The Jakarta Tower (Menara Jakarta) is a partially-built tower in Jakarta, Indonesia. If completed, it will stand tall up to the antenna and would be the tallest freestanding tower in the Southern Hemisphere. In Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, work was initially started in 1997, but was halted by the Asian economic crisis. As of 2015, the project is still on hold.
History
The Suharto regime intended Jakarta Tower to be the tallest structure in the world. International architecture design firms were invited to propose designs for the structure. The design itself should represent Trilogi Pembangunan (government's national development philosophy), Pancasila (the national philosophy, which consists of five factors), and August 17 (Indonesia's independence day). The winning design was created by Murphi/Iohn from the United States. However, since the design was too costly to develop, the government opted the runner-up design by East China Architecture Design & Research Institute (ECADI), who created the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower in China.
The development of the tower was initially developed by Sudwikatmono, Prajogo Pangestu and Henry Pribadi, operated by the company, PT Indocitra Graha Bawana. Its cost was estimated around US$400 million (at that time, around Rp 900 billion).
Originally, the Jakarta Tower was to be built in the Kuningan area, but Soerjadi Soedirdja, the Governor of Special Capital District of Jakarta at that time, did not agree, and proposed to build it in the Kemayoran area that was still underdeveloped.
Design companies of international calibre architecture were invited to participate in the design contest of architecture for this building. The provisions of this contest were that this building must contain the symbol of the Trilogy of the Development, Pancasila (the five basic Principles of Republic of Indonesia) and on August 17 (the Republic of Indonesia independence day declaration). The design and the scale model of the tower were shown to the Secretary of State, Moerdiono (at that time) as Chairman of Organizer Agency and the Development of the Bandar Kemayoran Baru in the Secretariat of the Country.
In 1996, this contest was won by Murphi/Jahn from the United States. Only, because this design was too expensive to be developed, then the government chose the design from the second winner namely East China Architecture Design & Research Institute (ECADI), that also constructive Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower in China. This ECADI design was chosen because the juries considered this design was simple and still had nuances of Asia.
The appointment of the development was carried out in 1997 by Jakarta Governor, Soerjadi Soedirdja and Secretary of State, Moerdiono after being agreed to by President Soeharto at the President's Executive Office in Jakarta. President Soeharto proposed that the name "Jakarta Tower" be replaced by "Trilogy Tower".
Tower construction began in 1997. As costs mounted, the developer sought funds from foreign investors. The total fund that was needed to around US$560m (around Rp 1.2 trillion).
Economic crisis (1997) When an economic crisis hit Asia in 1997, the Indonesian property industry fell and plenty of construction projects were either postponed or cancelled, including the Trilogy Tower. By stopping the development of this tower, the site was abandoned and became a wide puddle.
Continuation of the Jakarta Tower project (2003-present)
After the Indonesian economy began to rise again, the government of Jakarta continued the development of this tower and returned its name back to Jakarta Tower. The Jakarta Tower then was continued in 2003 went through a new consortium, namely PT Persada Japa Pamudja (PJP) that consisted of national rich businessmen.
The appointment of the development of the tower that was projected to the highest tower in the world was carried out by the Minister of the State Secretariat (the Secretary of State) Bambang Kesowo and Special Capital District of Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso on April 15, 2004.
In October 2010, Wiratman Wangsadinata, Jakarta Tower's consultant and designer, officially announced that Jakarta Tower's construction had been suspended due to lack of finance.
In July 2015, one of the largest developers in Indonesia began to marketing about 6 condominiums, 1 grade A office tower and 1 prestigious mall in town, and might remark the project as cancelled.