Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Citizenship and the Good Life
- 2 Spaces of the Prudent Self
- 3 The Biopolitics of Sexuality and the Hypothesis of an Erotic Art: Foucault and Psychoanalysis
- 4 Elective Spaces: Creating Space to Care
- 5 Interpreting Dao (道) between ‘Way-making’ and ‘Be-wëgen’
- 6 Constructing Each Other: Contemporary Travel of Urban-Design Ideas between China and the West
- 7 A Tale of Two Courts: The Interactions of the Dutch and Chinese Political Elites with their Cities
- 8 Urban Acupuncture: Care and Ideology in the Writing of the City in Eleventh-Century China
- 9 The Value and Meaning of Temporality and its Relationship to Identity in Kunming City, China
- 10 Junzi (君子), the Confucian Concept of the ‘Gentleman’, and its Influence on South Korean Land-Use Planning
- 11 Home Within Movement: The Japanese Concept of Ma (間): Sensing Space-time Intensity in Aesthetics of Movement
- 12 The Concept of ‘Home’: The Javanese Creative Interpretation of Omah Bhetari Sri: A Dialogue between Tradition and Modernity
- Afterword
- Index
- Publications / Asian Cities
12 - The Concept of ‘Home’: The Javanese Creative Interpretation of Omah Bhetari Sri: A Dialogue between Tradition and Modernity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Citizenship and the Good Life
- 2 Spaces of the Prudent Self
- 3 The Biopolitics of Sexuality and the Hypothesis of an Erotic Art: Foucault and Psychoanalysis
- 4 Elective Spaces: Creating Space to Care
- 5 Interpreting Dao (道) between ‘Way-making’ and ‘Be-wëgen’
- 6 Constructing Each Other: Contemporary Travel of Urban-Design Ideas between China and the West
- 7 A Tale of Two Courts: The Interactions of the Dutch and Chinese Political Elites with their Cities
- 8 Urban Acupuncture: Care and Ideology in the Writing of the City in Eleventh-Century China
- 9 The Value and Meaning of Temporality and its Relationship to Identity in Kunming City, China
- 10 Junzi (君子), the Confucian Concept of the ‘Gentleman’, and its Influence on South Korean Land-Use Planning
- 11 Home Within Movement: The Japanese Concept of Ma (間): Sensing Space-time Intensity in Aesthetics of Movement
- 12 The Concept of ‘Home’: The Javanese Creative Interpretation of Omah Bhetari Sri: A Dialogue between Tradition and Modernity
- Afterword
- Index
- Publications / Asian Cities
Summary
Abstract
People build houses mainly because of climactic conditions, especially conditions that would not otherwise support human activities. It is because of the houses we build for shelter that human activities can continue despite these adverse conditions. In the Javanese concept, a house or home is a symbolic unity, a symbol of status, and a practical thing. A home in Javanese philosophy shows a dialogue with its owner, responding to changes in time and technology. One's values, and how they grow and change over time, are represented in the changes to a home. A home does not just mean a house to live in, but is also an expression of jati diri (the character of the owner), as well as an expression of social relations within society. Because of this, as the owner's needs change, so too will the home. Home is sometimes defined as domestic life, but it can also be a way of understanding the philosophy of the Javanese way of life, particularly with regard to space and its interaction with the Javanese understanding of a cosmic system. The concept of home in Javanese culture can be expressed through ornament and the structure of the building. It is inspired by feeling, taken from reason, belief, religious values, and magi (supernatural power).
Keywords: home, Javanese architecture, tradition, modernity
Introduction
The discourse on home, house, and family is an interesting subject matter in the philosophy of humanism, architecture, society, culture, and life. Every society defines a home, house, and/or family in various ways. Asian and Western cultures generally have different perspectives in defining and understanding these concepts. A number of dictionaries define ‘home’ and ‘house’ in different ways. For example, a ‘home’ is the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or a household. Meanwhile, a ‘house’ means a building for human habitation, especially one that is lived in by a family or small group of people. The word ‘home’ focuses on human existence in the world; it indicates that human beings have an important role in giving meaning to human existence on the earth. The term ‘home’ also has deep meaning within Javanese society.
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- Ancient and Modern Practices of Citizenship in Asia and the WestCare of the Self, pp. 259 - 272Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018