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Thomas Karsten

January 01, 1970

Herman Thomas Karsten (22 April 1884, Amsterdam – 1945, Cimahi) was a Dutch engineer who gave major contributions to architecture and town planning in Indonesia during Dutch colonial rule. Most significantly he integrated the practice of colonial urban environment with native elements; a radical approach to spatial planning for Indonesia at the time. He introduced a neighborhood plan for all ethnic groups in Semarang, built public markets in Yogyakarta and Surakarta, and a city square in the capital Batavia (now 'Jakarta'). Between 1915 and 1941 he was given responsibility for planning 12 out of 19 municipalities in Java, 3 out of 9 towns in Sumatra and a town in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). He received official recognition from both the government through his appointment to the colony's major Town Planning Committee and by the academic community with his appointment to the position of Lecturer for Town Planning at the School of Engineering at Bandung. He died in an internment camp near Bandung in 1945 during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies.

Biography edit

 
Pasar Gede Harjonagoro, a public market building at Surakarta designed by Karsten.
 
Interior of Pasar Johar in Semarang designed by Karsten.

Raised in a well-educated family, young Thomas Karsten developed progressive and liberal ideas.[1] His father was a professor in philosophy and a university vice-chancellor, while his sister was the first woman in the Netherlands to study chemistry. Thomas Karsten enrolled at the Delft Polytechnische School (precursor of the Delft University of Technology) in the Netherlands and initially studied mechanical engineering, before changing to structural engineering following major institutional reforms to the school. Karsten was not among the leaders in his study, but he graduated from a faculty that had only produced between 3 and 10 graduates until 1920.

Karsten's hometown was Amsterdam and in the early 1920s, the city suffered major socio-economic problems. There was a highly segmented urban environment with extreme poverty, and ethnic (particularly Jewish) segregation and inequality. Between 1908–11, while Karsten was still a student, he was closely involved with the proponents of public housing reform in preparing a new housing project. Thomas Karsten's ideology towards social reform movements was developed during this time. He was a member of Socialistische Technische Vereeniging or Association of Socialist Engineers, and later he joined its sister organization in Java. He significantly contributed in a town planning report in the Netherlands, called Volkshuisvesting in de Nieuwe Stad te Amsterdam (1909) or 'Public Housing in the New City of Amsterdam'. Members of this project were socialist reformists, architects and feminists.[1]

To escape World War I in Europe, he moved to the Dutch East Indies (present day of Indonesia), which he saw as a neutral and a far distance place from the war. He went to Java on the invitation of Henri Maclaine Pont, a former fellow student, to assist Pont's architecture firm. Never trained as a town planner, Karsten envisaged the Indies-architectural elements with a town planning approach from scratch. His social vision guided him to reject colonial town planning but to shape colonial urban environment by including native elements. In the 1920s he committed himself to the Dutch East Indies saying Java was his 'home' and that his growing antipathy towards 'Western civilization' helped him to articulate his work.[1] He married a Javanese woman.

By 1918, he had defined a set of principles for his town planning which saw him engaged as a consultant for major cities in the colony. He was a town planning consultant for Semarang (1916–20, 1936), Buitenzorg (now 'Bogor') (1920–23), Madiun (1929), Malang (1930–35), Batavia (Jakarta) (1936–37), Magelang (1937–38), Bandung (1941), as well as Cirebon, Meester Cornelis (part of Jakarta which is known as Jatinegara), Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Purwokerto, Padang, Medan and Banjarmasin.[2]

After long career working privately for municipal authorities, the government recognized Thomas Karsten by appointing him to official committees. First he was in the Bouwbeperkingscommissie (1930) ('Building Works Committee'), and later to the Stadsvormingscommissie (1934) ('Town Planning Committee'). In 1941, he was appointed to lecture at the School of Engineering at Bandung. During the Japanese occupation in Indonesia, Thomas Karsten was imprisoned at camp Baros in Cimahi near Bandung. He died at the camp in 1945.[3]

His building projects included large two-storey homes with steeply pitched roofs for members for elite Dutch citizens, new palace pavilions that were both European and traditional Javanese for indigenous royalty, public market buildings in Yogyakarta and Surakarta, and grand headquarters for companies.[3]

Town planning edit

Several cities in Java and Sumatra underwent major renovation plans following the Dutch governments' early twentieth century introduction of the Ethical Policy. A new Decentralisation Act (Decentralitatiewet) was enacted in 1903 that enabled local municipalities and regional governments to develop and to plan their own territory. Most northern coastal towns of Java had to deal with unrelenting population increases, and a subsequent huge demand for houses and infrastructures, sanitation, and other related development. Thomas Karsten saw himself as being at the right time with the town planning of Semarang in 1914 by working at Henry Maclaine's architecture firm.

In colonialism, all social components are expressed through the articulation of the 'form of difference', and the colonial urban planning was precisely implemented by the order of relationship between various ethnically, racially and economically urban dwellers.[1] Karsten rejected this idea and began to include more indigenous elements intertwined with those typical European elements.[1] In 1917, he presented the 'New Candi' plan, an extension plan of the Semarang's master plan to accommodate all ethnic groups according to their own habits.[4] He produced a master plan for new suburbs in Batavia including the central city square.

In 1921, Thomas Karsten presented a paper of the Indies Town Planning at the Decentralisation Congress. The paper was seen of a new radical idea in which Karsten argued that a town planning is an activity of interconnected components (social, technology, etc.) that is needed to be addressed harmoniously. His idea for a methodological approach to create an organic town plan with a social dimension received much acclaim in the colony, as well as in the Netherlands.[5]

Karsten's paper gave major influence in the government plan for public housing. Among them were the municipal guidelines for urban extension and housing (1926), municipal priority rights on land (1926) and the provision of up to 50% of subsidies and guidelines for kampong (villages) improvement projects (1928).[4] In 1930, Thomas Karsten together with other prominent architects, politicians and bureaucrats in the colony was appointed by the government to the Town Planning Committee. The committee produced a draft of Town Planning Ordinance in 1938 for the town planning regulations to organise buildings and construction in accordance with social and geographical characteristics and their expected growth. The plan was put on hold because of World War II and was never realized after which the Dutch lost their control over Indonesia.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Joost Coté (2004). "Colonial designs: Thomas Karsten and the planning of urban Indonesia" (PDF). 15th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia. Canberra.
  2. ^ Erica Bogaers (1983). "Ir. Thomas Karsten: De Ontwikkeling van de Stedebouw in Nederlands-Indië 1915–1940" (Document). Doktoralscriptie planologie, Universiteit van Amsterdam. p. 62.
  3. ^ a b Adrian Vickers (2005). A History of Modern Indonesia. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN 0-521-54262-6.
  4. ^ a b Pauline K.M. van Roosmalen (2004). (PDF). 1st International Urban Conference. Surabaya. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
  5. ^ M. J. Granpré Molière (1922). "Indiese stedebouw door Ir. Th. Karsten". Tijdschirft voor Volkshuisvesting. 9: 226–234.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Karsten.
  • Visual Database of Modern Dutch Tropical Architecture in Indonesia:
    • Sonobudoyo Museum, Yogyakarta
    • Sobokarti Theatre, Semarang

January 01, 1970
thomas, karsten, herman, april, 1884, amsterdam, 1945, cimahi, dutch, engineer, gave, major, contributions, architecture, town, planning, indonesia, during, dutch, colonial, rule, most, significantly, integrated, practice, colonial, urban, environment, with, n. Herman Thomas Karsten 22 April 1884 Amsterdam 1945 Cimahi was a Dutch engineer who gave major contributions to architecture and town planning in Indonesia during Dutch colonial rule Most significantly he integrated the practice of colonial urban environment with native elements a radical approach to spatial planning for Indonesia at the time He introduced a neighborhood plan for all ethnic groups in Semarang built public markets in Yogyakarta and Surakarta and a city square in the capital Batavia now Jakarta Between 1915 and 1941 he was given responsibility for planning 12 out of 19 municipalities in Java 3 out of 9 towns in Sumatra and a town in Kalimantan Indonesian Borneo He received official recognition from both the government through his appointment to the colony s major Town Planning Committee and by the academic community with his appointment to the position of Lecturer for Town Planning at the School of Engineering at Bandung He died in an internment camp near Bandung in 1945 during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies Contents 1 Biography 2 Town planning 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksBiography edit nbsp Pasar Gede Harjonagoro a public market building at Surakarta designed by Karsten nbsp Interior of Pasar Johar in Semarang designed by Karsten Raised in a well educated family young Thomas Karsten developed progressive and liberal ideas 1 His father was a professor in philosophy and a university vice chancellor while his sister was the first woman in the Netherlands to study chemistry Thomas Karsten enrolled at the Delft Polytechnische School precursor of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and initially studied mechanical engineering before changing to structural engineering following major institutional reforms to the school Karsten was not among the leaders in his study but he graduated from a faculty that had only produced between 3 and 10 graduates until 1920 Karsten s hometown was Amsterdam and in the early 1920s the city suffered major socio economic problems There was a highly segmented urban environment with extreme poverty and ethnic particularly Jewish segregation and inequality Between 1908 11 while Karsten was still a student he was closely involved with the proponents of public housing reform in preparing a new housing project Thomas Karsten s ideology towards social reform movements was developed during this time He was a member of Socialistische Technische Vereeniging or Association of Socialist Engineers and later he joined its sister organization in Java He significantly contributed in a town planning report in the Netherlands called Volkshuisvesting in de Nieuwe Stad te Amsterdam 1909 or Public Housing in the New City of Amsterdam Members of this project were socialist reformists architects and feminists 1 To escape World War I in Europe he moved to the Dutch East Indies present day of Indonesia which he saw as a neutral and a far distance place from the war He went to Java on the invitation of Henri Maclaine Pont a former fellow student to assist Pont s architecture firm Never trained as a town planner Karsten envisaged the Indies architectural elements with a town planning approach from scratch His social vision guided him to reject colonial town planning but to shape colonial urban environment by including native elements In the 1920s he committed himself to the Dutch East Indies saying Java was his home and that his growing antipathy towards Western civilization helped him to articulate his work 1 He married a Javanese woman By 1918 he had defined a set of principles for his town planning which saw him engaged as a consultant for major cities in the colony He was a town planning consultant for Semarang 1916 20 1936 Buitenzorg now Bogor 1920 23 Madiun 1929 Malang 1930 35 Batavia Jakarta 1936 37 Magelang 1937 38 Bandung 1941 as well as Cirebon Meester Cornelis part of Jakarta which is known as Jatinegara Yogyakarta Surakarta Purwokerto Padang Medan and Banjarmasin 2 After long career working privately for municipal authorities the government recognized Thomas Karsten by appointing him to official committees First he was in the Bouwbeperkingscommissie 1930 Building Works Committee and later to the Stadsvormingscommissie 1934 Town Planning Committee In 1941 he was appointed to lecture at the School of Engineering at Bandung During the Japanese occupation in Indonesia Thomas Karsten was imprisoned at camp Baros in Cimahi near Bandung He died at the camp in 1945 3 His building projects included large two storey homes with steeply pitched roofs for members for elite Dutch citizens new palace pavilions that were both European and traditional Javanese for indigenous royalty public market buildings in Yogyakarta and Surakarta and grand headquarters for companies 3 Town planning editSeveral cities in Java and Sumatra underwent major renovation plans following the Dutch governments early twentieth century introduction of the Ethical Policy A new Decentralisation Act Decentralitatiewet was enacted in 1903 that enabled local municipalities and regional governments to develop and to plan their own territory Most northern coastal towns of Java had to deal with unrelenting population increases and a subsequent huge demand for houses and infrastructures sanitation and other related development Thomas Karsten saw himself as being at the right time with the town planning of Semarang in 1914 by working at Henry Maclaine s architecture firm In colonialism all social components are expressed through the articulation of the form of difference and the colonial urban planning was precisely implemented by the order of relationship between various ethnically racially and economically urban dwellers 1 Karsten rejected this idea and began to include more indigenous elements intertwined with those typical European elements 1 In 1917 he presented the New Candi plan an extension plan of the Semarang s master plan to accommodate all ethnic groups according to their own habits 4 He produced a master plan for new suburbs in Batavia including the central city square In 1921 Thomas Karsten presented a paper of the Indies Town Planning at the Decentralisation Congress The paper was seen of a new radical idea in which Karsten argued that a town planning is an activity of interconnected components social technology etc that is needed to be addressed harmoniously His idea for a methodological approach to create an organic town plan with a social dimension received much acclaim in the colony as well as in the Netherlands 5 Karsten s paper gave major influence in the government plan for public housing Among them were the municipal guidelines for urban extension and housing 1926 municipal priority rights on land 1926 and the provision of up to 50 of subsidies and guidelines for kampong villages improvement projects 1928 4 In 1930 Thomas Karsten together with other prominent architects politicians and bureaucrats in the colony was appointed by the government to the Town Planning Committee The committee produced a draft of Town Planning Ordinance in 1938 for the town planning regulations to organise buildings and construction in accordance with social and geographical characteristics and their expected growth The plan was put on hold because of World War II and was never realized after which the Dutch lost their control over Indonesia See also edit nbsp Indonesia portal Indonesian architecture New Indies StyleReferences edit a b c d e Joost Cote 2004 Colonial designs Thomas Karsten and the planning of urban Indonesia PDF 15th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia Canberra Erica Bogaers 1983 Ir Thomas Karsten De Ontwikkeling van de Stedebouw in Nederlands Indie 1915 1940 Document Doktoralscriptie planologie Universiteit van Amsterdam p 62 a b Adrian Vickers 2005 A History of Modern Indonesia New York Cambridge University Press pp 23 24 ISBN 0 521 54262 6 a b Pauline K M van Roosmalen 2004 Expanding grounds The roots of spatial planning in Indonesia PDF 1st International Urban Conference Surabaya Archived from the original PDF on 2007 09 27 Retrieved 2007 04 14 M J Granpre Moliere 1922 Indiese stedebouw door Ir Th Karsten Tijdschirft voor Volkshuisvesting 9 226 234 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Karsten Visual Database of Modern Dutch Tropical Architecture in Indonesia Sonobudoyo Museum Yogyakarta Sobokarti Theatre Semarang Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thomas Karsten amp oldid 1180120095, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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