Japanese Occupation and Later Life
The Three-colors Villa was his last work in Indonesia. The Netherlands was on the brink of the World War II and the Dutch Indies was occupied by Imperial Japan. The Japanese Occupation Army sent Aalbers and his family to the Dutch intern camp in Cimahi and then were transferred to the Jatinegara camp in Jakarta. Even during his captivity he drew many sketches, including his dream of having a villa in a tropical environment with mountains in the background.
In 1946, Aalbers, his wife and his two daughters moved to Amsterdam. He opened a new architecture office with the name of 'Albers en De Waal, Architecten, Amsterdam-Bandoeng'. He put 'Bandoeng' in the name as a wish that someday he would be able to return to Bandung. His hope wasn't realized due to poor health and the unstable political circumstances in Indonesia.
Albert F. Aalbers died in 1961. Much of his work still stands in Bandung, such as the DENIS bank and the Savoy Homann Hotel. Some villas he designed have been destroyed during the war and also damaged due to subsequent renovations.
Read more about this topic: Albert Aalbers
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