Are These Typical Old Houses from Old City with a Mix of Local and Colonial Style?

There are two-storey old buildings that found in similar typical appearances in Semarang Old City Conservation Area. These buildings seem having almost similar details on its wooden roof fascia with ornamental patterns at upper floor, balcony balustrade with rich ornaments on its thin vertical members, thin steel pipe pillars around balcony and plenty of doors and windows with double wooden panels within its curved transom details over.

These buildings are found around "Blenduk" Church at Letjen Soeprapto Street and behind The "Marba Bulding at Kepodang Street. At a glance, wooden ornament details on roof and balcony fascia including its combination with clay roof appears like simplified wooden details that found on typical traditional Javanese houses. At the other side, seemingly the curved transom and plaster relief details over typical large tall windows and doors are typically found on European buildings.

An Old Building with Turquoise Accent Color

This building is attached directly behind formerly "Societeit The Harmonie" or currently known as Gedung Bank Mandiri. The building could be directly recognized by the appearance of its single lone tower with prismatic wood shingle roof on top of it. Ornamental plaster details that painted in turquoise colors at the bottom of the roof are becoming visual point of interest belong to this building.

Turquoise colors are also spreading-on other small details on its facade. Windows and doors related elements are also found in this turquoise color withhin major white background color on overall building facade. This make the building visual appearance is slightly raised-up among its surrounding neighborhood buildings. It could be said that this is one of colonial old building that makes 'Letjen Soeprapto' Street appears in colorful appearance today.

Telkom MSC Building at "Jl Letjen Soeprapto No. 7" Street, an Old Building with Sky Blue Color

The Building is situated across the street at the opposite side of another old building with red color previously described in this blog. Based on historical notes, during Dutch Colonial Era, this building also known as Koloniale Petroleum Verkoop Mij., formerly Javasche Bank. Currently the building is painted in light blue color to the entire exterior surfaces with horizontal patterns in darker blue color. This might be related with the company's corporate color.

The overall building appears in symmetrical shapes arrangement with a featured dome-like roof in the middle part. But, the existence of the main roof dome not indicate building's main entry position, since the building has twin entry doors that are place at the end sides of the building that are elaborated with the appearance of prismatic clay roofs.

Louvered windows in painted-wood within its canopy and round ventilation openings over are becoming dominant elements on the facade. As different as another old buildings at old city area, there are raised-landscaping boxes that makes the building slightly setback against pedestrian side.

An Old Building with Hot Red Lip Color

Nowadays, this building appears very prominent along "Letjen Soeprapto" Street, tha main street in the middle of Semarang Old City Conservation Area. In terms of shape, the building is generally a simple one, but the appearance of strong magenta-red color at lower half side of its facade obviously makes the overall building existence become an 'eye catching' object. I found from an online historical source that this building originally known as G.C.T. van Dorp & Co, Boekhandel en Drukkerijen, a bookstore and printing company.

This building and The ITC Building are placed side by side on the main street, but the entry facade is facing to "Branjangan" Street, an other small street. There is a interesting transition details when side facade of this building meets side facade of The ITC Building.

There are three round windows among typical rectangular windows around magenta-red color wall in the middle part of building side facade. Its combination with strong magenta-red color makes this old simple building visually appear more 'playful' in compare with surrounding old city atmosphere.