Interior designs for the inner being<\/p>\n
Zulkifli Mohamad, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The main mission of a designer is to deliver the design for
\nthe end user or client to enjoy, says Ted Sulisto, an American
\ntrained interior-architecture designer, who is comfortable being
\ncalled by his first name.<\/p>\n
Ted left Indonesia when he was nine years-old to follow his
\nfather who was working for the Indonesian government as a
\ncommodity trader in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany.<\/p>\n
He studied interior design in the United States at the
\nUniversity of North Carolina, the University of Boston and the
\nWharton Institute in Philadelphia, but he ended up working with
\nhis family businesses, an oil company and travel agency, at the
\nage of 35.<\/p>\n
\"It took me at least two years before I designed my first
\nproject, a friend's house. It was during this time that I started
\nto think about my own design firm,\" explained Ted, who looked
\nvery much like a company executive in his gray suit and striped
\nshirt.<\/p>\n
\"The first house that I designed belonged to the Admiral of
\nthe Navy, way back in 1989. It was a very large house overlooking
\nthe Cinere golf course.\"<\/p>\n
Ted said that he learnt a lot from the first project, through
\ntrial and error. \"It took me and my partner ten months to
\ncomplete the project. I designed a lot of furniture to suit the
\nhouse and what I can say about designing someone's house is that
\nyou have to design the house for them, to suit what they like and
\nsee how the house can function for them.\"<\/p>\n
Though he was dressed in a suit, ready for a dinner
\nappointment after the interview, he was very relaxed and
\nstraightforward when talking about his work.<\/p>\n
After twelve years in the interior design business, he has
\ncompleted designs that fall into a number of different
\ncategories, including public space projects like the renovation
\nof the Bronze Room at the National Museum of Indonesia, shops
\nlike Poppy Darsono's first boutique in Pondok Indah and Warwick
\nPurser's Home store on Jl. Gunawarman, entertainment spaces such
\nas the Zanzibar Bar and Prego Restaurant-Bar on Jl. Iskandarsyah,
\nand various homes including the popular pictured Kartanegara
\nHouse that belongs to Anna Bambang, and serves as her guest
\nresidence.<\/p>\n
\"The house was empty for many years because Ibu Anna was just
\nusing the house for storage,\" said Ted.<\/p>\n
He realized Anna's wish to design the house as a cozy little
\nEuropean home that took account of the building's limited space.
\n\"My client and I traveled to London to look at the details of
\nvarious urban houses. Though the house was consciously designed
\nin a classical European style, the client insisted on having the
\nJavanese woodcarving panel as the entrance, to tip you off that
\nyou are entering another world. The Javanese panel symbolizes
\nwhere you are and who you are before entering,\" Ted explained.<\/p>\n
He said he loved the challenge of battling limitations, such
\nas designing interiors for old houses.<\/p>\n
When asked about the Indonesian fondness for classically
\ndesigned homes, he was quick to comment that the older generation
\nstill preferred the classical design while the younger generation
\nwas very much caught up in the modern-slick, minimalist and zen-
\nlike designs that are now all the rage.<\/p>\n
The Warwick Purser Home store on Jl. Gunawarman is one of
\nthose minimalist examples. Designing the store was a real
\nchallenge for Ted as the ceiling was very low. He was also unable
\nto make many changes to the position of the staircase and the
\ntoilet as they were already part of the original structure.<\/p>\n
An even tougher challenge was to design the store in a way
\nthat would fit the image of Warwick Purser's products and to
\nproduce a format that could increase product sales without
\ndrowning the merchandise in the new design.<\/p>\n
\"Budget has never been a problem as you design within the
\nlimitations of the available funds. You don't compromise on the
\ndesign but on the materials that you choose,\" said Ted who is
\nalso very aware of cost management.<\/p>\n
He criticized those of his colleagues who designed interiors
\naccording to their taste and preference. They forgot about the
\ndesigner's responsibility of realizing the client's dream space
\nwhile at the same time guiding them to reach their target, not
\ndesigning something then figuring out how the owner of the house
\ncould fit in, he added.<\/p>\n
When asked what wealthy clients should concentrate on when
\nplanning home interiors, he said that people should invest in
\npaintings and artifacts as well as book collections for the home
\nlibrary.<\/p>\n
\"But of course the advice would differ from one client to
\nanother,\" he added quickly.<\/p>\n
He was very confident in describing his design signature as
\ndefinitely \"the compatibility between the space and the human
\nbeing that interact within that area, whether it is a classically
\ndesigned space or a modern space.\" Ted Sulisto smiled as he
\ncompleted the sentence.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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