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THE RELEVANCE OF MANGUNWIJAYA’S ARCHITECTURE FOR AUTHENTIC CHURCH ARCHITECTURE IN MARTIN HEIDEGGER’S PERSPECTIVE
Last modified: 2023-06-05
Abstract
Mangunwijaya, an architect from Indonesia said that as a work of human art, architecture is both a body and a space that expresses itself. The building must be able to symbolize the life of its inhabitants. Therefore, the building must adapt its shape to the local situation and culture. It is intended that residents feel that their home life is a comfortable and safe place but also has characteristics that do not just follow existing trends. Unfortunately, this architectural culture is slowly being abandoned for various reasons, one of which is being unable to keep up with trends. The “trend-following movement” is also felt in the construction of churches in Indonesia which have a uniform pattern and tend to be European in style. Martin Heidegger, a thinker from Germany, once criticized a way of life that is immersed in the flow of the times, lost in the crowd, and simply following trends as an inauthentic way of existence. He calls those who go with the flow as das Man and those who live authentically as Dasein. This is also very relevant for today’s church architectural style which “tends to go with the flow” and forgets the particular context in which it is located. How is the relevance of Mangunwijaya’s architectural work to the criticism of the inauthentic existence according to Heidegger in the context of church architecture in Indonesia? Through qualitative methods using literature analysis techniques and direct observation, the authors found that Mangunwijaya’s open and modest architectural works are authentic architectural works in the Indonesian context which are very close to the people. Therefore, the Mangunwijaya architectural style will be very relevant in the future, especially if there is awareness of the authenticity in the life of the church which is no longer just the Catholic Church in Indonesia, but the Indonesian Catholic Church.
Keywords
architecture, authenticity, Heidegger, Mangunwijaya