'Relative value': A home built for family unity<\/p>\n
Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A house is more than just a place that reflects the people living
\nin it or hints at the owner's personality or lifestyle. It can
\nalso embody the principles and values by which the owners live
\ntheir life.<\/p>\n
That is true in the case of young architect Evan Davin Lee,
\nwhose experiments with geometric shapes and materials at his
\nfamily's house is concentrated on the concept of family unity.<\/p>\n
Its design is unique: It reminds some of a church, the Sydney
\nOpera House, a ship or even a Minang traditional house from West
\nSumatra, making it unique from other residences in the exclusive
\nPantai Indah Kapuk housing complex in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Leading in from its Chinese-style entrance, it has a small
\nliving room, five bedrooms, three bathrooms -- including one en
\nsuite in the master bedroom -- a hobby\/drawing room, kitchen,
\ndining room, pantry, library, seating room and a study that has
\nbeen transformed into an office for Evan's architectural firm.<\/p>\n
The post-modern house, standing on a 552-square-meter plot,
\nwas designed with a round structure as its core, with four other
\nstructures around it.<\/p>\n
"According to Chinese beliefs, a round shape reflects a whole,
\nunited family and I used the shape as the core of the house with
\nall rooms in this house facing toward or with an orientation to
\nthe core," he explained, adding there were also six pillars that
\nsymbolize the family members and that "support" the core.<\/p>\n
Due to the round center, every room has a curved wall, which
\nEvan said helped to remind members of his family about the core
\nof family unity.<\/p>\n
The curved walls also opened up opportunities for him to
\ndesign furniture that fit the respective room's function.<\/p>\n
"The house's uncommon shape needs unique-shaped furniture as
\nwell. It was an exciting challenge to create them but I thought
\nthere had to be a solution," Evan said.<\/p>\n
Acknowledging people's preferences for a more conservative
\nhouse that focused only on certain shapes or materials, the
\narchitect said the house was his first "experiment".<\/p>\n
"When creating this house, I freed myself from restrictions. I
\nused different shapes and materials .... This is my first design
\nand I wanted it to be my best, so I put everything I had in mind
\nto make it unique."<\/p>\n
For building materials, Evan chose mostly local natural
\nmaterials, like timber and marble as well as other natural
\nstones, which he playfully combined to create an interesting
\ninterior effect.<\/p>\n
The house has large windows with a huge oval-shaped window in
\nthe core structure, from which the sunlight provides a play of
\nlight in different shadows in the family room from dawn to dusk.<\/p>\n
"No artificial lighting is needed during daylight," Evan said.<\/p>\n
The house's multilayered walls serve not only as interesting
\naccents but also inconspicuous covers for vents that allow air to
\nflow into the interior.<\/p>\n
Evan explained that the bedrooms were designed in such a way
\nas to enable the paths to cross of all the family members, thus
\nensuring interaction between them -- in harmony with the concept
\nof the house.<\/p>\n
"The bedrooms are not spacious and are very functional. No TV
\nset, refrigerator or in-room bathroom, except in the master
\nbedroom. Basically they are only for sleeping in. This does not
\nencourage people to stay long in their bedrooms," he said.<\/p>\n
The lighting design was created to meet functional purposes
\nfor the interior as well as the esthetic purpose of the exterior.<\/p>\n
The front garden was also designed to match the overall family
\nunity concept with access that leads to the core structure.<\/p>\n
The rear garden, where a construction project is currently
\ntaking place to make a basement, is embellished with bamboo
\nplants that radiate an oriental atmosphere in the area,
\naccentuated by a large, curved stone wall that also helps direct
\nair to the house interior.<\/p>\n
Evan chose tropical plants that require low maintenance, like
\nbamboo and palm trees. "None of the members of the family has a
\nspecial liking for gardening," he said with a laugh.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/relative-value-a-home-built-for-family-unity-1447893297",
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