Framed beauty: Kampung Code, Yogyakarta, is seen through a frame.

Kampung Code, once an urban slum inhabited by disadvantaged people in the hub of Yogyakarta, was later turned into an elegant settlement in harmony with the local environment by the late Romo Mangunwijaya, a priest and architect. Today the vicinity is known as Yogyakarta'€™s Rio de Janeiro.

The neighborhood is around 500 meters east of Tugu, Yogyakarta, located under the Gondolayu Bridge and on the banks of the Code River. In 1992 this area, thanks to the upgrading initiative of the late Mangunwijaya, received the Aga Khan Award for architecture, an eminent honor for structural design.

The award affirmed the Code riverbank area as a typical settlement of prestige and high architectural value. In 1983, Mangunwijaya launched the area'€™s physical reconstruction and its community'€™s mental transformation, due to the diverse backgrounds of local people '€” from scavengers and pedicab drivers to manual laborers.

Mangunwijaya, also known for his cultural activities and populist approach, was a graduate of architecture from the Bandung Institute of Technology and Rheinisch Westfaelische Technische Hochschule, the technological university in Aachen, Germany.

The priest, who had also assisted victims of eviction at the reservoir project of Kedung Ombo, Central Java, in the New Order period, combined the Code riverbank environment with modern architecture, converting it into a distinctive zone.

Versatile room: Residents and children play inside the paseban multipurpose hall designed by Romo (Father) Mangunwijaya.

The government'€™s plan to remove the squalid Code settlement was canceled and the environment minister at the time, Emil Salim, even supported the upgrading effort. Previously made up of makeshift homes, the neighborhood was converted into a very artistic dwelling place.

The houses by the river were shaped according to the contours of land as part of the environment. Their walls were made from woven bamboo blended with wooden frames and colorfully painted. So Kampung Code has since become a convenient, attractive and peaceful location.

This physical elegance has also changed the atmosphere of the settlement, formerly known as a murky enclave. Local inhabitants now help each other in harmonious relationships and are friendly toward visitors. Many college students write essays about the place while foreign tourists are fond of exploring narrow alleys between the artistic homes.

Even after the demise of Mangunwijaya, his masterpiece continues to be preserved and given a facelift. By the end of April, Kampung Code people started repainting their dwellings. For two weeks, the walls and roofs were brightly painted so as to look gorgeous from a long way off on the Gondolayu Bridge.

Therefore, Kampung Code is now virtually the same as the Kickstarter area in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some 30 of the 50 houses in the Code neighborhood are colorfully painted, creating an appealing urban panorama particularly from the bridge.

Almost every afternoon or evening, visitors spend time on the bridge to enjoy the views of Kampung Code and take selfies, the second most popular place for such activity after Tugu. The colorful homes are not just a wonderful scene but also reflect the settlement'€™s pluralist community.

At night, several spotlights illuminate the zone, enhancing the beauty of the urban village. Darsam, a Code community figure, hoped the colorful homes would increase local residents'€™ pride and confidence in their environment. '€œI also expect the new shades of decoration to attract a lot more tourists to this location,'€ he added.

River life: Kampung Code is situated under the Gondolayu Bridge on the banks of the Code River.

Daunting task: A worker paints the walls of a resident'€™s house.

Place to be: Residents socialize in a public space in Kampung Code with Romo (Father) Mangunwijaya depicted on a mural.

'€“ Photos by JP/Tarko Sudiarno