Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Gedung Sate #1: The Front View (Northern Facade)

GEDUNG SATE #1 copyrights Eki Akhwan

Since I started this blog, I have mentioned "Gedung Sate" (the name of West Java Gubernatorial office mansion) quite a few times, but I have never really posted a photo that shows what it looks like in whole. The reason for this is that I did not feel that I had a decent enough photo of it that would do justice to depict its beauty. (I did have quite a number of Gedung Sate photos, but none of them were really as decent as this one.)

Gedung Sate (literally means: skewered barbeque building) is considered to be the quintessential landmark of the city of Bandung for its unique architecture, its historical significance in the development of the city, and the function it serves today (it is the seat of the governor of West Java Province, of which Bandung is the capital city). The name itself refers to the "sate" like structure on top of its tiered roof.

I'm going to share with you its history and its unique architectural features as I post more photos of its different parts tomorrow. For now, here is Gedung Sate's northern facade (frontal view) as seen from Jalan Diponegoro (Diponegoro Street).

6 comments:

Jane Hards Photography said...

I love the translation of the building's name. Bandung really ahs got an eclectic mix of architecture. Looking forward to the other images of such wonderful building.

Virginia said...

Skewered barbeque ??? Sounds like Alabama! Can't wait to see more of this lovely building. The architecture reminds me of the islands in the Caribbean here. Very lovely.

Horsoon said...

I like this blog; good photos and good stories! Keep it up mate!

Unknown said...

Awesome building! I understand why you wanted to make justice to the architecture. Very nice photo, Eki!

Hilda said...

I'm still laughing at the name of the building! But I do love the architecture — very elegant! Looking forward to the details.

Rambling Woods said...

Eki..I always am drawn to palm trees as it makes me think of some of the places we have gone on vacation that are warm..sigh....You asked on my blog about the bird eating jelly. I do put out the 1/2 orange and jelly to try to attract the baltimore oriole as they have a beautiful song as well as that orange coloring...