Institut Teknologi Bandung

Banyan, Mahogany, Damar, Walnuts, and Flamboyan are chosen as the trees initiating the establishment of open spaces and also marking it's character as a green campus which has been preserved until today. This indicates the importance of the floral existence as a decorating element of the building landscape. Among ITB academicians, there are various myths or stories often associated with the presence of those floras as the iconic pride of Ganesha.

Kolecer Flower: New Students' Welcomer

Flower which has been the icon of this campus lies at the main gate of ITB, enlivening each side of the gate. It blooms massively around June to September. No wonder that front gate area becomes one of the campus landmarks because of its strong character, marked by the composition of stone pillars combined with a hall full of vine kolecer and bougenville flowers. In August, bougenville or as known as the paper flower located near kolecer also blooms heavily as if those two elegant flowers reach the peak at their finestto greet Ganesha's new students. Each of these beautiful plants comes from northern Thailand and northern Malaysia. The name kolecer itself means propeller, taken from its floral morphology that has four additional leaves, like rotating blades when each falls to the ground.

Paper Flower as a Sign of Mid Academic Year

Still in the same area, ITB has lush bougenville flowers blooming throughout the year, with their peak in August. Uniquely, the one looking like the crown of the flowers is actually a leaf as the patron of great flowers. Bougenvillein this campus usually blooms in three colors: purplish red, scarlet, and brick red. It says that dark red one marks the beginning of a new school year while paler purplish red one indicates the entry of the midterm. Besides at those gates, this flower can also be seen at the pillar of inner campus building, such as four identical Technology Laboratory buildings and around Basic Science A Building.

Pyrostegua venusta: Flower in August

This vine plant brightening the campus from August to September with reddish orange flowers comes from Brazil. Due to heavy blossom in the time of campus admissions at the beginning of semester, many people also call it as the flower of freshmen's greeter along with kolecer. "The flowers at the pillars of the West Hall and East Hall of ITB bloom as if they are to greet 'Welcome' and 'Good Luck' to those intellectual rookies," wrote one of the lecturers.

Dadap Merah Characterizing Plaza Widya

This flower named in Latin as Erythrina crista-gellior often referred to Dadap Merah are located along at Plaza Widya Nusantara or Plawid which is well-known for the campus society. The flower has a function as an ornamental plant in the garden as well as a roadside plant whereas Plawid is a part of the backbone of campus pedestrian path connecting Boulevard on the south side with Plaza TPB or Sunken Court in the north side of the campus. One very important marker for Plawid is the monument of ITB inauguration as known as Soekarno monument. This name is also a reminder for the campus officially launched by the First President of the Republic of Indonesia on March 2, 1959.

Merak Flower as the Charm of Bandung

This flower whose Latin name is Caesalpinia pulcherrima or known as Merak flower is easily found in the area of west GKU building (old GKU) and Soil Mechanics Laboratory. It is built with a height up to three meters. This tree originates in the tropical and subtropical zones of America. Although the number of this flower can be said to be less than the number of others, merak flower has its own uniqueness because the flower is crowned as the Charm of Bandung.

Tabebuia as a Reminder of the Midterm Exam

This tree grows in a row in front of the central library and PAU building located in the north of ITB.There is an interesting myth that its blossom signals the week of midterm exam during odd semester. Some campus academicians call it "Yellow Midterm-Exam Flower". The beauty of these flowers when blooming in front of the central library often creates an atmosphere as if it offers a landscape somewhere abroad, not less beautiful to lovely Japanese cherry blossoms. These plants are also mentioned in the list of protected ornamental plants for the sustainable use of this wood comes from Central America.

The look of ITB is not to be separated from the shady nuance characterized by cheerfulness when their flowers are blooming. The glory of those flowers in this Ganesha building reminds us of how important the presence of floral element for a campus which is mostly almost one hundred years old. This splendor of flowers in Ganesha campus will always be an earthy company standing and surviving to participate in delivering the next generation of Indonesia to become intellectual beings.

By: Bayu Prakoso  - IJA 2015