Wednesday, October 10, 2012

budi pradono architect: 'SECOND WAVE' by Rebeca Lo


Bali, a lush land of mystical temples, is a spiritual paradise that many return to time and again for restoring the senses. It is about as far removed from the hectic frenzy of Jakarta as you can get. And, once a month, Jakarta-based architect Budi Pradono packs his iPad and sketchbook, revs up his Peugeot 206 and heads for Bali’s art community of Ubud to recharge and refuel. The creator of thought-provoking projects such as Taipei’s Pure Shi Shi Lin exhibition space and Flora building has worked across three continents with the likes of renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. 
He is currently one of Indonesia’s brightest stars, with an oeuvre that is miles removed from the tropical modern aesthetic of fellow countryman Jaya Ibrahim. Indeed, Pradono is giving a new spin to what the world perceives Indonesian design to be.

Pradono originally wanted to be an artist. After failing to get into art school, the now-40-year-old native of Salatiga instead studied architecture, eventually graduating from Duta Wacana Christian University in Yogyakarta. Pradono credits his parents for instilling a reverence for nature and art at an early age. “My father always encouraged me to be as close as possible to nature. He took me on walks and horseback rides in the bush, forest, rivers and mountains. 
My mother was a ballet teacher and I hung out at her ballet studio. Now, whenever I hear classical music, it helps to sharpen my designs.” Pradono also tips his hat to Yogyakarta for fostering his passion for culture. Three hours drive from his hometown, the city opened up a whole new world of inspiration for the budding architect. 


“I could enjoy many different cultural experiments and see contemporary art exhibitions or traditional dance performances,”he recalls. “I believe that to be an architect is to trust our journey through life. 


That is why I kept moving, working and travelling all around the world.”Upon graduation, Pradono’s first stint was at Beverley Garlick Associates in Sydney. Garlick, herself a pupil of 2002 Pritzker Prizewinner Glenn Murcutt, taught the young architect to be practical. 


As the most junior staff member in a small residential firm, Pradono got his feet wet on every aspect of a project, from drafting to model-making. “Garlick’s works use strong language, such as corrugated metal – just like her teacher Murcutt,” observes Pradono. After he established Budi Pradono Architects in 1999, Pradono received the opportunity of a lifetime: a collaboration with Kengo Kuma on a unique project villa sited at the Great Wall in China. To date, his work as project architect on Bamboo House at Commune by the Great Wall remains one of his favorites. 


“It was very special for the Kuma office because it was his first foreign project to be built,” explains Pradono.


“Also, I got the chance to see the work of other Asian architects that were erected on the same site – such as Gary Chang, Shigeru Ban and Rocco Yim. But working at the Kuma office was really tough. 
I went home to my apartment only twice a week, compared to when I was with Beverly Garlick, 
when I had time to enjoy Sydney in the evenings.” budipradono.com

by Rebecca Lo for Surface Asia magazine.


International Centre for the Arts Jose de Guimarães in Portugal by Pitagoras Arquitectos

The buildings that make up the Municipal Market and the space defined by them, commonly referred to as “the square”, a name inherited from market square are, as a unit, characteristic elements of the urban landscape of the city of Guimarães. The grounds of the old municipal market boasted a privileged and very central location with excellent accesses, very close to the Toural Square and the historic center

With this project, the transformation of the marketplace into a multifunctional space dedicated to artistic, economic, cultural and social activities within the scope of European Capital of Culture 2012, allowed for the physical and functional reintegration into the urban fabric, to become a reality and so, to recover one key area of the city space. In addition, the operation extended to adjacent plots, enabling the regeneration of the interior space of the block, which was completely uncharacterized, as a result of its occupation by a marble processing industry.
The program provided a clear concept and defined the objectives intended to achieve with this infrastructure, listing a series of skills and spaces that constitute the functional program for both the new and the existing buildings, as well as the adjacent plots of land. For this purpose three major program areas were defined:


  • Art Center, which houses a permanent collection, in this case the Collection of José Guimarães, temporary exhibition area, a multipurpose space for additional activities, performances and shows, in addition to a series of complementary services.
  • Creative Labs (business support offices) for the reception and installation of activities related to creative industries, allowing the development of business projects.
  • Workshops to Support Emerging Creativity, consisting of workspaces and creative vocation for young creators in various areas, hoping to develop projects on a temporary basis.
  • Finally, the intent to recover the existing building on the eastern side, trying to promote the installation of additional commercial activities that could enhance the creation of a space with a broad scope in regards to multidisciplinary cultural activities. The whole structure, according to the program would complement the existing equipment in the city, as well as those which are under development within the European Capital of Culture. When interpreting the program, we aimed to allow for the possibility of each one of its components to function independently and simultaneously, creating accesses to each of the various services and support areas, as well as to the outdoor square and garden. We opted for a methodology of intervention that involves the rehabilitation of the existing building to the east, keeping the materials and textures, but redoing the entire inside at level 0. For the building at north, and for reasons previously mentioned, the façade towards the Avenue, which characterizes the building, is renovated, but its interior and façade facing the square were object of and almost complete demolition and redesign. Although it is intended to maintain the scale and the existing formal relations, we propose a new solution for the building that promotes a strong relationship with the square and emphasizes the relationship of this structure with the outer space.The new building takes a radically different language, by contrast with its surroundings, both from the standpoint of their language and image, discrete, repetitive, as well as by the succession of volumes, with full and empty, marked by the juxtaposition of contrasting surfaces. The coatings, a grid of metal profiles in brass and glass surfaces chromatised on ventilated façades, accentuates a range of textures that is intended display, more dense and opaque in the majority of faces in the case of the metal structure, and transparent when it covertly comes to glass surfaces that intentionally conceal the few openings that the building comprises. This series of volumes and dissonant elements, which result from decomposition of the initial volume, was originated by the need to create a variety of different spaces in the exhibition area, creating a tension evident in the volume of the building and the relationship with the space of the square, making it the main feature of its design. For the square, we formulated a proposal with a drawing significantly more aseptic and a coating with large concrete slabs, as a counterpart to the surrounding buildings, characterized as a large reception and a multifunctional meeting area, translated into a physical platform, summing its vocation as public space by nature. It will be an area purposely under fitted, with the preservation of the large trees to the east, by introducing some elements of vegetation along the north building, but leaving most of the free space allowing for the development of numerous spontaneously or organized activities, in the scope of the Platform or not. The urban furniture used in the square comprises moveable elements, allowing for a more versatile use.
resource: archdaily, oct 1, 2012

ISSI VILLA in Seminyak Bali by Budi Pradono (3)












ISSI Villa in Seminyak Bali by Budi Pradono (2)




















ISSI VILLA in Seminyak Bali by budi pradono (1)