The Architecture of The New Order Era

1. De-Soekarnoization

Soeharto aimed to diminish Soekarno's role and legacy in Indonesian history.
Many of Soekarno's legacies were renamed to more neutral names, omitting Soekarno's identity. Examples:
- Gelora Bung Karno → Gelora Senayan
- Jembatan Bung Karno → Jembatan Ampera
- Sukarnapura → Jayapura (capital city of Papua)
- Puncak Sukarno → Puncak Jaya
However, Soeharto also managed Soekarno and Hatta's image as "the founding fathers".
- Building Tugu Proklamasi (1980) to acknowledge Soekarno’s roles in the process of gaining independence.
- The naming of Indonesia’s international airport (Bandara Soekarno-Hatta, 1985).

Soeharto initiated REPELITA (Rencana Pembangunan Lima Tahun) in 1969, a centralized development plan.
It relied heavily on foreign (western) capital.
It was heavily promoted on mass media through advertisement, encouraging Indonesians to enter consumer culture.
Repelita I (1969-1974): fulfilling basic needs and infrastructure, emphasis on agriculture.
Repelita II (1969-1979): increasing development on islands other than Java, Bali, and Madura, including through transmigration.
Repelita III (1979-1984): focusing on labor-intensive industries (padat karya) to increase exports.
Repelita IV (1984-1989): creating new jobs and develop industry.
Repelita V (1989-1994): focusing on transportation, communication, and education.
Repelita VI (1994-unfinished): focusing on economy and industry.
In 1983 (via Tap MPR No. V tahun 1983), Soeharto was honored Bapak Pembangunan Indonesia.
The development, especially in Jakarta, were somewhat oriented to the elites and not the peasants.
Urban kampungs are hidden from the elite’s sights by elevating the driveways (flyover) while the poor lives below.

ABRI Masuk Desa (AMD, 1980), now evolved into TNI Manunggal Membangun Desa (TMMD, 2007).
Focusing on physical developments in rural and border areas.
Also had “surveillance” function: the state controlling commoners and villagers through Dwifungsi ABRI.
The birth of hijau miskin.
Desire to project order, discipline, and state power.
Often expressed through architecture and urban design using forms and materials that conveyed monumentality, control, and uniformity.
Especially realized in official, governmental, and military buildings.

The end of Soekarno’s era marked the decline of socialist modernism.
The New Order ideated a new phase of market-oriented modernism, driven by partnerships with the private sector and a focus on economic growth.
Under the New Order, market modernism shaped architectural thinking, shifting priorities toward business and commercial development.
In the 1980s, foreign investment accelerated the rise of a new middle class—more white-collar jobs, consumer lifestyles, promotion of the ideal modern family.
In 1988, Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) was launched as new town project, explicitly targeting the middle class.
Designed as a self-sufficient satellite city, offering a utopian urban environment.
Throughout the 1990s, real estate developers increasingly embraced the new town concept, expanding it further.
These new towns functioned as a spatial and ideological departure from the traditional urban and kampung life, creating distinct environments separated from the existing city fabric.
Later, the superblock concept emerged—integrated, closed-off urban enclaves designed to contain all aspects of middle-class life within a single complex, effectively allowing residents to remain within their own insulated world.

The New Order regime, like the Old Order, also pursuit national architectural identity, aiming to reflect its own version of "Indonesia.”
Contrasted with the Sukarno era, when traditional architectural forms and ideas were largely excluded from state-endorsed design.
Under Suharto, traditional architectural elements gained renewed importance as a source of inspiration.
Example: Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.
In the early 1980s, the government launched a national mosque-building program.
This program targeted remote and economically disadvantaged communities across Indonesia.
As a result, hundreds of standardized mosques were constructed and systematically distributed throughout the archipelago – modelled after Masjid Agung Demak.
State-orchestrated architectural movements.

The New Order made deliberate and systemic efforts to depoliticize education and campuses, especially after witnessing how student activism helped bring down Soekarno.
NKK/BKK (Normalisasi Kehidupan Kampus/Badan Koordinasi Kemahasiswaan): prohibiting students organization and activism.
Curriculum Control & Ideological Indoctrination: Pancasila curriculum, history and social sciences subjects must follow official narratives.
Focus on science, technology, and economics rather than politics or humanities.
Campuses were often placed under military or intelligence surveillance, silencing critical lecturers, placing military-backed rectors.
In architecture education, curriculum focused mainly on the physical definitions of architecture.
Aiming to to produce "technicians" to function in a society dominated by consumerist cultures, supporting the regime’s developmentalism.
Detaching architecture from the social and political issues.