'Architecture of Bali', comprehensive in detail

'Architecture of Bali', comprehensive in detail

Damaso Reyes, Contributor, Bali

It was while I was sitting in the courtyard of my newly rented
house in Bali that I came to really appreciate the new book by
Made Wijaya, Architecture of Bali: A Source Book of Traditional
and Modern Forms.

Flipping through the coffee table book of over 200 pages, I
began to recognize in the photographs, illustrations and
descriptions of elements that I had seen in my own home without
understanding their significance or context. Much more than just
another coffee table book on what has become known as "Bali
Style", Architecture of Bali is as good a reference to the
history and modern representations of Balinese architecture as
there is.

The author has produced several other books, including
Tropical Garden Design and At Home in Bali. In addition to
producing Poleng magazine, Wijaya has spent the past several
decades building a highly respected and successful architecture
and landscape design firm. Having lived in Bali for nearly 30
years seems to have given Wijaya not only a deep love for
Balinese culture and society but a deep insight into the soul of
Balinese architecture, something that has been missing in so many
of the design and style books produced on this subject in recent
years.

The best way to describe this book is as a fun and accessible
encyclopedia. In fact, its predecessor was called Balinese
Architecture: Towards an Encyclopedia. The large book is divided
into eight chapters with titles that include the Balinese
Village, Courtyard Elements, Building Materials and Architectural
Hybrids. Each chapter has as many as 13 two-page subchapters,
which go into detail about the elements that make up Balinese
architecture.

"I hope that this book will remind some, and inform many, of
the wonder that is Balinese architecture. It is arguably the
perfect architectural language, in terms of scale, beauty and
functionality, that ever evolved in the tropical world," Wijaya
writes in the preface of the book.

The book travels from the general to the specific, giving the
reader a context to understand both how the forms of Balinese
architecture arose as well as how they are implemented and have
been interpreted through the centuries. As a newcomer both to
Bali and to architectural design, the book impressed upon me how
important the minute details are in this design form, something
that the author points out is becoming increasingly lost with the
modern overdevelopment of the island.

The soul of Balinese architecture lies in the village, where
many of the architectural forms sprang from. Many know this
island as an intensely spiritual place and much of life revolves
around that part of life. The layout of villages as well as homes
and public spaces within the framework of Balinese architecture
centers around proportion and balance. This is where the book
begins, in the traditional mountain villages where the heads or
important structures of the village are aligned with the holy
mountain and the legs or temples of death and graveyards are
directed toward the sea. In this first chapter we see the
traditional examples of public buildings as well as hotels based
on that theme.

Each chapter begins with a short essay on the topic that gives
context to the further subchapters, which are expanded in shorter
essays on the elements of the chapter's topic.

The bulk of the book has over 600 photographs, including
wonderful double-page spreads that come before each chapter. This
is one of the places where the thoroughness of the author and his
design staff truly stand out.

Hundreds of photographs as well as dozens of illustrations
fill the pages. But they are not just of well-lit and composed
color interiors and exteriors. The book also contains many old
black and white images showing Bali and its people, which have,
if not completely disappeared, been pushed aside in the rampant
development of the island into the number one tourist destination
in Southeast Asia. It would be reason enough to buy the book just
for these images. Each page includes brief but descriptive
captions of the photographs that add meaning to what might be
otherwise considered beautiful window dressing.

Perhaps what makes Architecture of Bali so entertaining as
well as informative is the use of text and photographs. While the
book contains the information of an encyclopedia, it in no way
feels like one. This is because the main descriptive tool used
here is visual. Instead of bogging the book down with 1,000-word
essays on various topics, Wijaya uses photographs wherever
possible and illustrations that include some wonderfully funny
ones and meticulous cutaways where needed. Since architecture is
an inherently visual medium, it makes sense that this would be
the primary explanatory tool. The simple layout and uncluttered
design of each page allows the imagery to come to the forefront
to support but be undisturbed by the accompanying text. The keen
eye may detect a few digital photographs, mainly in the later
chapters dealing with modern elements, which are not quite up to
snuff when compared to the other beautifully resolved images.

Bali Architecture is a book so large in its scope and
comprehensive in its detail that the reader must go back to it
again and again in order to get the full value of the information
enclosed. It is sad to think that in many book shops it may be
lumped together on display with the dozens of other books on
Southeast Asian design since this book is a real gem. Perhaps the
true dilemma the reader may face is whether to share the book
with friends as a gift or keep it to oneself. Let's hope the book
shops don't run out.

Architecture of Bali: A Source Book Of Traditional and Modern Forms;
By Made Wijaya; Archipelago Press/Wijaya Words, 2002; 224 pp.