Henri Maclaine Pont


Henri Maclaine Pont was a Dutch architect and archaeologist active in Indonesia, acclaimed for his synthesis of Javanese and western architecture. He is seen as the "father" of modern vernacular architecture of Indonesia.

Biography

Henri Maclaine Pont studied civil engineering in Delft. After graduation, he moved back to the Dutch East Indies where in 1911 he received his first major work, the design of the Semarang-Cheribon Steam Tram Company headquarters. In Semarang he set up his own firm, which was later joined by Thomas Karsten. Soon however he fell ill, and being forced to return to the Netherlands, sold the firm to Karsten, Lutjens and Steenstra Toussaint.
He lived and worked in various places in Java and studied the Javanese pre-Islamic architecture. He wrote many articles in professional journals and had a polemic with prof. Wolff Schoemaker. In 1919 he has been commissioned for the design of the Ceremonial Hall of the Bandung Institute of Technology building. The building is remarkable for the synthesis of Western technology and local architecture. In 1943, he was put in an internment camp along with the many other Europeans during the Japanese occupation, and in 1945 was brought to Australia to recover. Due to the lack in job vacancies at the Bandung Technical School, he left Indonesia in 1947 for The Hague, where he died in 1971.
His notable works also include the original Trowulan Museum and the Puh Sarang Catholic church in Kediri.