Elastic Space in the Interior of Indonesia’s Traditional Settlement

Elastic is an adjective that refers to something that can expand and shrink. This word expresses a dynamic and unrigid situation. In consideration of this definition, the phrase “elastic space” can be understood as a space that is expandable temporarily and can be shrunk after a period of time. People in traditional community in Indonesia, has known this nature of space since old times. This type of space is very distinct one to another and very much determined by the context of where the space is located. The case of Tengger and Osing traditional settlements are very interesting to be explored visually as well as their background process to form the elastic space. Both objects are located in the same climate but vary in understanding of character and visualizing of the elastic space. This paper will discuss the decisive elements that formed the character of space. The discussion is limited to the understanding of space containing function, shelter, humans, and their activity in understanding of Indonesia’s traditional settlement. This research is conducted in qualitative method with ethnographic and participation approach. Data mining was conducted by direct on field exploration and observation from elastic space found in Tengger and Osing community.