Journal of Social Sciences 10 (2): 63-73, 2014 ISSN: 1549-3652 ©2014 Science Publication doi:10.3844/jsssp.2014.63.73 Published Online 10 (2) 2014 (http://www.thescipub.com/jss.toc) Corresponding Author: Atiek Suprapti, Department of Architecture, Diponegoro University Semarang, Indonesia 63 Science Publications JSS THE TRADITION OF LIVING OF MUSLIM COMMUNITY KUDUSKULON Atiek Suprapti, Agung BudiSardjono, H. Arnis Rochma and N.F. Yasmina Department of Architecture, Diponegoro University Semarang, Indonesia Received 2013-12-28; Revised 2014-06-22; Accepted 2014-07-07 ABSTRACT The northern coast of Java island Indonesia inherited old cities that hold important role in the spread of Islam. It has a strong correlation with the legend of Walisanga that were acted around the 16th century. The Ancient city of Kudus plays an important role in spreading Islam in the coastal line of Java. Kudushas witnessed the glory of the first Islamic Sultanate in Java. Sunan Kudus was very skillful in transforming Hindu teachings into Islamic teachings. They developed a settlement on the west side of Gelis River, thus the name “Kudus Kulon” (West Kudus). The social-economy independence of Kudus makes it relatively stable to change. The ethnical dynamics of coastal cities have major influence in the Muslim settlement in Kudus Kulon, this is visible from, among them, the building orientations and the spatial arrangement. However, the pressure of modernization-capitalization of the surrounding neighborhood results to several changes. This review is necessary considering the tradition of living of the Muslim community in that city has been here for centuries and has been the identity of the environment. The research will contribute to enrich to the architectural theory especially for a place of local wisdom. The locus of this research is in KampungKauman Kudus Kulon. The research method is historical and ethnographic. The purpose of this research is to understand the theme of tradition of living in the Muslim community of Kudus Kulon. The result of the research is the four concepts include: (1) Center and Orientation, (2) Controlled access; (3) Space of agreements; and (4) High level privacy. The changes that happen in the elements that fill the spaces caused by the shift of idealism as a result of the demanding situation. This result is beneficial to the strengthening of the local identity. Keywords: Tradition of Living, Settlement, Kudus Kulon 1. INTRODUCTION The Northern Coastal area of island of Javais written in the history as the entrance gate for any cultural influence from outside of Java (Wertheim, 1999). One of the very significant influences is the Islamic teaching brought here by the merchants of India, Persia and China. One of the criteria that is phenomenal in that particular history is the act of Walisanga (nine saint) in the process of spreading Islam. The propaganda in Central Java reached its climax in the 15th century with the erection of Demak Sultanate, which was the first Islamic Kingdom in Java. Demak-Jepara-Kudus were the areas with very important roles in the series of Islamic propaganda in Java (Wertheim, 1999; Tjandrasasmita, 2000; Lombard, 2005). The acculturation process which then became the way in for Islam in Java was then known as “Javanese Islam” (Qurtuby, 2003). Muslim settlement is marked with the following functions: Household settlements, markets, madrasah (Islamic school) and prominent mosques or religious buildings (Ekomadyo, 1999). The life of coastal community is more open to creating relationship with outer circle and is familiar with trading activities, making the economy life more prosperous (Suprapti, 2008; Suprapti and Budihardjo, 2010; Suprapti, 2012). The life of economy-social-cultural-religious seem to stand out more among the synergy of business success that is based on familiarity, that is allocated to support religious propaganda and combined with prosper social