Indonesia and the Amsterdam School

The Amsterdam School (c. 1910-1930) is famous for its expressive brick architecture and richly decorated interiors. But what sources of inspiration informed these wonderous designs? This book shows how the colonial relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia, the former Dutch East Indies, profoundly shaped the style of the Amsterdam School.

Seeking inspiration for the enlivening world of beauty they hoped to create, the architects and designers of the Amsterdam School latched onto all things ‘foreign’. Of particular fascination were the objects, art forms and symbols that found their way to Europe from colonial Indonesia. Uniting the history of architecture and design and that of colonialism in Indonesia, this book revolves around the question of what happens when culture crosses the ocean.

In its attempt to answer this question, this book includes contributions by authors from both sides of that ocean – Indonesia and the Netherlands. Their essays examine buildings, objects, projects, people and processes in Indonesia and the Netherlands that tell a larger story of cultural exchange, colonial encounter and their enduring legacies.