Architects face world competition

Architects face world competition

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Following last November's APEC summit,
Indonesian architects will be faced with new challenges. At a
time when many Indonesian firms are struggling to get
commissions, the opening of the market to the international scene
will bring greater competition.

Indonesian architects already compete with foreign architects.
Having experienced harsh recessions in their home countries,
architects, particularly from the United States and Australia,
have found Indonesia's building boom to be a working haven.
Teaming up with local architects or working under the guise of
local companies, they pose a significant challenge for Indonesian
architects.

A good number of Indonesian architects cannot find work even
during the current boom because many projects have been won by
foreign firms. However, the fierce competition that Indonesian
architectural design firms face cannot be seen as the fault of
foreign architects. Rather, it calls for self introspection.

"Leading Indonesian architects lack vision," exclaimed Sonny
Sutanto, an instructor at the School of Architecture of the
University of Indonesia. He identified three major problems
leading Indonesian architects currently face.

First, most Indonesian architects' designs are stagnant. Many
buildings are simply not exciting, like the two high-rises at the
south end of Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta, which
some architects see as clumsy phallic designs.

Second, Indonesian architects have turned to building
production and place less attention on the process of design.
Even then, however, their production remains poor.

Related to the second problem, the third and perhaps the most
common problem of Indonesian architects is poor delivery. Many
contractors have complained that architects' working drawings are
often not complete or carelessly produced. Some have had to
redraw the construction details. Rather than having to deal with
poor working drawings produced by Indonesian architects, some
Japanese and Korean contractors even go so far as handling the
working drawings free of charge.

The situation has become even worse due to the lack of support
from the industry. As the anonymous architect points out, most
suppliers in Indonesia are really mere traders and are only
interested in selling their product. They could care less about
the quality of the products they supply.

The lack of vision on the part of the Indonesian architects
has lead to poor planning, hampering appropriate action. In turn,
it has become the root of the problems mentioned above.

Competitive services

Foreign architects come up with better designs, thorough
documentation work, meticulous specifications for materials and
details, and lower fees.

Many foreign firms are able to bid lower by breaking down
their work into many segments. The fees are calculated as a
percentage of the nominal sums of the services they provide. Each
segment is attached with a diminutive fee, almost transparent to
the client. In addition, foreign firms work efficiently and make
optimal use their precious database of past projects.

However, many Indonesians accuse foreign companies of lowering
their fees just to secure work here instead of having to face
tougher competition and the prolonged recession in their home
countries.

Some foreign firms also capitalize on the international image
Indonesians hold so dear, while they may be second rate firms in
their respective countries.

"What we get is often merely second or third rate designs,"
Sutanto added, referring to many mediocre buildings along the
Sudirman and Thamrin corridor.

According to Sutanto, even world famous architects such as I.
M. Pei provide design that have been seen before. It seems that
the BDNI City Tower he has designed to be erected next to the
Sahid Jaya Hotel on Jl. Sudirman will be similar to the Bank of
Cina in Hong Kong, which he designed in the late 1980s.

Seeing the phenomenon a little differently, another architect
who asked not to be named, observes that foreign firms are far
more efficient and superior in the management of their
documentation and database systems. Using vast building systems
templates, they are able to modify past systems into new designs
or even modify old designs into new ones with ease.

According to him, some Indonesian developers have bought used
designs from prominent international firms and one was caught
using a stolen design. A few years ago, a building on Jl. Gatot
Subroto was ruled as a copy of Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo's
famed Knights of Columbus building in New Haven, Connecticut, and
its developers were fined.

Packaged deal

Another phenomenon is the inclusion of architects into a
packaged financial deal. Some financiers, especially the Japanese
and Koreans, will provide funds for prospective projects on the
condition that the architects and contractors with which they are
associated, usually originating from their respective countries,
are incorporated into the project. These kinds of financial
packages tend to further exclude Indonesian architects.

Ultimately, the solution rests with Indonesian architects
themselves. Many large local firms, which were late in
anticipating competition, need to work on developing their
management. Antar, whose firm just started to use computer aided
design (CAD), sees the answer in computerization.

"Computers can help architectural designers to consider many
aspects of design comprehensively. They can help us produce
meticulous documentation and fine drawings," Antar said.

He adds that while Indonesian architects can create good
designs, far too often their presentation is so poor that they
fail to win the confidence of their prospective clients. Using
CAD, architects can reduce mistakes in drawings and also enhance
the presentations they prepare for their clients.

While another anonymous architect appreciates the Association
of Indonesian Architects' code of ethics, he deems it too
conservative. The code is too strict and does not allow for
market competition. To avoid price wars, the code of ethics
specify architectural design fees at a minimum percentage of
total construction costs. Architecture professionals are expected
to compete on the basis of design instead of fees. In reality,
clients more often than not make their decisions based on price.

The architect also suggests that architects should be able to
lower their fees by providing less. He himself often charges his
clients half the amount that he should charge according to the
association's standards. The professional is able to do so
because he has a good working relationship with the contractor he
uses. He produces a compact set of drawings and leaves the design
development to the contractor. He justifies charging
significantly less by doing less work.

Because architects can be held accountable for the quality of
their designs, documentation work is a crucial component of any
project. The professional should provide complete documentation
not only to ensure that their project is properly constructed,
but also to protect them from suits if anything goes wrong. While
producing less drawings may enable architects to compete, it also
confirms the belief that professionalism among Indonesian
architects is deteriorating.

Role models

The presence of foreign architects in Indonesia can also be a
plus. The designs of internationally acclaimed architects, such
as Paul Rudolph (Wisma Dharmala Sakti) and Kohn Pederson Fox
(Niaga Tower) on Jl. Sudirman, have placed Jakarta on the map of
world architecture. Jakarta has become a new intersection of
architectural trends.

Many foreign architectural firms serve as excellent role
models. I. M. Pei's Pei Cobb Freed firm is one to look up to.
Currently planning the Bank Danamon City on Jl. Sudirman, it is
placing its footprint on the architectural scene in Indonesia.
When the Association of Indonesian Architects asked them to
reconsider the demolition plan of an old mosque on the site, they
immediately responded that they had not been informed of the
significance of the Syarif Hidayatullah Mosque. Some people even
believe that the property developers and the local architectural
partners never informed the international firm of the existence
of the mosque. Pei Cobb Freed have committed themselves to
rethink their designs.

Rumors have it that Gae Aulenti, the Italian architect of the
Musee D'Orsay in Paris, will be designing Indonesia's new
National Gallery of Art. Her design will certainly add another
significant work to the architectural scheme of Jakarta.

Other Indonesian firms have tied themselves to international
design firms in a fashion much like fast-food franchises.
Partnerships with international firms guarantee transfer of
technology which enables standards to meet international
expectations and requirements. This seems to be the way to go.

Indonesian professionals not affiliated with international
firms don't mind learning from the best. With the global market
encroaching, the saying "when in Rome, do what the Romans do" is
no longer valid. So instead, as American architect Robert Venturi
learned from the commercial strip in his book Learning form Las
Vegas, Indonesian architects can learn much from the traffic of
world architecture at its new crossroads in Jakarta.