Jaya Ibrahim: Designer translates tradition for our time

K. Basrie, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"I am not an architect by schooling," admitted Jaya Ibrahim.

He studied sociology and economics at York University in England, but it is his fashionable and exotic interior design creations that have made him the talk of international architectural circles.

In January this year, he was named among the world's 100 top interior designers and architects by Architectural Digest maga zine.

In The Tropical Asian House, published in Singapore last year, author Robert Powell explores the diverse contemporary touch of the tropical continent. Among those selected to be featured were Jaya.

Here in his homeland, his projects include The Dharmawangsa, the luxury boutique hotel in Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta, the Legian, a small exclusive all-suite resort in Bali, the Four Seasons at Jimbaran, also in Bali, the colonial-style Museum Cafe in Jakarta's venerable Kota area, Wayang Gallery in Jakarta and several private upscale homes.

He has also been involved in the restoration of places like the State Palace and the Jakarta City Hall.

Abroad, his recent projects cover the interiors of the Fuchun Resort in China, the lounge of T8 restaurant in Shanghai, the Trans Asia hotel in Sri Lanka, Sukotai hotel in Bangkok and a grand boutique shop in Taipei.

"On average, I only have 10 days every month in Jakarta. The rest I have to examine my ongoing projects outside," he said at his cozy office of Jaya Ibrahim Associate (jayaoffice@cbn.net.id) on Jl. Erlangga in South Jakarta.

Born in Yogyakarta of traditional Javanese parents, Jaya left Indonesia after high school and spent the next two decades in London.

He continued on from his economics background to work as an accountant but only lasted less than a year in the job, realizing it was not his calling.

Jaya then made a living as a dishwasher at the famed Blakes boutique hotel in South Kensington, London, before he met the hotel's owner, Lady Weinberg, aka Anouska Hempel, who had become a London hotelier and internationally renowned fashion and interior designer.

"I then became her assistant and found that interior design was my real world, which I was desperately looking for," Jaya said.

The news of his father's death forced him to fly back home in 1992. But his family, particularly his beloved mother, the recession that battered many European countries and the property boom in Indonesia that offered greater opportunities managed to shift his heart and mind. He decided not to return to London.

"So many reasons and so many happenings made me finally pick Indonesia as my homebase. After all, I am a citizen of this republic."

Since then, he established his own firm and works for corporate and individual orders from his Jakarta office. He also has a secretary in Hong Kong to help manage orders.

"Based on my experience in handling interior designs for hotels, I'm happy to get hotels because we'll only deal with the concept," he said.

"For private homes, sometimes the clients have no idea what they really want, while I am very conscious to meet the needs of my clients."

In his eyes, a home or property designed with an all-out immersion in a certain ethnic, cultural or period theme in a completely different environment is no longer unique. Instead, it becomes an eyesore to passers-by and guests.

"During the property boom era, for example, people were racing to totally copy designs from outside, like European, Mediterranean and Californian styles, for their buildings here.

"And you saw what happened? For me, it's like something alien."

It's not wrong, he said, to take your pick of a range of designs, "but a home with 100-percent Balinese design in Jakarta still doesn't fit with its new surroundings, right?"

He advises people who wish to select an outside design for their environment to make sure that it also embraces certain parts of its new surroundings in the design.

"We all are often being influenced but let's use it to inspire our creative works. Catch the spirit only," Jaya said.

It's based on this simple philosophy that Jaya carries out commissions. His projects for the five-star Fuchun Resort and T8 restaurant, for example, prodded him to first master an understanding of the history of China to rediscover its culture, traditions and touches from new and different perspectives.

"I'm glad that visitors at T8, for instance, were stunned with my work, saying that the overall setting really looks like an the legendary authentic China Clubs."

Jaya's European experience and Javanese roots play a significant role in his works, and it's apparent at his Erlangga office. Grandly furnished with antique Javanese accessories and ornaments, the office also has European nuances, such as framed works on paper of European designers of the 1800s.

His long-time adventure with design powerhouse Hempel also indirectly inspired some of his works here, such as certain parts of The Dharmawangsa and his outstanding house in Bogor, which has been described by many as one of Jaya's most prestigious works.

The interior decor of the 30-room Blakes hotel, which has become the model for fashionable small hotels around the globe and a magnet for international business, is dark and opulent with black walls, lots of distressed leather, bamboo, luxurious cushions and some Asian artifacts.

It offers the high-class of style, elegance and sensational service to film stars, top designers and well-traveled connoisseur.

Have a brief look at his complete projects here and you can feel the spirit and even a dialog between his European journey, his Javanese blood and, of course, the elegant taste of the owners.

Along with his British partner, John Saunders, whom he met in London in the early 1980s, Jaya translates all of them into a grand manuscript.

The first joint project of Jaya and Saunders was the renovation of a dilapidated Victorian flat in London. Since then, they have continued working together on various private commissions, including the renovation of a 12th century monastery near Lucca in Italy.

Jaya stands in the ranks of designers who don't believe in the exclusivity of a design. Anyone, for instance, can learn from one design and craft a new one based on his own taste.

"Look at the craftsmen in the 17th and 18th centuries, they saw the European furnitures and adopt the styles but based on their own cultures. It's not imitating," he said.

"All of traditional art and crafts available can be interpreted by redesigning them into a modern contemporary language and based on the local touch where they will be placed."

In fashioning hotels, he strives so that the look and mood of one hotel are different and unique from others.

"A guest entering the lobby of a hotel in Jakarta should have the feeling that he or she is in a hotel in Jakarta, not similar to one in Hong Kong or Manila," he said.

"But today, the look of the lobby of many hotels is similar, leaving guests with same feeling wherever they are checking in."