PUBLIC SPACE OF SURAKARTA PALACE SQUARE AS A SACRED AND PROFANE ARCHITECTURAL MEANINGImam Santoso, Bambang Setioko, Edward Endrianto Pandelaki and Atiek SoepraptiAbstract One of the parts of Javanese palace which is integrated and inseparable is the square. Surakarta Palace complex owns two squares, namely Alun-alun Lor and Alun-alun Kidul. The existence of the square as part of the spatial structure in Surakarta palace complex becomes the philosophical axis of Sangkanparaningdumadi, which has a transcendental meaning related to human life. This philosophy denotes that human beings must always take into account where they were originated from and where they will end. In Javanese spiritual understanding, the north (lor) and south (kidul) represent the powers of the afterlife. The north represents heaven and the south represents hell. They also represent an imaginary straight line to the south coast as well as a spatial structure pattern influenced by the cosmological concept of Javanese Hindu society. In the past, the space in Alun-Alun Kidul was closed, had high privatization, and served as a place for rituals of silence and contemplation of the king. The method utilized in this study is a phenomenological descriptive approach, referring to grounded theory that does not apply the term population but emphasizes more on social situations consisting of four elements, namely place, activity, person (actor), and time. The results of the study indicated the existence of public spaceâs sacred-profane meaning in space transformation of Surakarta Palace Square. The sacred-profane space includes: sub-concept, nature of space, and concept category. Space is utilized for activities according to its spatiality and time. And, the physical order pattern remains in a fixed form with slight changes in the meaning of space function and behavior. |