Jaya Ibrahim: Designer translates tradition for our time

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."