Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Characteristic of Decoration in Indonesian Traditional House - Focused Javanese Hous -

2014; Volume: 25; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.6107/jkha.2014.25.6.111

2234-3571

Do-Yeon Kim, Seo Ryeung Ju, Hye-Kyung Oh,

Cultural and Artistic Studies

The purpose of the study is to understand the unique characteristics of decoration style in traditional Javanese houses. Reviewing literature and visiting site were applied as the research method. Javanese House can be divided into three parts; roof, wall and floor. First, the roof of the traditional Javanese House is the most unique and important decorative element. The roofs are covered with roof-tiles and have clay carving ornaments on top. Usually there are no ceilings, just exposed to the oblique shape roof, which are made of wood to enable air ventilation. Joglo roof is the outstanding and representative roof type of Javanese houses. There is artistic and constructive roof structure named as tumpang sari in Joglo roof. The decoration on tumpang sari is the most colorful and symbolic ornaments. Secondly, the most unique element in the wall is the gebyok. Gebyok is made of wood and full of carved ornament, which has an artistic appearance, and also important function. The top part of doors are designed as perforated woodcarving, which give both aesthetic and ventilation purposes. Last, the stratified floor is begin with ground yard, then veranda that made from hardened clay, and main room constituted with a wood scaffold to provide air circulation and remove the humidity of the ground. The decorations of the column stand (umpak) are unique, where usually lotus flower is carved into black stone or lime stone. The outside of the buildings in Java Houses is not decorated by colors or symbols, whereas colors are only used in temples, pavilion or in royal housings. Instead they have carvings and decorations on important structural elements such as columns and beams inside. The ornaments and colors of decorations symbolize their god, ancestors and piece.