From the 17th century to the end of World War II, the Indonesian identity was that of a Dutch colony, an extension of the Netherlands. In fact, the name for Indonesia while under the Dutch administration, Netherlands Indie, translates to "the Netherlands that lies in the Indie." Architecturally, Indonesia was not a virgin land when the Dutch came. Its architectural tradition and heritage contrasted greatly with western architecture in general, and Dutch architecture in particular. The Dutch imported their building types and construction methods to Indonesia, and in fact when colonizing bureaucracies matured, the buildings themselves were designed in the Netherlands, materials were shipped to Indonesia, and constructed under Dutch supervision (and probably at the hands of a Dutch or Chinese master mason or master carpenter) (Fig. 1). This imported architecture was consciously as similar to Neo-Classical architecture built in the Netherlands as possible.

Fig 1: The Dutch colonial style as seen in an East Javanese Bank Office in Surabaya

By the end of the nineteenth century this imported European style begin to influence Indonesia's traditional architecture. In the Yogyakarta and Surakarta palaces, indigenous architectural forms are juxtaposed against European styles. (Fig. 2) Still more extreme an example, The Royal Cemetery of Sumenep Sultanate, built in the mid-19th century, was completely European in style. How European architecture entered the 'center and peak of javanese culture' is still in debate. A more revealing question might be what influenced the king's or sultan's decision to allow European styles to infiltrate traditional design so much? Certainly the wholesale adoption of European architecture may suggest an acceptance of cultural inferiority by the sultan, or possibly an architectural message and exemplar of how two architectural sources (local and European) meet.

Fig 2: Grand Pavillion of Mangkunegara Palace, Surakarta. Notice the european pediment as the portico of this Pavillion

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