Rediscovering Jakarta’s Chinatown: Petak Enam
Petak Enam Lifestyle Space
Chinatowns all over the world are always full of life—with colors of the auspicious, the exciting, and the bustling. Jakarta’s Chinatown, however, is unique in its own way. An extensive history of colonization by the Dutch, the rich history of the Batavian—now Jakarta—and the deep-rooted mainland Chinese migrants created a kaleidoscope of wonderful, everyday settings that will keep you engaged and excited towards life itself.
You could say that everything that has happened was in the past, but it could not be more untrue, since all of the history, traditions, cultures, and people are still evident today in Glodok—a Chinatown area in the capital, and probably the most prominent Chinatown in Indonesia. But the now generations had forgotten about Glodok and Pancoran, seeing it as “old-style” and “austere” compared to the sporadic growth of modern lifestyle spaces sprouting up every corner of the city. To address the challenges, it’s here: Petak Enam.
Petak Enam is a modern yet historical lifestyle space in the form of a compound building concept located right at the heart of Glodok, situated right beside Gedung Chandra—a historic building around since the 1960s and a still-standing witness of how time and spaces warps and changes the city. Everything curated, the space caters to people in the city who wants to eat, drink, and be merry with all of its F&B tenants, retail stores, capsule hotel, badminton court, and access to historical sites around.
The Logo itself was created in reference to the splash of water, but created in an array of explosion to resemble the concept of fireworks celebration.
Chinatowns everywhere are synonymous with the color Red and Gold. Red, bearing the spirit of good vibes, and Gold, a classic representation of wealthiness and luxury. However, Petak Enam aims to be truly unique. The color Blue was added to the mix with the red to resemble the street vendors with all of their signature blue-and-red tents in the surrounding area.
Paper cut art are eminent everywhere even today for decor elements for Chinese people, and so we created digital illustrations based on the technique of paper cut art to further emphasize the Chinese feel of the whole brand.
Typography is the closest thing to human language in visuals, and so, it embodies culture. Inspired by the numerous typography of the surrounding area, we created Petak Display, a custom type for Petak Enam. The type itself is partly inspired by the architecture of the place, and it carries a certain feel of the old, but ultimately, it is something new.
The concept of “Stamp of Authenticity” is spread throughout design items to highlight the use of wooden stamps to authenticate documents in Chinese culture.
