Javanese Architecture between Heritage and Mobility

Abstract

Houses, like other things, undergo many changes during their “lifetime”. While most of us are familiar with material and structural adaptations of buildings as well as changes in their use and market values, we are less acquainted with the fact that houses can also change their locations. In this paper, I will present the case of the joglo, the most prestigious type of Javanese vernacular architecture. Despite their status as local cultural heritage, many joglo are for sale and have been moved away from their region of origin, and some have found new “homes” in the tourism and arts and craft industries in Bali. I will explore questions arising from this phenomenon in the context of contemporary globalisation and the commodification of culture, considering in particular what place cultural heritage may still have in this dynamic and mobile environment.