"We have high expectation that the country`s architects would create iconic constructions or buildings," the minister said before addressing the Jakarta Architecture Triennale (JAT) organized by the Indonesian Architects Association (IAI) here on Saturday.
She said that many countries like Spain were visited by many tourists who just wanted to see their iconic buildings.
The minister said Indonesia should follow that trend and build iconic buildings in major cities to attract visitors so that the tourism sector would develop well.
"I think cities in Indonesia like Jakarta and Bali can become locations for the development of iconic buildings that would attract tourists," she said.
The minister said architects had grave potential to turn a place into having a good and artistic views.
"Such a design is not only for buildings but also for the planning of a good city. In the creative economic aspect we truly hope that architects would design public rooms which have a place for those who do creative business," the minister said.
The minister also called on the operators of buildings, museums and other structures to involve architects in developing their buildings.
"We need a building which emphasizes not only on its function but also on its architecture and green-look so that the city would look interesting to tourists," she added.
She said that the roles of Indonesian architects in turning tourist destinations into having international competitive edge were not yet maximal.
The minister said that many tourist destinations in the country had yet to be managed through architectural, artistic and creative work touches.
"Jakarta as the capital city of the country and as one of the tourist gates is no exception from this problem," she noted.
Actually, there are many architects in Indonesia who have high creativity. They have been awarded international appreciation for their works.
She expressed hope that the potential of the architects would be optimized as one of the 15 creative industrial sectors being developed by the government.
The minister said that the contribution of the architecture to creative industry accounted for 4.2 percent with a value of Rp9.9 trillion. Its growth is recorded at 6.8 percent, the fourth highest one among all creative industries.
The architectural sector created jobs for 36,659 workers and experienced the highest growth at 17 percent in 2010 with highest productivity if viewed from the added value it gained per annum.
(A014/B003)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
