‘Tropicality’ explored in Indonesian architect Andra Matin’s first monograph

Its title, ‘Tropicality: Homes by Andra Matin,’ hints on the topics of this first-ever monograph on the residential work of Indonesian architect Andra Matin, printed this month by Thames and Hudson. Framing tropical nature and landscapes by sequences of enigmatic spatial experiences, the 16 initiatives included had been designed between 2006 and 2023; and thru them, this structure ebook narrates the studio’s expanded method to tropical modernist structure, which embeds identification and tradition into design, so a house turns into a portrait of individuals and place, in addition to local weather.

‘Tropicality: Homes by Andra Matin’: discover the ebook

Born in Bandung, the place he additionally studied structure, Matin established his studio in Jakarta in 1998. Inside the context of Indonesia, his work is actually grounded within the gadgets related to Tropical Modernism, derived from vernacular methods and tailored to the fashionable age.

He works with a easy and uncovered materials palette of concrete, timber and brick, typically utilizing stilts and shaded overhangs related to historic homes of East Java and Bali amongst different areas. Indoor and out of doors are all the time blended by circulation and courtyards, and landscaping is ever-present.

But past a deep understanding of each vernacular and modernism, every home expresses a definite character typically pushed by the existence of shoppers – entrepreneurs, filmmakers and creatives – and sculpted by their pursuits in artwork, books, music, convivial socialising and quiet introspection.

Within the foreword, Lyndon Neri, co-founder of Shanghai-based Neri&Hu Design and Analysis Workplace, writes: ‘Matin’s homes serve not as mere containers and backdrops for all times, however somewhat dwellings as expressions of values drawn from essentially the most intimate planes of existence and from private attachments.’

These concepts are current at Matin’s family residence, the AM Residence in South Jakarta designed in 2012 and featured within the ebook, the place inventively layered elevations are linked by transitional ramps and knowledgeable in form by the triangular website and its central trembesi tree. The modelling of sunshine and darkish throughout these layers gives a simultaneous shelter from, and immersion in, nature; there’s a shady library with a glazed wall framing the backyard, a subterranean rest room with a window to the roots of the earth, and an out of doors front room floating in a sea of inexperienced crops and bushes.

By way of the pages of the ebook, Matin blends structure, panorama and residing till they seem indistinguishable. It’s a talent Wallpaper* recognised in 2007 in its index of rising architectural expertise, the Architects Listing; after catching up once more in 2020, his studio had grown from about 12 staff to greater than 40. Now, after an Aga Khan award in 2022 for his progressive and ecologically-minded design for Banyuwangi Airport, this ebook is one other layer in Matin’s architectural profession that continues to extol the symbiosis of local weather and tradition for the modern age.

Tropicality: Homes by Andra Matin’, with a foreword by Lyndon Neri, textual content by David Hutama and pictures by Davy Linggar, £50