Peter Mueller is the architect of dream resorts<\/p>\n
By Dini Djalal<\/p>\n
MEDANA BAY, Lombok (JP): When Peter Mueller, who built Bali's
\nlegendary resorts The Oberoi and The Amandari, is asked about his
\ninfluence on hotel style in Indonesia, his reply is plain and
\nsimple.<\/p>\n
\"I'm just an architect,\" said Mueller. \"If somebody asks me to
\ndesign a hospital, I'll do it.\"<\/p>\n
Humble words for a man whom many in the tourism and resort
\nindustry credit for helping raise Bali's reputation as a first-
\nclass destination.<\/p>\n
It all started in 1973, with Mueller's first creation in Bali;
\na small bungalow-style hotel on Seminyak Beach called the Kayu
\nAya. When Mueller returned to Australia in 1974, the hotel fell,
\nliterally, to pieces, and it wasn't until 1978, when the Oberoi
\nGroup asked him to restore the Kayu Aya, that the famed Oberoi
\nBali came into being.<\/p>\n
Twenty years later, renovations intended to perfect every
\ndetail of this secluded five-star resort are nearing completion.
\nBut its style, shaped by Mueller, has set the standard of what
\nwas to be the most copied style of hotel architecture. Tourists
\ntake for granted the garden bathrooms and villas' open-air bales
\noverlooking private swimming pools which characterize Bali's
\nluxury resorts, but Mueller's vision was startling in 1974.<\/p>\n
Yet Mueller's now-famous standard was itself a copy, an
\nobeisance to the traditional Balinese architecture he so admired.
\nThe walled compound design one finds today in luxury resorts is
\nderivative of a typical Balinese village, with its walled streets
\nand village square, complete with a marketplace, community
\npavilion and Kul-Kul tower. As Mueller explains it, \"My idea was
\nto re-construct a Balinese village\".<\/p>\n
The world can now enjoy Mueller's manifestation of his vision,
\nbut Mueller says he has had to be very patient in the creation
\nprocess. \"It's a 27-year-old idea. It's not new,\" he said.<\/p>\n
After all, Mueller first came to Bali in 1970 when much of the
\nisland was still an anthropologist's dream: no electricity, no
\nmotorbikes, no telephones. \"It was so romantic, so simple. I
\nfell in love with Bali immediately and admired everything about
\nit, its culture, its music and theater, its village life, its
\narchitecture,\" said Mueller. It's this admiration for Bali's
\ntraditional ways which inspired his work.<\/p>\n
\"I wanted to show how traditional technology can be adapted to
\ncreate modern buildings. I wanted to prove that you don't have to
\nimport outside technology when traditional technology already
\nworks,\" he said.<\/p>\n
His chance of proving this arrived when one of the owners of
\nSanur Beach's Tanjung Sari Hotel asked him to build a small hotel
\n\"distinctly different\" than the multi-storied cement block Bali
\nBeach Hotel. The Tanjung Sari, staffed and built almost entirely
\nwith local skills and materials, was already an inspiration,
\nevidence for Sydney-based Mueller that his vision was possible.<\/p>\n
For Mueller, the Bali project would be an extension of his
\nwork in Australia, which used locally-specific organic materials,
\nsuch as sand for construction in deserts, and incorporated old-
\nstyle architecture, such as the adaptation of traditional
\nJapanese bracket-support flooring for Melbourne's Hoyts Cinema
\nCenter.<\/p>\n
Mueller's explanation for his style was simple. \"I already had
\na reputation in Australia of working with nature, not against
\nit,\" he said. Mueller likes his constructions to be as immersed
\nin its natural environment as possible. \"I don't want to destroy
\na landscape. If you can see my buildings from a distance, then I
\nhave failed.\"<\/p>\n
Yet Mueller's key to success is not merely his sensitivity to
\nthe environment, but also for the societies which live there.
\n\"I've always believed that all traditional peoples have found a
\nsuitable architecture that fits their place and culture.<\/p>\n
Building technology that has evolved all these years has to be
\nlooked at because it does work in their environments,\"
\nhe said. Mueller's respect for the local communities is
\nlegendary --for his first project in Bali, no nails or power
\ntools were allowed for construction, road builders had to work in
\nbare feet so as not to disturb anything, and a local priest was
\nhired as consultant so that the timing of foundation and roof
\nwork was agreed by the gods.<\/p>\n
But applying local technology, materials and customs is not
\nonly culturally sensitive, but also cheaper, says Mueller. For
\nthe new, 24-acre Oberoi Lombok on Medana Beach, North Lombok,
\nMueller used mostly what was found in the area: pink coral and
\nlimestone for the walls, bamboo, coconut trees and thatch for
\nother furnishings of the 20 luxury villas, 12 of which have
\nprivate pools.<\/p>\n
Much of the furniture was also handpicked in Lombok as Mueller
\nbelieves in providing as much income as possible for the local
\ncommunities. The dynamics are mutually beneficial: the Sasak-
\ncrafted coin-decorated pillows and woodwork enhance the resort's
\nelegantly ethnic flavor.<\/p>\n
Sprawling and spare of vegetation, the Oberoi Lombok is quite
\ndifferent from its Bali counterpart. Walking through the
\nperfectly kept but fairly empty grounds, one can barely avoid the
\nsweltering sun. Mueller says that space and that sun-baked
\nfeeling is exactly what Lombok is all about.<\/p>\n
\"It's intentional. All the trees were there already, we didn't
\nwant to add any more trees. Bali is very dense, but I wanted to
\nhave that sparse feeling that is Lombok,\" Mueller explained.<\/p>\n
Mueller's work for the Oberoi and in Bali is far from
\nfinished. He has two more Oberoi projects in Bali, the Oberoi
\nUbud and the Oberoi Bedugul, to complete.<\/p>\n
Then he also has to oversee the expansion of the Amandari, the
\nresort which also catapulted Mueller's name to prominence.<\/p>\n
The Amandari was the first of the Aman Resorts Group's
\nprojects in Bali and in Indonesia, and started the media hype
\nabout this very exclusive celebrity hideaway. Adrian Zecha,
\ndirector of the Aman Resorts Group, is largely credited with the
\nresorts' savvy marketing, but Mueller, and his sleek but graceful
\narchitecture, carries the distinction of establishing Aman's
\nreputation, at least in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
It was, after all, Mueller's idea to build a hotel inspired by
\na Balinese village, and to blend the building with its natural
\nenvironment. For example, Mueller's swimming pools, both at the
\nAmandari and at the Oberoi Lombok, become like waterfalls into
\nthe vista -- swimming there feels like being in the sea or a lake
\nedged with forest.<\/p>\n
The Amandari was Mueller's pet project; he not only designed
\nand built the resort, he also raised the money for it. Zecha
\ncame into the deal only two months before Mueller had finished
\nconstruction, and by then Mueller was so exhausted, he handed the
\nhotel management over to Zecha. After its opening, the Amandari
\nwent on to become one of the best luxury resorts in the world,
\nits guest list including Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Princess
\nDiana.<\/p>\n
Zecha's Aman Resorts have since achieved phenomenal success
\nwith its other projects the Amanusa in Nusa Dua, the Amankila in
\nEast Bali, and the Amanwana by Komodo Island -- but without
\nMueller. For his part, Mueller shows no regrets. \"I was too
\nbusy with other work to continue working with the Aman Group.\"<\/p>\n
Besides, I think the work of Ed Tuttle and Carrie Hill (Aman
\nResorts' other architects) are very elegant and quite different
\nthan mine. I don't feel they copy me.\"<\/p>\n
With regard to other followers, however, Mueller is more
\npointed, although he admits that imitation is indeed the highest
\nform of flattery. \"It's a good compliment when someone copies my
\nstyle. But you can copy and never be the same as the original\".<\/p>",
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