(Archive) This Shophouse Is Not For sale

Landscape of Events

The building which has served her family and the community for 50 years, evolved informally throughout the time. Not only as a live-work facility but also as a trigger of an intense and socially connected community, especially to bridge the gap between the Chinese Indonesian population and the indigenous people of the area. This gap culminated in the riots in 1998 in that property of chinese people were attacked, an unforgettable tragedy that should not reoccur in the future. What lessons can be learned through the history of a shophouse; how can critical reflection progress towards a sustainable and inclusive future?

Facing the aging population of the city and the massive urban development taking place in Indonesia, the shophouse of Devina Amelia's family is one of hundreds in the city which might be sold or replaced by massive and repetitive shophouse units. Stakeholders target on people with a higher income — widening the gap between the poor that live in the back alleys and sacrificing the values of the local communities.

Lessons learned from the context and history of this particular shophouse, the project proposes to reinvent the building by using reclaimed and existing fragments.
The strategy will occur on various scales ranging from revalue the local craftsmanship, rethink the relationship of the live-work typology and regenerate the life of the shophouse and its community in an urban context. In this way the project aims to become a prototype of how an old shophouse model could be transformed to achieve harmonically a socio-economic, cultural and environmental sustainability.