The Manifesto

  Growing up in Solo and Jogjakarta, the distinct Indonesian architecture style, Jengki, has been familiar to us. Stemming from the word “Yankee,” Jengki is a combination between traditional Indonesian architecture and international modern mid-century houses, particularly American. It became well-known post-independence during the late 40s to the late 50s.

First built by the Indonesian upper classes, the jengki style was soon adopted by larger masses due to its unique style and difference from the standard style of the houses that were popular back then. After suffering from 350 years of colonization by the Dutch, Jengki was seen as the symbol of anti-colonialism. The architects at the time no longer wanted to follow the colonial way of building houses. As a result, they began to experiment with the shape of the building. From there, houses started to take on more playful forms with asymmetrical and tilted details (windows, roofs, walls, etc.). Apart from its political messages, the Jengki style was also seen as an expression of freedom that Indonesian experienced post-independence.

It is our mission to remind today’s audience of this post-independence spirit. In those days, freedom of expression and speech was valued. Whereas now, we think that people in Indonesia are more rigid and uniform. We want this collection to inspire the original intentions behind Jengki: independence and freedom of expression.

  We believe that to create a more personalized touch in their everyday styling, we need to make the pieces transformable and versatile. For example, you can transform the pants into an arm warmer and the jumpsuit into sarong pants. As a result, the wearer should feel more self-assured about their outfit.

At the end of the day, Jengki houses are monuments that celebrate freedom. Regarding the fact that after Independence Day, all the Indonesian people finally could live comfortably in their own house – Indonesia.