Setiadi Sopandi

Paper presented at mAAN Seoul Conference 2011

mAAN workshops in Indonesia

Apparently mAAN’s 2004 The Great Shanghai Factory Revitalization Workshop has inspired more people than previously imagined. It begun with a simple idea to have architectural students and young professionals get together with a plan, a real site, a real story, and real credible professionals and academics during a period of time. Apart from having productive fun during summer holiday, this idea supports a better platform for exchange of ideas, networking, learning a wider context of our changing world, and most importantly to have all those learning luxury unlimited by institutional frames and backgrounds. This idea surprisingly inspires a lot of people during the last 7 years, especially to us, Indonesians. Despite only a single Indonesian attend the 2004 workshop, the idea of having such workshop seems to be sipping through and giving us a fresh idea to open up boundaries and opportunities not to be missed.

For Indonesian professional architects, to be involved in any kind of important historic preservation projects is probably one in a lifetime opportunity. Not more than 10 years ago, even to have a chance in important public buildings was considered lucky. Those opportunities seem to hover around established big professional offices, not to mention foreign ones. The academic world is no different. With only limited budget and efforts allocated for research, excursions, and field trainings; it seems that we studied in isolated islands of architectural education institutions. We also rarely interacted with professionals during our undergraduate years.

Along with improvements in our professional and academic situations, the idea of having mAAN-style workshops in Indonesia seems to give us a new approach to do things differently. At least, it was initially giving us a good platform for us to interact and exchange critical ideas as an alternative to usual professional and academic project presentations/ sharings. At best, the idea can give many professionals and students contributing in important public projects. mAAN-styled workshops also help to prepare the client with the brief before a real architectural commission and further development taking place, therefore a workshop paves a way for better practices.

Up to 2007, mAAN’s activities in Indonesia were limited to general architectural heritage mappings/ inventories (Medan, Padang, Bukittinggi, Jakarta, Bogor, Palembang) and an attempt to fill gaps within our own modern architectural historiography (mAAN Modern Indonesian Architecture Workshop 2007 produced a monograph on the house of one of the most important Post-War Indonesian architects). Fortunately the chance of having ideas going into real actions came in early 2009 from a professional film maker Mr. Andre Moedanton, a son of a doctor worked for Semen Padang cement plant, Indarung, West Sumatera, Indonesia.

The Padang Cement Factory

The cement plant was first established in 1910 by the Dutch colonial government, using the latest European technologies available at that time (components shipped from F.L Schimdt from Denmark). The establishment of the plant was consequently pivotal event in the physical development of the region; it enabled massive infrastructure developments as buildings, bridges, roads, and more factories. It supported productions and distributions of commodities such as agricultural and mining activities. Since 1910, the plant had grown consecutively from 1 up to 5 kilns in total creating a vast industrial landscape as big as 68,000 m² site. It is as big as a small town, as complex as a megastructure.

During the late 1990s, the operation of the old plant was terminated due to several reasons: inefficiency, pollution, available new technologies. The company now relies on 4 new operating plants located nearby. After the closing, except for a tiny section, the Indarung 1 plant had been abandoned and left to decay. For more than 10 years; the rotating kilns, water currents under the plant, massive solid walls, scafoldings, towering structures, storage and office spaces, and all movable parts were all turned into a giant industrial carcass that holds memories, traces of events, as well as Piranesian mysterious feels for spectators.

Mr. Moedanton, raised and having a personal nostalgic memories about the complex of Semen Padang (Padang Cement) factory, had given thoughts and efforts about how to preserve and to make use of a 99-years-old factory plant.  After disused, the derelict factory plant is a threat as well as threatened by its corrosive parts. The company had scheduled its demolition. Instead of preserving the plant, the management has initially planned to built a brand new museum on a nearby site to commemorate a centennary establishment of the company.

However, based on information gathered about the success of mAAN Shanghai workshop, Mr. Moedanton succesfully convinced the company’s management to change their mind and called for a workshop. Based on inspirations from succesful industrial heritage projects in Europe and the Shanghai workshop, he had given the company a greater hope on the future of the historic site. At our first visit, we even witnessed an extravagant celebration of the company’s anniversary right in the middle of the old factory plant.

The initial plan of the company’s management is relatively simple but naive; to have a cement museum as a centennial commemoration. Apart of this idea, the management does not know anything about establishing a museum, not to mention the importance of preserving an old cement plant. Mr. Moedanton’s idea to have mAAN in the process was to support the preservation of the historic structure as well as to explore its possibilities and potentials. Its potentials could be something that extends beyond the boundary of the brief (as a cement museum), the ‘monument’ can be something closely related to the immediate surrounding (Indarung, or the city of Padang, or West Sumatera) or the region (as the first cement plant in Southeast Asia), or as a public space that hosts public events (such as art and cultural activities and festivals), or as a permanent home for cultural institutions. We expect that the historic structure can return as monument not only for the company but a general public. 

The idea of having a workshop is also to hold the rush of having an instant museum. The idea is to put options after opportunities and to have a clear working plan to save the old factory. The workshop can serve as a moment to rethink and reformulate the potentials of the structure, as well as an opportunity for many learning to handle a very unlikely opportunity. To have a working plan is not an easy task since this is the first attempt in Indonesia to do this kind of preservation and revitalization in such scale. Nevertheless, mAAN’s suggestion is relatively simple but it would take a long term commitment, and having a design workshop is just a small opening step. We realize that to have this idea of long term commitment can be too ambitious as it relies much on supports from all over; the management, local government institutions, local communities, as well as professionals. However, we cannot afford missing the opportunity.

The Padang Cement Factory Revitalization Workshop

Within only two months of preparation, we managed to propose early steps and initiated an international workshop as the beginning. We open a call for participation to our network, and gathered the biggest crowd in a single mAAN workshop; more than 80 participants coming from 5 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, India), 11 unit masters (from Indonesia, India, Korea, and Singapore), 6 steering committee, 5 organizing crew and more than 15 speakers and observers (from 5 different countries) flocking around the factory plant for 10 days.

We invited prominent young professionals and professors as unit masters. In total we had 12 unit masters working in 9 units: Achmad Tardiyana, Adi Purnomo, Eko Prawoto, Lee Sangyun, Tsuto Sakamoto, Widjaja Martokusumo, Suwardana Winata, Amritha Ballal, Suditya Sinha, Moulshri Joshi, and Manoj Mathur.

Upon receiving the brief and inspecting the site, they were required to present their insights or ideas about the site in front of all participants. And the participants were given opportunity to choose accordingly.

We also had a number of speakers giving presentations about specific subjects. Mr. Deng Kunyan, the sponsor and initiator of the 2004 Shanghai workshop, sharing his experiences on managing and developing his own ex-industrial sites in Shanghai. Dr. Jan af Geijerstam presented an introductory notes about the architectural and historical significance of ex-industrial sites, and discussing the non-european context of industrial heritage sites. Eka Budianta and Nirwono Joga took turn explaining the landscape rehabilitation development plan of the Indarung factory plant. Andre Moedanton highlighted his initial ideas along with a brief history of the plant. However, yet, we began with so little information. Apart from the information given by Mr. Moedanton, we hardly found anything written about the history of the plant, not to mention about the details on machinery and structures inside the precinct. Therefore the first few days were crucial for the participants, they spent hours to understand the site and the context accordingly to the unit masters’ directions as well as our technical references from PT. Semen Padang. Some of the speakers were taking the chance to look up the factory’s archive and interviewing senior employees.

The Proposals

All nine units had demonstrated distinct approaches and exercises. Some had given deep thoughts about the industrial ruins and what can be done about the ‘leftover’ spaces. Some had went beyond the factory site and engaging social and cultural issues. Some concentrated on how to preserve and also to demonstrate cement production activities that once was the life of the site.

Unit Tsuto Sakamoto was centered on preserving and introducing public access into the old factory. Some spaces inside the factory were developed as ‘secret gardens’. Unit Sakamoto views the site can be potentially developed as ‘open air museum’ using the remaining authentic object and some necessary addition. New programs might be introduced to support the site as a cement museum as well to enhance the idea of the ‘secret  garden’.

Unit Adi Purnomo’s approach traced the existing running water stream under the site. The old factory was utilizing the water supply brought by a long running pipeline from uphill. Once a vital resource needed by the cement production, the unit thinks it is possible and important to create and manage water bodies before imposing programs. Water and the existing space (as well as the contour) can be developed to create boundaries, directions, visual tricks, as well as to supply landscaping. Water in the site seems to be the first issue to be considered as it causes erotion and corrotion to the site.

Unit Suwardana Winata considers the old factory as a sculptural monument to be protected and viewed as an object. Therefore, instead of having elaborate proposal about the old factory, the unit proposes  a minimal interventions by introducing programs and creates a gigantic protective shed covering the main factory site.

Unit Widjaja Martokusumo works mostly on programs based on the unit’s spatial understanding of the site. For the unit, the spatial structure of the site consists of four layers. Those four layers are potentially developed into specific themes and purposes, as well as combined to create an architectural tour for visitors. The first/ bottom layer can offer a tour on cement making process. The second offers interesting experience walking in spaces between kilns. The third layer, at the entry level, offer open spaces for observations. The fourth layer takes visitors to the highest platforms and offers green spaces as well as views to the surrounding area.

Unit Eko Prawoto was not attempting to approach the development from masterplanning, but begun with surveying nature and local craftmanship potentials from the surrounding area. The unit sees the site to be developed as a rehabilitation site, it should ‘pay back’ the debt to the environment and local surrounding. Therefore the old factory site is perceived  as a ‘showcase’/ ‘exhibition space’ for local potentials; natural preservation, local commodities, home industries, etc.

Unit Suditya Sinha & Amritha Ballal imagines possible future scenarios for the factory. The unit sees that there are four different programs can be developed inside the old factory: nature and recreation, arts and cultural activities, research and education, history/ memory. The unit’s main contribution to the workshop lies on its inventory on spatial qualities from inside the old factory site. The inventory would enable dynamic development of the site; allow permanent/ non-permanent activities as well as events to take place inside. This approach allows the site to grow and evolve ‘naturally’ accordingly to situations, and not to be limited by a rigid masterplanning.

Unit Moulshri Joshi & Manoj Mathur approaches the physical planning from children’s perspective.  The unit’s process involved children living outside the precinct of the factory to perceive the site and the old factory from their imaginations. The unit took the children for a tour into the factory and asked them to play together. After getting familiar with each other and the factory, the unit helps the children to develop ideas and programs about the future development of the factory.

Unit Sangyun Lee surveyed the existing old factory and came up with a listing of spaces inside the factory. In a way it is similar to Unit Suditya/ Amritha, the different is that this unit spent more time in studying and listing physical (and visual) qualities of spaces as well as building types and access meticulously. This unit’s proposal concentrates on programs that are considered fit and appropiate for the spaces. The programs and the site were perceived metaphorically as a ‘zoo’, consisting of permanent exhibits/ collections, temporary exhibits, general facilities, and circulation/ access.

Unit Achmad Tardiyana defines the site as two different areas: the preserved area and the supporting area. The unit allows interventions into the preserved area as long as it supports the main function as a museum: enabling access for visitors into the factory as well as to support the narative of cemen making process and the history of the factory/ industrialization of the region. The preserved area is perceived an interactive museum, where the visitors will be following of the cement making process with their own body. It means that visitors

The Post-Workshop Recommendations

By the end of the workshop, mAAN recommends few points to the owner, PT. Semen Padang, regarding necessary early steps toward the preservation of the old factory and the establishment of a museum dedicated to national cement industry. Firstly, mAAN thinks that it is very important that the owner to establish and to appoint a special committee who will compose the plans of revitalization works. The committee should be appointed with a clear, specific, and professional individual engagements/ contracts. The committee will work until March 2010 with its main task to establish long-term programs and legal working standings. The committee will also recommend strategic efforts should be made and coordinate with the appointed professionals for the centennial commemoration of the factory.

The workshop suggests that the old factory (Indarung 1) is projected to be a new arts and cultural center in West Sumatera. Therefore it is important to stress that Indarung 1 Revitalization is not simply a renovation and temporary physical restoration but it is also a continuous effort that needs continuous support and attention from the owner of the facility. Based on that point, mAAN recommends PTSP to establish/ to appoint a legal body who will manage the Indarung 1 site development for the long run. For example; to set up a foundation (non-profit body) or an independent company (private limited). mAAN also recommends the owner to regularly use the old factory site for any ceremonial and public/ social events, to promote the site as  a new center for social cultural activities. mAAN released a general summary taken from the 9 proposals produced by the workshop as a consideration for all decisions to be made in the future.

Padang Earthquake

Just within a couple of months after the workshop, by the end of September 2009, Padang and West Sumatera was hit by a 7.6 Richter earthquake. The scale of the disaster was among the worst in Indonesia since the tsunami that hit Aceh in 2004. With the death toll reached 1100 within the region,  the city of Padang suffered the most. Major building collapsed, thousands lost their homes. It was difficult to contact everyone during few days since the first hit as communication and electricity were down.

Fortunately everyone we know and the factory were reported relatively unharmed. However the disaster seems to change a lot of things. Since then all efforts were focussed to rebuild the city and the region. Aids and social workers were helping reconstructing houses, schools, and religious buildings. It was like Padang having a clean sheet to build over. Therefore anything related to preserving an old factory was no longer relevant to the situation.

After Padang: Bogor

Despite the unfulfilling results, it seems the workshop method was well acknowledged by many, more that we previously imagined. Some thinks that the workshop is a way to introduce a good professional conduct as well as academic considerations into the public. It can be very supportive for public initiative causes working on a public agenda involving a lot of stakeholders, especially bridging government bodies, public institutions, and local communities. Therefore the object and subject matter of the workshop can be a simple structure, a historic building, a building complex, a park, as well as a city. The subject can range from our core discipline, architecture, as well as engaging others such as urban planning, urban management, conservation and preservation, archaeology and history, landscape architecture, art and designs, museology, anthropology, biology, etc.

A group of heritage activist from the city of Bogor was delighted with the idea of the workshop as its program. The group, Bogor100, focuses on helping and promoting public awareness on preserving the Bogor Botanical Garden and Bogor city center, finds the workshop can help and empower local young activists as well as public officials to learn more about methods, perspectives, and creative approaches in dealing with urban planning and conservation issues. This activist group mainly concerns about the way Bogor was developed recently, by  sacrificing many of its urban historical structure and infrastructure, which in turn threathen the very existence of the Botanical Garden as its historic green core. Uncontrolled physical development in the city center was causing water and air pollution which is threatening the Botanic Garden’s precious collections, as well as sacrificing the public facilities and spatial qualities along the town center area.

The aim of the workshop is to map problems and potentials surrounding urban physical/ environmental development and urban social management, and to relate those problems/ potentials with the existence of Bogor Botanical Gardens as the ‘natural green’ core of the city. The workshop was also to propose programmatic solutions to help revitalizing several historic buildings inside the Garden; including the historic Treub Laboratory and a former director’s house. The Bogor Botanical Garden can be viewed as a strategic spot, as the research and development body, that historically helped the changing landscape of the colonized countries during colonial period. The laboratory was where experiments on agricultural commodities were tested and developed before being exchanged within the network of botanic gardens across the globe. The workshop tries to highlight those aspects and proposes creative solutions and improvements which lead to specific aims. Bogor100’s intention is to have the public informed about the importance of the Garden for Bogor’s urban ecosystem and also for the communities. Bogor100 also acts as an open forum that enables stakeholders, institutions and communities, to discuss current problems and ideas for Bogor’s development.

For this workshop, Bogor100 collaborated with several institutions and non-governmental communities; Bogor Botanical Gardens, P4W – LPPM IPB, Landscape Department of Bogor Institute of Agriculture, and Kampoeng Bogor community and mAAN. The event was held for 7 (seven) days in the Botanical Garden; in the historic Guest House (former director’s residence) and the historic Treub Laboratory. Overall, there were more than 30 participants coming from the National University of Singapore, the University of Malaya, Bogor Institute of Agriculture, Bandung Institute of Technology, Pelita Harapan University, Petra Christian University and young fresh graduates and local volunteers.

Several speakers were invited to share revelant information for the participants; Prof. Johannes Widodo (National University of Singapore) spoke about World Heritage and UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards, accompanied by several good preservation practices; Prof. Lai Chee Kien (the National University of Singapore) discussed the role and history of the botanical gardens around Southeast Asia; Prof. Yahaya Ahmad (University of Malaya, Malaysia) shared his experience dealing with Penang and Malacca maintaining their World Heritage Site status; Dr. Ernan Rustiadi (P4W IPB) shared his research on Bogor current economic development and urban/ regional planning; Setiadi Sopandi illustrated Bogor’s urban morphology and architecture; Dr. Kuswata Kartawinata (Bogor Botanical Garden, UNESCO) shared his knowledge about the history of Bogor Botanical Gardens; Dr. Siti Nurisyah (Landscape Dept. IPB) talked about landscape architecture documentation and survey; and Dr. Dedy Darnaedi (Bogor Botanical Gardens) discussed the garden’s role as nature conservation site.

The results were very interesting. A unit headed by Prof. Yahaya Ahmad formulates buffer zones (which should be reinterpret into urban planning guidelines/ conservation zoning policy) and linkages of the Bogor Botanical Gardens, as it is prepared to be listed as a World Heritage site. Unit Prof. Lai Chee Kien looked into the role of two rivers passing through the city center and how the current development ignores them. The ignorance caused problems of flooding, water pollution, diminishing urban spatial identity as well as other environmental hazards. Unit Adi Purnomo (architect, based in Bogor) deals with creative simple and experimental ideas on how to utilize Bogor high percipitation as potential benefit for the Jabodetabek megapolitan region. Unit Avianti Armand (architect/ writer, based in Jakarta) surveys and rethinks the boundaries of the Botanical Garden, the only element that separates the Garden and the city. The unit sees and tries to reformulate the boundary walls as the last stronghold of the Garden, as a center for tropical botanical biodiversity conservation, from the ills of a developing city. Unit Widjaja Martokusumo (Bandung Institute of Technology) prescribes creative programming and revitalization plans on how to use old structures and existing condition in the Botanical Garden. Unit Rahman Wijaya (landscape architect, based in Bogor) tries to propose a package/ program/ trail for tourists to the Botanical Garden so it can help reduce the use of private transportation inside the city center.

Muntok

Apart from establishing a new tradition for architects and architectural students, the next challenge for mAAN (in Indonesia) is about how to bring all ideas and strategies forward. However opportunities are equal to pre-requisites; a host institution/ body that is interested to the public cause and has the capability to execute strategic moves, individuals supportive to the cause, a manageable scale of context and intervention, supports from local communities/ different stakeholders, a considerable fund that enables the first few exemplary steps.

mAAN Indonesia next move is on a small mining town located at the western tip of Bangka Island. The national tin mining company, PT. Timah (Persero) Tbk., invited mAAN to cooperate running a program dedicated for the city of Muntok. The program concerns with the current situation of Muntok.

Muntok is located around 2.5 hours drive from Pangkal Pinang, the capital of the Bangka-Belitung province, or around 3 hours ferry journey from Palembang, another provincial capital. The origin can be traced back before 18th century as an enclave for Malay royal descendants, and played an important role in political currents of the Malay Kingdoms. Its proximity with the Palembang, Musi river, and its location in the Bangka channel had established Mentok as an important port city harboring ships and people from abroad. We could easily placed Mentok within the historic maritime connections with Malay peninsula important centers (Johor, Siantan, Malaka, Singapore) as well as Javanese and Sumatran Kingdoms. Apart from the strategic location, Bangka and Belitung islands are located at the south end of the so-called Southeast Asia Tin Belt. The rich deposit of tin had established Mentok (and Bangka and Belitung islands) further as one of the most important cities since as early as late 18th century. The mining activities in the area had begun even before the colonial period. This area produced and processed tin as export commodity. And it was all started in Mentok. The island's landscape was totally changed since the Dutch (and the British) began massive industrialization by tin exploration both on Bangka and Belitung. The Dutch brought Chinese from Fujian as mining coolies/ laborers, mainly Hakka. They had been there since then, with hard livelihood and interactions with other ethnic groups - Malay, Bugis, etc. -, established a very distinct composition of society. Since early 19th century, Mentok has become home base for tin mining explorations and important hub for export commodities. Modern infrastructures as well as urban development had turned Mentok as a modern colonial city; along with the development of the ethnic enclaves (houses, religious structures, markets, graveyards), new building types (hospital, civic centers, offices, institutional buildings), new types of urban spaces (streets, parks, modern harbor front). For sometime, Mentok is also famous for its pepper cultivation. It makes Mentok already deeply linked to the global economic dynamics for more than 150 years. Even, now, pepper for local population is a very good currency. People can keep pepper for months and sell it during price hike, or even trade it with another commodities. The area was also associated with Indonesia’s national independence struggle after the World War 2. Many nationalist leaders, including the first President and Vice President of the Republic, were stationed in Mentok during the exile.

However, despite the important events that signifies Mentok, fate also leads to the downside of industrial and urban development. Apart from the ups and downs of global economic situations, recently the exploration finally reached a point that it caused environmental problems. Ages of wealth, occupations and political intricacies had led the island towards a massive environmental disaster. On the island level, deep pits as well as open mining transformed the natural landscape into a vast mining landscape, polluting the soil and the water and leaving the land bare. After the land mine exploration cost went skyrocketing, the exploration had been focused on the water. Using dredgers extensively, a ship designed to collect tin from the shore, the environmental destruction had actually moved to the sea. The scale of exploitation went up and down for decades. The tin mining company, PT Timah, once held the monopoly of exploration, now is no longer the only dominant tin mining operator on the island. Some smaller companies are also permitted to exploit, and even groups of people manage to exploit lands and waters illegally. Some costly-rehabilitated ex-mining surfaces were even re-exploited illegally.

As for Mentok, political instabilities and shifts during the 20^th century added to the uncertainties for future development of the town. The establishment of Pangkal Pinang as the province capital had frozen Mentok’s development, leaving the once important center as a declining urban backwater. Development of infrastructure halted, leaving the town without a vision. Due to the lack of coherent planning, Mentok is now facing several environmental threats; the danger of water drainage system failure, the rising tide level, waste management plan, illegal squatters, and the deteriorating heritage buildings and structures. Lacking appropriate infrastructures and facilities, Mentok youngsters go to the bigger cities looking for better educations, careers, and future opportunities. Poor migrants encroach into squatters in the old cities due to the remains of the wealth. This situation directly impact to the declining livelihood of Mentok. The town life is almost over by mid-day. Evenings and weekends in Mentok are silent.

The stakeholders of the city; public officials, people on the streets, the mining company's employees, cultural activists, senior citizens, local artists, craftsmen, etc.; had been longing for changes in Muntok for sometime. Therefore, the company (PT. Timah) sees mAAN workshop can play a significant role by seizing the momentum and providing a ‘neutral’ platform of cooperation between the stakeholders. The program includes a 7-day workshop as the starter and followed by several other activities. The workshop is trying to map the problems and issues, and relates them in terms of urban and architectural planning. Therefore the workshop has a good chance to provide a channel which the discipline of architecture, urban planning, and designs can provide ideas, projections, and solutions on how to bring up public life back again by architecture; historic preservations and urban development. These speculations are expected to bring about the local communities' awareness, pride, and hope back about the city. This workshop also considers the available but dormant assets owned by the company in the city can be developed as triggers to social and cultural activities in the near future.

The workshop consists of two parts. Workshop 1 is a short-research/ seminar aiming at 're-reading' the history of the tin mining industry in Mentok in particular, and its extend to the whole island, and valuating the current status of the city of Mentok, about its potential resources and its immediate future. This part was taking place between 18-22 July 2011. Few researchers from different backgrounds were invited to come together and conducted a 2-3 days excursion and research. They are Prof. Johannes Widodo (NUS), Prof. Lai Chee Kien (NUS), Prof. Widjaja Martokusumo (ITB), Prof. Ahmad Rida Soemardi (ITB), and Dr. Jan Af Geijerstam (University of Gothenburg, Sweden).

Workshop 2 was the 'usual' mAAN design workshop, but with special focus on developing ideas about urban interventions in the tin town of Mentok. The workshop was held between 21-28 July 2011. The intention of the design workshop is to incite creative and fresh ideas to revitalize and bring changes to the town. The 'projects' can be assumed as a massive public urban redevelopment or a new proposal for urban development & management by the authority, a company social responsibility program or simply small local community initiatives/ participations. It can be simply an effort or system that responds to the challenges and briefs set by the workshop 1. The designs/ project ideas pursued in the workshop can be aimed at particular buildings or building-complex, particular neighborhood, as well as any plots/ historic structures and street/ urban  spaces (i.e. the harbor, fish market, Chinese quarter, the city center, the river, Malay quarter, etc.), or Mentok city as a whole.

Appointed unit masters freely choosen the site and the context to their respective ideas. The designs and creative proposals are expected to be something that creatively respond and enrich the brief. Inputs and circumstances given by the stake holders and local references can be considered as a design assumption as well as starting point of discussion or criticism. The result will serve as (1) an exemplary of how Mentok can be developed, (2) a promotion for save guarding Mentok's historical monuments and sites, (3) a promotion for building people's awareness on their own urban environment, (4) a way to open linkages between Mentok's urban stakeholders. The unit masters were all practicing architects: Adi Purnomo (Bogor), Ahmad Djuhara (Jakarta), Oky Kusprianto (Bandung), Yulianti Tanyadji (Makassar), and Yu Sing (Bandung). The results will be published into a book and video presentation.

Apart from the workshop, a team of architects (Abang Winarwan, Setiadi Sopandi, Rendy Aditya, etc.) has been working on the documentation of the ex-Banka Tin Winning (BTW) headquarter (1915). The ex-BTW building, the first tin mining office building in Indonesia, is one of the most important asset of PT. Timah (Persero) Tbk. in Muntok and it has served as one of Muntok’s landmarks. Being abandoned for quite sometime, now the owner begins to see the building as a potential trigger spot for future development. The building itself is now under restoration and going to be reuse as a museum (dedicated specifically as a showcase for the development of mining technology, as well as for Muntok history) and a center for public and cultural activities. The building restoration is expected to be finished next year and consequently followed by a number of art and cultural programs. However the extensive work on the physical planning of the building precinct might need longer to be really effective, along with other programs.