Acknowledgments
My first experience of the warmth and hospitality of the people of Indonesia was in 1979 as one of a group of environmental planners and scientists who were tasked by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) with surveying and recording the flora and fauna of a proposed nature reserve at Morowali in Central Sulawesi. At that time, I was an architect and master planner in practice in the UK. Accessing this remote 200,000-ha area in the rain forest was a logistical challenge—via a scheduled flight from Jakarta to Ujung Pandang and then by twin-propeller light aircraft to a grass strip at Kendari; thereafter by Pelni Line steamer up the east coast of Sulawesi to Kolono-dale, and finally across the Gulf of Teluk Tolo to Morowali on the Ranu River by fishing perahu (a boat with outriggers carved from a single large tree). I lived for five months in the rain forest alongside the native Wana people and with coastal Bugis fishermen and encountered the remote indigenous Kayu Merangka tribe. I slept in a primitive hut in the Uewaja Valley, and in March 1980 I contributed a draft Management Plan for the Morowali National Park.1
Four years later, in 1984, I joined the staff of the National University of Singapore as Associate Professor of Architecture, and during my first vacation I set out on another journey, first to Bogor and the Botanic Gardens at Cibodas and then to Yogyakarta via the Puncak Pass to visit the Sultan’s Kraton, and onwards to Borobudur, Prambanan and the Plain of Kings. I ascended Gunung Bromo on horseback and made my way by ferryboat to Gilimanuk on the north coast of Bali where I boarded a local bus to Singaraja, and finally to Ubud and Kuta. This then was my introduction to the Indonesian archipelago.
In writing this book, I have to thank a number of architects who helped me to source the most innovative new houses in Indonesia. They include Kusuma Agustianto, Yori Antar, Ernesto Bedmar, Jeffrey Budiman, Chan Soo Khian, Popo Danes, Ahmad and Wendy Djuhara, Denny Gondo, Cosmas D. Gozali, Irianto Purnomo Hadi, Ridwan Kamil, Willis Kusuma, Antony Liu, Andra Matin, Glenn W. Parker, Budi Pradono, Eko Agus Prawoto, Adi “Mamo” Purnomo, Ferry Ridwan, Jonathan Quek, Patrick Rendradjaja, Jeffry Sandy, Sardjono Sani, Yoka Sara, Sukendro Sukendar Priyoso, René Tan, Tan Tik “Lemy” Lam, Tan Tjiang Ay, Baskoro Tedja, Walter Wagner, Judistira Wananda, Sekar Warni and Gregorius Supie Yolodi.
On behalf of Albert Lim KS and myself, I wish to thank the owners of the houses who permitted us to photograph their homes, including Azwar Anas, Irwan Ahmett and Tita Salina, Mr and Mrs Karta Laksana Kamarga, Eric Chang and Catherine Widjaja, Karadi Hanan, Anton and Juliewati Hudyana, Winfred Hutabarat, Thierry and Clo Joulin, Kang Kie Liong and Peggy, Ati Ibu Kie Soei Lan, Dr Lau and Evie Miranda, Mr and Mrs Radius Muntu, Joelianto Noegroho, Ryan and Teresa Padget, Karl and Dhea Princic, Mulyo Rahardjo, Iwan and Windy Rialdy, Christophe Rougeron, Saksono Banyuaji, Sitok Srengenge and Farah Maulida, Sugihati, Sunaryo, Michael Tan, and Nugroho Wisnu and Sundari. Other owners wished to remain anonymous.
My thanks go also to numerous individuals who entertained us, advised us or helped us on our way to sometimes remote destinations, among them Anton Clark of Prestige Bali Villas, Shinta Devi, Pak Edo, Elias Hariwordo, Maryati B. Imanto, Kadek Karnawa, Grace Kartono, Eku Lamu, Eka Lanus, Hendyanto Lim, Patrick Lim, Irra Malik of Alila Soori, Ketut Midana, Nugroho, Titus Nurabadi, Jean-Marie Peloni and Domonique Seguin, Fransiska Prihado, Mulyo Rahardjo, Meta Rahmani, Saksu, Indra Santoso K., Putu Edy Semara, Tony Sofian, Yandi Prayudhi, Yanto Widodo, Kompyang Widyastuti, Made Wijaya, Budi S. Wita and Yu Sing.
Special thanks also go to Tan Tjiang Ay and Tan Tik Lam for their hospitality in Bandung and to Danny Wicaksono of mamo-studio for generously acting as our guide in Jakarta.
Eric Oey and the staff of the Periplus Publishing Group, and Judi Suwidji, Yohana and Didik of Java Books Indonesia, were also immensely helpful in identifying houses to include in the book and coordinating our travel. I thank too our patient and resourceful drivers, Pak Amal in Jakarta and Wayan Subrato in Bali. Thanks also to Noor Azlina Yunus for her meticulous editing of my text.
Belated thanks go also to architect Gordon Benton, now with Lippo Karawaci, who welcomed me to Indonesia in 1979; to Suha Özkan who, as Deputy Secretary-General of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, kickstarted my career as a writer in 1985; to Lena Lim U Wen and William Lim SW, who published my first book on the design of contemporary Southeast Asian dwellings in 1993 and essentially created a market for the genre; to Lynda Lim Kwee Guek, my eyes and ears in Singapore, and to Albert Lim Koon Seng and Linda Lim with whom I have collaborated for twenty years. Albert’s brilliant photographs surpass the work of any of his contemporaries in Asia.
And, finally, thanks to my wife Shantheni Chornalingam and our daughter Zara Shakira for their continued support in this passion I have for the architecture of Southeast Asia.
1 See www.morowalinationalpark.com. The work on the Morowali National Park was assisted by Scottish architect Gordon Benton, later to become Senior Executive of Lippo Karawaci and the creative force behind Lippo Village.