Cirebon: a residual of the ‘cosmic’

Raden, Agung Zainal Muttakin and Baniyamin, Nurhaya (2026) Cirebon: a residual of the ‘cosmic’. In: Urban-Architectural Forms of Historic Southeast Asia -The Littoral Cities. Routledge, pp. 43-61. ISBN 9781032746036

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Abstract

While morphological patterns of Southeast Asia’s cities and centers that resonate with earlier agrarian-based centers embody cosmic or semi-mandala foundations, cities of the littoral are much less evident in terms of their morphologies and relations to socioeconomic dynamism and cultural-religious foundations that had been sustained throughout the maritime era. Cirebon’s historic core form, one of the earliest city morphological and typological forms in the region, is argued to occupy the strongest and most distinctive residual of the “orthogenetic” historical form of Southeast Asia. Cirebon’s historic urban core exemplifies a residual “cosmic” city form rooted in Southeast Asia’s broader cultural and morphological traditions. Its configuration reflects a hierarchical-concentric pattern, inherited from the Majapahit civilization, and layered through subsequent Islamic influences. This chapter explores how Cirebon embodies a residual cosmological city where urban layout and cultural landscape converge around central symbolic elements, such as hills, palaces, and waterways forming a microcosm of the universe.

Item Type:	Book Chapter
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design > Department of Applied Arts and Design
Depositing User:	Nurhaya Baniyamin
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2026 19:53
Last Update:	25 Aug 2026 19:53
Queue Number:	2026-08-Q4905
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/127232

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