Forts with a museum function

This brochure presents recommendations with regard to the repurposing of fortresses in Indonesia as museums.

Repurposing fortresses in Indonesia

There are over 450 fortresses in Indonesia, all built within the last 600 years. Many date from the Dutch colonial period. In the context of the Shared Cultural Heritage (GCE) programme, a research project has studied various options of giving these historical structures a new lease of life. This brochure addresses the fortresses’ specific characteristics in terms of their climatological context, their (often maze-like) layout, size and accessibility. The analysis produced a series of recommendations. For example, some characteristics which on the surface seem disadvantageous can actually be turned into an advantage. Moreover, these structures are frequently part of a larger defensive system, as in the case of for instance the Defence Line of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. One of the recommendations with regard to repurposing is therefore to consider these fortresses not as isolated objects but as parts of a larger whole.

Colophon

Text: Job Pardoel, Jean Paul Corten, Arjen Kok
Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, 2016