THE NEW BALI
For first time visitors, repeat guests, those that have made Bali their home, and the Balinese themselves, there is no denying the rapid changes that have taken place on the island in the past few years. What was once a romantic, cultural getaway with rice field and temple predominating has transformed into a thrusting metropolis, especially in the built-up southern areas. Bali’s slow pace of life—in the main tourist and residential centers anyway—is a thing of the past.
As with all change, there are positives and negatives. Increased prosperity is certainly a plus point; traffic jams, pollution and unplanned development are sad reminders of the cost of “progress”. Yet, amongst the mayhem, you can still find the rich landscape and culture that has beguiled visitors for centuries. It continues to draw outsiders—many of whom are building extraordinary homes.
After a year of research, we’ve come to the conclusion that the Bali brand is as strong as ever. Because the island is welcoming, the people some of the most beautiful on the planet, the climate salubrious, the economy buoyant—foreign investment continues, grows and multiplies. More and more outsiders—from Australia, other parts of Asia, Europe and even America—are making Bali their home, and many more are investing in villas suitable for the holiday rental market.
For the most part, this book concentrates on homes, although there are one or two rentals as well. Almost all are newly built residences. We consider them the cream of the crop, representative of the exciting new architectural directions that Bali is witness to, yet by no means the norm.
We’ve left out the terraced villas, the cheek-by-jowl estates, the ribbon developments, the small condos; we’re showcasing only extremely high-end, innovative properties. Some are in the countryside—by the sea, in the hills, overlooking rice paddies—but many are in built-up areas as is increasingly common. The homes may not have the picture postcard views of the past, in fact they’re more than likely to be inward looking, but they are noteworthy nonetheless.
Each home has been chosen because of its excellent architecture, innovative design features, and cutting-edge interiors, but also because each is very different from the next. Variety is the key here; no cookie-cutter copies thank you very much. We want you to drool over their beauty in the same way we did, read about some of the new materials and methods used, maybe incorporate some of the ideas into your own homes. We’re grateful to have been invited in—and we hope you’ll find the houses as extraordinary as we have done.
Style, Substance and Sustainability
So what are the major changes in architecture and design in Bali? Firstly, an increased level of sophistication is increasingly sought—and supplied. Craftsmanship has always been one of Bali’s strengths, but it has more often than not remained in the vernacular. Now, we see high-end finishing in furniture and artefacts, as well as surface embellishment and building materials. Modern imported kitchen equipment, technical know-how in lighting, plumbing and ventilation, high quality materials—all are becoming readily available in Bali.
Nestling in a sculptural, yet lush, bamboo garden is a seemingly floating European-style, flat-roofed rectangular prism set on piles. Designed by i-LAB Architecture, it is part of a complex that also comprises recycled Javanese structures—a wonderful combo of new and old.
The use of concrete has increased exponentially. Not only does concrete evoke a feeling of serenity and calm, it is cooling underfoot. Traditional building materials such as alangalang for roofing are being replaced by wood shingles—and, more often, flat roofs. Often such roofs sport plantings or water features to help with natural cooling. Easily sourced local stones—andesite, paras, palimanan—are still widely used, but often the cut is more modern, the finishing more streamlined.
Sustainability is another factor. A lot of high-end clients want to impact as little as possible on the natural environment, so they often request a low-energy design that reduces the use of air-conditioning and returns to traditional natural ventilation techniques. Many of the architects featured in this book conduct an environmental impact assessment before they start a project and try to go as green as they can: Using non-toxic paints, solar energy, water catchment and recycling techniques, as well as trying to adhere as closely as possible to the natural contours of the land, are some of the methods they employ.
Many suggest that such practices are pure common sense. Gary Fell of Gfab, a firm that espouses a rigorous modernity in its aesthetic, believes passionately that buildings should be “married” to their environment going so far as to semi-bury buildings especially if they are on steeply sloping sites (see pages 174–179). Cutting down on air-con is simply practical, he says. “Why on earth wouldn’t one exploit air flow through a planning mechanism?” he exclaims. “Why would one park a roof in that view for Pete’s sake? (ipso facto use a roof garden, therefore flat roof).” Careful consideration of materials should be the job of every architect, but as he wryly notes: “How many full glass shop fronts in brilliant sunlight do you see?”
Valentina Audrito, an Italian architect with her own company Word of Mouth, echoes Gary’s sentiments.