Everybody knows the popular hangout place for young people in South Jakarta, M Bloc Space. As one of Indonesia's creative industry collaboration centers, the presence of M Bloc Space creates a new trend in the creative economy sector, namely transforming old buildings into more contemporary ones with an artsy concept, thus attracting the attention of young people.

The success of M Bloc Space has inspired many regions in Indonesia. Many creative industry collaboration centers have emerged in the various areas included in the Bloc Space network with the concept of revitalizing old buildings into creative industry centers. The previously abandoned building has become a place for creative industry players who market local creative products to make them better known.

Generally, these old buildings are former offices with strong architecture typical of old Dutch buildings, then revitalized to be more contemporary, thus creating neat collaborations between the architecture sub-sector and various other creative economy sub-sectors.

Besides M Bloc Space, the following old buildings have been successfully revitalized to become collaboration centers for creative industries in various regions in Indonesia:

Pos Bloc Jakarta

Apart from M Bloc Space, Jakarta's creative people also have another collaboration place, Pos Bloc Jakarta. The location is on Jalan Pos No.2, Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta. This building was formerly the Post Office, now better known as Gedung Filateli Jakarta (Jakarta Philatelic Building). Revitalized in 2021, Pos Bloc Jakarta maintains the old Art Deco-style building designed by Dutch architect Van Hoytema.

The characteristics of Dutch buildings are even more pronounced if you look at the semi-circular roof with old stained glass on this building. The interior of the building carries the art and craft concept, with dark marble floors, white walls, and pillars that stand proudly. There is even a letter box left over from the Dutch era that says Brievenbus. Pos Bloc Jakarta has complete facilities for creative industry collaboration, from culture halls, creative spaces, and contemporary cafes to antique shops.

Photo: The newly revitalized JNM Bloc as a creative economy collaboration hub (Doc. JMN Bloc)

JNM Bloc

There is a collaboration center for creative economy subsectors in Yogyakarta called JNM Bloc. It is located on Jalan Prof. Dr. Ki Amri Yahya No. 1, Pakuncen, Yogyakarta. JNM (Jogja National Museum) is a gathering center for creative industry players. JNM is often the location for international exhibitions such as ArtJog, Jogja Biennale, and Kustom Fest.

Now, JNM has a new face by adding a creative space that has become a contemporary hangout place for young people in Yogyakarta. Carrying the architectural concept of adaptive reuse, JNM Bloc renovates as little as possible to maintain traces of history in the building. Several points are made colorful so they give a playful impression.

As a center for creative industry collaboration, JNM Bloc provides space for exhibitions of paintings, photos, art installations, workshops, film screenings, fashion shows, dance performances, poetry musicals, theater, magic, mime, stand-up comedy, and music concerts.

Lokananta Bloc

The Lokananta creative collaboration center was inaugurated in June 2023. It holds great significance for Indonesian music history as the first recording studio in the country. After transforming into Lokananta Bloc, Lokananta now presents a wider creative space.

The revitalization of Lokananta still maintains the typical Dutch architecture of buildings, so it focuses on adding open space. There are seven areas in Lokananta Bloc, including the Lokananta Gallery, Lokananta Recording Studio, Lokananta Live House, Lokananta Circle Park, Amphitheater Stage, F&B Retail Area, and Creative Retail Area (non-F&B).

Pos Bloc Medan

The collaboration center for creative industry players, inaugurated in October 2022, is on Jalan Pos No. 1, Medan City. Just like in Jakarta, the Pos Bloc Medan building used to be the Medan City Indonesian Post office. This classic building was designed by an engineer named Snufy in 1909 and completed around 1911.

Pos Bloc Medan has an area of around 1,200 square meters, with the main building reaching 20 meters high. The Art Deco geometric design with a unique dome is the architectural attraction of the building, which has now become a gathering center for creative people in Medan.

Fabriek Bloc

Built on an area of 13,000 square meters, Fabriek Bloc is a collaboration center for creative industry players in Padang. Located on Jalan Prof Dr. Hamka KM 9.5, Parupuk Tabing, Padang City, Fabriek Bloc is a former zinc factory area. Fabriek Bloc Padang is a creative space that displays art, culture, and entertainment. At Fabriek Bloc, there is also a performance space with a capacity of 700 people, an exhibition room, and an amphitheater for activities by creative industry players.

Pos Bloc Surabaya

The most recent revitalization of old buildings into centers of creative collaboration is Pos Bloc Surabaya. This creative industry collaboration center was inaugurated in November 2023. Pos Bloc Surabaya uses a 1.5-century-old Dutch cultural heritage building with an area of 13,950 square meters.

Unlike the others, Pos Bloc Surabaya presents a Soekarno Gallery in the form of memorabilia; apart from that, there are also items related to the post, such as stamps, old postal items, and even the motorbike used by the postman.

So, where are you interested in hanging out, Sob?

Cover: Pos Bloc is one of the gathering centers for creative industry players in Jakarta (Shutterstock/johan kusuma)