Cultural Assemblage as Genius Loci: Character Analysis of Medan City Center District

¹ Student of Magister Urban Design, School of Architecture, Planning and Policy Development, Institute Technology Bandung, Indonesia
² Assistant Professor in Urban Planning and Design Research Group, School of Architecture, Planning and Policy Development, Institute Technology Bandung, Indonesia
³ Associate Professor in Architectural Design Research Group, School of Architecture, Planning and Policy Development, Institute Technology Bandung, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: hari.hajaruddin.siregar@gmail.com

Abstract

The city of Medan was formed from a rapidly growing plantation industry in the 1800s. The area that was originally only a village called Medan Putri with a population of about 200 people slowly changed since the Dutch investors saw the prospect of tobacco plantations in this region (Sinar, 2006). The amount of manpower needed to manage the plantation resulted in the investors bringing labor from Java, China and also Tamil. Moving the central government of the Deli Sultanate to Medan in 1891 increasingly crowded Medan at that time. The Arabs, Mining, Mandailing, and Aceh began to arrive for trading purposes as Medan began to grow and become more crowded. The study focused on locating the genius loci of Medan City through tracing the historical meaning by adapting the method undertaken by Norberg Schultz in tracing the spirit of the place and genius loci. The result of the analysis shows the role of culture and economic background that plays a major role in the formation of the character of Medan City center. The city is formed from the history of the plantation industry as well as the diverse cultures that share the same attachment and goals in the economic field.