CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION TO THE CREATION OF STUDENT’S AWARENESS OF COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

Indonesia owns more than 17,000 islands and the second longest coastline in the world, which have made Indonesia one of the largest maritime countries in the world. However, such a claim does not necessarily correlate with the outcomes of maritime culture of Indonesia. While 50% of the total number of Indonesian cities is located in the coastal area, these cities are generally not well planned. Moreover, the existing studies on coastal development suggests that development of coastal cities is generally oriented towards the inland rather than on the coast. Therefore, it is not surprising if the waterfront area often experienced environmental degradation, caused by pollution, flooding, and landslide. This paper looks at how the future architects can contribute to the planning and design of coastal (urban) environment. Urban planning and design have long been part of architectural education. However, within the context of Indonesia, their implications in responding to the above mentioned environmental problems are not adequate. In fact, coastal development is too specific to be placed in the curriculum as a mandatory subject. To overcome such gap, Department of Architecture at Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) utilized the Design Studio as a venue for both students and lecturers of architecture to propose ideas on coastal urban development, using the coasts of Yogyakarta and Lasem as case studies. This paper examines the designs for coastal development proposed by students of Architectural Design Studio 5 and 7. It also describes how representative of the local residents and authorities reacted to these educational projects.