Beos merupakan salah satu landmark kota Jakarta Tua, didirikan pada awal tahun 1930an, yang juga merupakan lambang dari arstitektur bergaya modern pada masa itu. Merupakan pusat dari semua perjalanan kereta api pada masanya dan juga merupakan stasiun pertama yang dibuat.

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Of the seven wonders of the ancient world, only the Great Pyramid of Giza remains. An estimated 2 million stone blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tons went into its construction. When completed, the 481-foot-tall pyramid was the world’s tallest structure, a record it held for more than 3,800 years, when England’s Lincoln Cathedral surpassed it by a mere 44 feet.

We know who built the Great Pyramid: the pharaoh Khufu, who ruled Egypt about 2547-2524 B.C. And we know who supervised its construction: Khufu’s brother, Hemienu. The pharaoh’s right-hand man, Hemienu was "overseer of all construction projects of the king" and his tomb is one of the largest in a cemetery adjacent to the pyramid.

What we don’t know is exactly how it was built, a question that has been debated for millennia. The earliest recorded theory was put forward by the Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt around 450 B.C., when the pyramid was already 2,000 years old. He mentions "machines" used to raise the blocks and this is usually taken to mean cranes. Three hundred years later, Diodorus of Sicily wrote, "The construction was effected by mounds" (ramps). Today we have the "space alien" theory–those primitive Egyptians never could have built such a fabulous structure by themselves; extraterrestrials must have helped them.

Modern scholars have favored these two original theories, but deep in their hearts, they know that neither one is correct. A radical new one, however, may provide the solution. If correct, it would demonstrate a level of planning by Egyptian architects and engineers far greater than anything ever imagined before.

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Despite the acute weather conditions, the taskforce at Kaiga went full steam ahead with construction of the Inner Containment (IC) Dome. Using completely indigenous techniques and labour, they could complete the project in a record time of 16 months. Mr. H.T. Jagadish, of Kaiga Project, gives a step by step account of this accomplishment.

Introduction

lndia’s nuclear programme has come a long way since the commissioning of the boiling water reactors at Tarapur in 1969.

The evolution of the technological advancements can be witnessed in our own atomic power stations. Take for instance the development of the concept of containment. The double containment concept was first introduced at the Narora Atomic Power Plant.

At the Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS) and Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS), the steam generators project out of the inner containment through large penetration bellows. In RAPP-3&4 and KAIGA-1&2, these are located entirely within the inner containment. A double containment consists of two independent containment structures housing the reactor and its auxiliary systems. (more…)

Main Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, called the Church of the Resurrection (Greek: Ναός της Αναστάσεως, Naos tis Anastaseos; Georgian: Agdgomis Tadzari; Armenian: Surp Harutyun) by Eastern Christians, is a Christian church now within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. The ground on which the church rests is venerated by most Christians as Golgotha[1], the Hill of Calvary, where the New Testament describes that Jesus was crucified[2]. It also is said to contain the place where Jesus was reportedly buried (the sepulchre). The church has been an important pilgrimage destination since the 4th century. Today it serves as the headquarters of the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Catholic Archpriest of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.

History

Eusebius describes in his Life of Constantine [1] how the site of the Holy Sepulchre, originally a site of veneration for the Christian community in Jerusalem, had been covered with earth and a temple of Venus had been built on top. Although Eusebius does not say as much, this would probably have been done as part of Hadrian’s reconstruction of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina in 135, following the destruction of the Jewish Revolt of 70 and Bar Kokhba’s revolt of 132–135. Emperor Constantine I ordered in about 325/326 that the site be uncovered, and instructed Saint Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, to build a church on the site. Pilgrim of Bordeaux reports in 333: There, at present, by the command of the Emperor Constantine, has been built a basilica, that is to say, a church of wondrous beauty (page 594). Socrates Scholasticus (born c. 380), in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a full description of the discovery [2] (that was repeated later by Sozomen and by Theodoret) that emphasizes the role played in the excavations and construction by Constantine’s mother Saint Helena, to whom is also credited the rediscovery of the True Cross. Helena had been directed by her son to build churches upon sites which commemorated the life of Jesus Christ, so the Church of the Holy Sepulchre commemorated the end of the life of Jesus, just as the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (also founded by Constantine and Helena) commemorated its beginning. (more…)

by John Yiannias

Introduction

Anyone who witnesses an Orthodox liturgy for the first time will be struck by its frank appeal to the senses. The central actions of the Liturgy are, to be sure, the consecration and distribution of the bread and wine that constitute the Lord’s Body and Blood. But the chanting and choral singing, the incense, the vestments and ritual movements of the priest and acolytes, and the images everywhere around are not mere embellishments. They are integral aspects of the whole liturgical "event". They reveal and celebrate its meaning.

It has been so for centuries. An old Russian chronicle relates that Prince Vladimir of Kiev (d. 1015) could not decide which faith to adopt for himself and his people until his envoys reported from Constantinople that they had witnessed services there: "We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth," they declared, "for on earth there is no such splendor or such beauty, and we are at a loss to describe it. We know only that God dwells there among men." This often-repeated account may be anecdotal, but it contains a valid observation: the Orthodox Church makes no sharp distinction in its worship between the spiritual and the aesthetic. One becomes aware of God’s presence through the senses, in the experience of "splendor" and "beauty." (more…)

by Gabriella Mihályi

Houses and fish pond in the Sundanese village of Kampung Naga, in West Java, Indonesia.
Photo: Gabriella Mihályi

Three hundred steps lead down to the Sundanese village of Kampung Naga. Here, in this valley of West Java, Indonesia, the people consciously maintain the knowledge of their ancestors and their traditional lifestyles in a close relationship with nature. This philosophy extends to their construction methods using local materials of timber, stone, bamboo, and palm leaves.

Path between houses.
Photo: Gabriella Mihályi

The first 100 steps are surrounded by large, leafy ebony trees. From the next 100, the rice fields on the valley floor are visible, along with glimpses of tiny white houses with black roofs. Descending the last 100 steps, the visitor, accompanied by a requisite guide, sees the everyday logic of valley life. The hills above provide the materials of village life — water, wood, and food — and below is the river that flows under the village and carries away waste.

The Sundanese village of Kampung Naga, in West Java, Indonesia.
Photo: Gabriella Mihályi

Kampung Naga, or Dragon Village, is one of the few Sundanese villages in West Java where the people steadfastly maintain traditions despite the proximity of modern influences. In their architecture, this means functional simplicity and a uniformity accented with small differences in details. (more…)

by Ian Morley

The Taj Mahal is under threat from environmental pollution.
Photo: Ian Morley

Cities are often symbolized by their prominent buildings. For example, it is hard to contemplate Sydney without thinking of the Opera House by Jørn Utzon or Barcelona without recalling the works by Antoni Gaudí.

In Asia there are three outstanding examples of entire countries being symbolized by a single structure. In Cambodia it is Angkor Wat, a temple dating from the twelfth century. In China, it is the Great Wall, a fortification stretching for almost 4000 miles (6400 kilometers). And in India, it is the Taj Mahal, the 17th-century mausoleum globally recognized for its incomparable splendor.

Stonework of the gatehouse etched by polluted air.
Photo: Ian Morley

Described by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as "a teardrop on the cheek of time" and by English poet Sir Edward Arnold as "not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones," the Taj Mahal (literally Crown Palace) is today considered an eighth wonder of the world.

It was erected by order of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan following the death of his second wife, Arjumand Banu Begum in 1631. The building has an ivory tone, owing to the marble mined in Jaipur, 155 miles (250 kilometers) away, and is decorated with precious stones of varying colors that shimmer in the sunlight. Its visual effect is spectacular and overwhelming. (more…)

Between Globalization and Localization
 
By Peter J.M. Nas
Published in Bijdragen voor de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, vol 154, no 2, pp. 335-360, 1998.

Introduction

The main postulate of the theory of globalization is that during the past few decades a ‘third’ culture has emerged which transcends national cultures and cannot be explained simply by looking at national states and their interrelationships. In this article I will explore the oppositeness of this postulate in the field of dwelling architecture. The question at issue is whether the house in Indonesia should be considered part of world-wide culture or not, and, should this be the case, whether this is just recently so. I will deal with this question in three parts, developing the argument from the local to the global. I will begin by describing a number of present-day vernacular habitation styles to show their great variety, based on the diversity of local cultures in Indonesia. Some of these forms of dwelling architecture are still wide-spread, but many of them have already disappeared or can be classified as endangered. In this section the local roots of dwelling architecture will take centre stage. Moving on, I will present the Hindu, Islamic, and colonial influences on the house to show that world-wide cultural elements, not just those founded on the dual relations between states but also of a more general character, were not only present, but were characteristic, exerting very powerful influences. Globalization is not just a recent phenomenon and often has strong regional connotations. Moreover, the so called third culture should not be seen through Western eyes only, because Asian variants abound. In my final phase, I will analyse the post-Independence foreign influences. In this period the diffusion of habitation styles has certainly been speeded up by new means of communication and the intensification of their use. In some cases this diffusion has been based on particular concepts discussed on a world-wide scale and propagated by influential international institutions. In this section the localization effects of this intensification of globalization as well as the phenomenon of hybridization are also taken into account. (more…)