FuturArc Exchange and Exhibitions (FEX) | 3Q 2024

Across the diverse Indonesian archipelago, FEX events spotlight leading architects and emerging ideas in the field of sustainable design. Each session showcases an architect’s repertoire, including recently completed and upcoming projects, as well as the most notable lessons learnt from successfully navigating challenges.

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Date 25 April 2024
Audience Balikpapan
Venue Swiss-Belhotel
Technology reviews Mulia Glass Block; Super Teknik; TACO
Supported by Ikatan Arsitek Indonesia (IAI) Balikpapan

“What is ‘ordinary’ in architecture?” asked Stephanus Theo of Videshiiya Studio, urging the audience to take a closer look at the everyday habits that we often take for granted. For example, while handling the library renovation project at Universitas Balikpapan, the team drew inspiration from people’s habit of sitting on floors while engaging in casual discussions. Even though this behaviour may be considered informal for academic settings, they designed a circular conversation pit and stepped benches in the library to break the formal atmosphere and create a more flexible environment for learning.

Pandya Praditya of Studio PAPA plays with geometry and light throughout his projects, including JF House in Surabaya. The design ‘slices’ the joint between the roof and wall to insert subtle skylights. A double-height void is also shaded by a connecting bridge that faces an inner courtyard, bringing natural daylight and ventilation into the living space.

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Date 3 May 2024
Audience Denpasar
Venue Golden Tulip Jineng Resort Bali
Technology reviews Mulia Glass Block; NS Bluescope; Wadja Inti Mulia
Supported by IAI Bali

In a presentation titled Embracing Regional Charm, Japa Wibisana of Studio Tana outlined the characteristics of architecture that are most cherished in the tropical regions, namely openness to climatic conditions and closeness to Nature. These are the qualities that they highlight in their projects, including a sea-facing villa complex in Ungasan that took advantage of the oceanic breeze with full-length operable windows.

Seeking to create an F&B destination that can double as an event space on the Selayar Island of South Sulawesi, Ikhsan Hamiru of MIV Architects designed the completely open-air Dierra Café. The ample cross ventilation enabled by the linear shape of the building responded to post-pandemic conditions where good air circulation is of utmost importance. Without any air-conditioning needed, the design successfully reduces energy as well as maintenance costs. Local kanaha wood that is known for its distinct streaked pattern was used as accents throughout the building, rooting the design in its context.

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Date 14 May 2024
Audience Samarinda
Venue Fugo Hotel
Technology review Avian Brands
Supported by IAI Kalimantan Timur

Being a provincial capital, Samarinda attracts many young families to reside and work in the city. Many landed homes have been developed to meet the rising demand for housing, but often such ‘starter homes’ are constructed with inadequate natural lighting and ventilation conditions. To improve their visual and thermal comfort, Bhanu Rizfa Hakim of Tematik Studio researched and published a paper about the impact of natural daylighting through skylight openings. He concluded that for the city’s tropical climate, where daytime temperatures average 30 degrees Celsius, narrow strips of skylights placed near the edges of rooms are the best option to allow in natural light without overheating the space.

Lighting was also an important consideration for a café-cum-working space set within a narrow alley, as Deddy Wahjudi of LABO explained. The office had transformed a modest-sized old house in Bandung into Kozi Artisan Coffee by enlarging windows, inserting transparent or ’porous’ separators between rooms and opening the space up towards the garden.

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Date 17 May 2024
Audience Makassar
Venue Novotel Makassar Grand Shayla
Technology reviews Mulia Glass Block; Vania
Exhibitor Kayu Asri
Supported by IAI Sulawesi Selatan

“Architects love coffee,” observed Rachwan Arna of SA 35 Architect, who has designed for various coffee shops in Makassar and even handled their distinct branding and visual identities. For example, to meet the demand for flexible workspaces in the city, the firm designed Povibes Coffee with a variety of seating areas, such as sofas for group meetings and individual ‘bar’ seats for solo workers. Glass blocks are used for the exterior to allow for natural daylighting, ‘filtered’ by a row of indoor planters to ensure comfortable light for the workspace.

Aris Munandar of Hepta Desain presented their office’s winning design for Makassar’s municipal archive building. Its façade alluded to ancient stone tablets (prasasti) found in the area, envisioned to be clad in locally sourced natural stone. The building is designed to be enveloped by sunshading fins on all sides, helping to passively cool the interiors while a second-floor terrace aims to enhance cross ventilation as an open-air gathering space for the archival office workers.

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Date 28 May 2024
Audience Pontianak
Venue Harris Hotel
Technology review Avian Brands
Supported by IAI Kalimantan Barat

Derry Feriyan Misavan of the Pontianak-based CIDES (Citra Desain Arsitama) shared how the studio rejuvenated a traditional 30-door longhouse called Rumah Betang Lunsa Hilir. The heritage building was first constructed around 1940 and had undergone various repairs, but its 2023 renovation was the most significant yet. Considering its location beside the Kapuas River, the longest river in Indonesia and an important transportation route in Kalimantan, the design added piers to properly connect the building to the water body. To generate fresh water for the building’s needs, plumbing systems that drew water from the river were equipped with necessary filters. The long terrace (taso’o) was also moved away from the river to face the main street to suit the building’s new function as a cultural centre.

Deddy Wahjudi of LABO also recently completed the adaptive reuse project of  the colonial-era Post Office Building in Bandung into a mixed-use creative space called POS.CO. While maintaining the exterior façade and portions of the space to serve as the post office, new functions were inserted, including retail and F&B spaces as well as exhibition halls.

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Date 31 May 2024
Audience Surabaya
Venue Wyndham Hotel
Technology reviews Mulia Glass Block; RIIFO; Super Teknik
Exhibitor Kayu Asri
Supported by IAI Jawa Timur

Although 90 per cent of the work handled by Mifta Syahrudin of Midun & Partners Architects have been for residential buildings, the firm continues to exercise its skill in designing for other typologies by participating in competitions. One of Mifta’s most memorable proposals was the municipal office complex for Mentawai Islands. Because the site was inside a forest, the architects designed a cluster of smaller buildings connected by perforated footbridges instead of a conventional single mass, with the aim of minimally disrupting the existing trees and soil. In the public zones, open-air corridors were equipped with seating areas and connected to platforms for gathering, meant to bring local constituents closer to their representatives and engage in discussions to better serve people’s aspirations.

“Photography is an important ‘note-taking’ skill for architects,” said Arief Isrefidianto of AI-CTLA Studio. He urged fellow architects to frequently train their eye by taking pictures that can encapsulate a building or place’s story in one frame. For example, he likened his shot of London’s skyline as a “battle arena” due to its myriad of skyscrapers in various shapes and styles that clashed against brownstone buildings. Similarly, he captioned the concrete passages of the Taman Ismail Marzuki complex in Central Jakarta as “crossed wires (simpang siur)” because they mesh different programmes and circulation into one. “When we look back at our pictures, we can better evaluate as well as take reference from spaces that have existed,” Arief said. “We redefine the object to do better as architects in our projects to come.”

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Date 14 June 2024
Audience Malang
Venue Ascent Premiere Hotel & Convention
Technology reviews NS Bluescope; Wadja Inti Mulia
Exhibitor Kayu Asri
Supported by IAI Malang

Akhmad Fatah Yasin recounts the progression of Imajiner Arsitek since it was established, starting with private residences, then master planning, and finally taking on the design of large-scale complexes after gaining more experience throughout the years. The firm’s soon to be completed projects include the Al Izzah International Islamic Boarding School in Batu. The complex includes a seven-storey dormitory, with sky bridges connecting it to other halls. Ample rooftop gardens and well-shaded corridors provide space for various activities to be conducted outdoors.

In Indonesia, many education buildings are affiliated with religious institutions and this is also a typology that deAMAYA Studio specialises in. Some of their exemplary projects that Agung Rudianto presented include the Faculty of Law building for Universitas Islam Yogyakarta, Al Azhar International Islamic Boarding School in Karanganyar and Insan Cendekia Madani School in South Tangerang, all of which implemented passive design strategies such as roster bricks for cross ventilation and skylights with shaded accents.

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Date 28 June 2024
Audience Palembang
Venue Aston Palembang
Technology reviews in-Lite LED; TACO
Supported by IAI Sumatera Selatan

Seeking to offer a different take on the commonly closed-off mall building, Helsa Angela of Tanah Air Studio proposed the design of Urban 45 Town Square commercial centre located in one of Palembang’s main roads. The design comprised two stacked masses with ample terraces under the canopy. The terrace steps double as seating areas and are connected to the sidewalk via a ramp, inviting the public to enjoy the space. Large windows are enveloped by a mesh that serves as a double screen, maintaining visual connection to and from the street while reducing the amount of solar glare for the interior.

In the similarly dense context of Palu, Hepta Desain proposed Sela Rimba, an ‘urban oasis’ of guest houses amidst ‘reforested’ woods instead of a single-structure boutique hotel. Aris Munandar explained how the architecture was derived from vernacular Tambi houses, with their tall, steeply pitched roofs that double as walls and raised floors that allow the ground to be minimally disturbed. By breaking the functions into smaller masses and scattering them throughout the landscape, the project would be able to achieve a green plot ratio (GPR) of 80 per cent. The proposed landscape strategies include preserving existing vegetation and adding more greenery, with ‘buffer’ plants surrounding the perimeter and weather-resilient trees between the buildings.

The events foster a network of sustainability-spirited designers and construction industry professionals; if you are interested to be invited to a FEX session in your city, email the team at [email protected] with your details.

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Read more stories from FuturArc 3Q 2024 Green Awards: Architecture for Life After!