Background: Traditionally, markets in Indonesia were not just places to trade goods and services, but also a place of cultural and social exchange. In the ancient days, markets open once a week (the Javanese calendar only has 5 days in a week; Pahing, Pon, Wage, Kliwon, and Legi) because the population was not as dense as today. The day on which the market is open is known as “dina pasaran” (market day). More over, every village had their own market day. This meant that anyone from a particular village, who …

A reservoir near Jakarta has recently overly flooded and not just some flood, it raised and overflowed the dam, cracked it widely, putting up all the concrete and soil from the side reservoir, 20 meters tall, tumbling to the surrounding, which unfortunately was overcrowded with human settlements. As seen on the picture, the damage was vast and so far a hundred lives were gone, houses shattered, body parts missing, pets dead, and illness sprouted.

Since the world is now discussing about the so-called Global Economic Crisis, we thought it would be appropriate if we discussed a little bit about abandoned projects in the metropolitan. In this case, we take a look at two abandoned projects in Surabaya. What has these abandoned projects to do with global economics? Well, one of them, Adistana (the reddish tower on the right), has been abandoned since the monetary crisis that had hit Indonesia in the late 90’s. While the other project (Carrefour, right next to Adistana - on …

Malls and shopping centres have become, like it or not, an integral part of our urban lifestyle. Metropolitan cities in Indonesia such as Surabaya, and Jakarta,are basically flooded with this type of shopping facility. As shopping, and/or, mall-hopping has become a culture, some people actually spend all day in shopping centers, even consider them as family recreation facility!
As Moslems, we are obliged to pray 5 times daily, and for people who practically spend their entire day in malls, either as staff or visitor, this generates a need for Mushallas to …

On Islamic Architecture
January 15: Yarshater Lectures at SOAS Lecture, United Kingdom
January 16: Heritage Issues of Hampi,Conference India
January 21: Contemporary Arab American Art Exhibition, United States
January 23: Conservation of Biodiversity in Protected Areas: Opportunities and Challenges, Conference India
January 29: 11th International Conference on Humane Habitat (ICHH) 2009, Conference India

http://www.archnet.org/calendar/