A Study of Cultural Acculturation in Architecture: Semarang Chinatown, Indonesia

Abstract

The Semarang Chinatown is one of the Chinatowns that shows the strength of the cultural economy, diversity and multiculturalism. Economic and socio-cultural activities that form the background of spatial formations influence the development of the area both physically and non-physically, especially the exploitation of the area for recreation and tourism purposes. The result is a decrease in the physical condition of the area, both buildings and the environment. This is of course not in line with the local government's policy of establishing the Semarang Chinatown as a Historical District based on Mayor Decree No. 645/50/1992. The character of the Semarang Chinatown is the result of a cross-cultural mix of immigrants at the beginning of the formation of ethnic villages in Semarang and developed over time. The existence of cultural diversity and multiculturalism of the immigrants resulted in an architectural blend that colored the architectural formations.The focus of this research is to discuss an architectural formation in the Semarang Chinatown which has a correlation with the acculturation process. The aim of the research is to explore in depth an architectural formation of the Semarang Chinatown which is influenced by a process of acculturation of culture and reveal the background of the cultural system in the form of ideas, ideas, values, norms, regulations, and so on that influence the architectural formation of the Semarang Chinatown. This study uses a naturalistic qualitative research paradigm with a grounded theory approach and inductive qualitative methods. In this research data is grouped into four: interviews, observations, documents, audio-visual materials. The result is giving directions for Preservation of the Environment and Historic Buildings in Semarang Chinatown.