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View all search resultsNotes on Garuda design for new presidential palace
A great man behind such a plan and vision will never be forgotten by history and generations because it is not about his/her person but the next generations.
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T
here is no better word to summarize President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s choice for the preliminary design of the presidential palace in the newly established site of Indonesia’s future capital city than pomposity.
In his tweet on April 2, Jokowi defended his decision, saying the design by Bali’s prominent artist Nyoman Nuarta reflected the progress and pride of Indonesia. The President invites architects and planners to provide feedback for further developments and enrichment of the design.
Although the President might have taken into account uncountable ideas and invaluable advice from various resources such as artists, architects, engineers, scholars, bureaucrats and politicians, the last word is, undoubtedly, his own preference.
It seems nothing is wrong with this self-entitlement because he is the number one person in charge of the Republic of Indonesia. Jokowi does not want people to remember the palace only as the president‘s workplace. He wants more. The palace should remind the people of the national symbol of pride, progress and greatness.
The form of Garuda, the mythical bird vehicle of Hindu god Vishnu, is the leitmotif design of the palace with historical numbers of Indonesian Independence Day 17-8-45 on its neck, tail and wings. The structure stands tall at 200 meters in width and 76 meters in height. Following the ancient Indonesian Hindu building tradition, the palace should face the east where the Sun rises, but Hindu-Islamic syncretism transformed the orientation of the palace to the South and in front of the alun-alun (city square).
Historically speaking, only leaders with a strong sense of pomposity have built magnificent palaces, such as the Roman emperor Augustus for the Rome Palace, Pope Sixtus V for the Vatican papal palace, French kings from Louis III to Louis XIV for the Versailles Palace. Later, Adolf Hitler commissioned Albert Speer to design Germania for his great palace and the capital city of Great Germany in 1936-1942.
All these designs were not about people, nations and states but about the persons who ordered and commissioned architects, artists, engineers and builders for the self-amplification of their legacy. The buildings are the symbols and representation of those persons.
