Bintaro Design District 2023, Jakarta

Our pavilion has been selected to be part of the prestigious art and architecture event Bintaro Design District 2023 in Jakarta. This year’s theme is ‘Envisioning Nature’.

Bintaro Design District is a design event that connects the creative industry to the large public. Events such as OPEN HOUSE, OPEN ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN TALKS and 1:1 EXHIBITION are part of this festival in downtown Jakarta, Bintaro District.

A Poetic watchtower to re-envision the elements of nature

At a time when we are all faced with news of extreme natural events, we still fight against nature. 

We raise dikes and dams to resist water and let installations determine the climate in our buildings. In doing so, we deny nature a place, shutting it out instead of embracing it.

What would happen if we revisited the elements of nature, Water, Fire, Earth and Wind, as architectural design tools? 

With the Tower for Nature, we want to inspire the public to rethink their relationship to nature.

With our pavilion we want to literally elevate the audience to encourage the act of musing. The answer to life’s questions lurks on the horizon rather than next to you, and we see the horizon better when we sit higher. In this sense, view has a similar effect as fire: while staring at it, inner thoughts float by naturally.

Mesmerize by nature wonder

A touch of wind

In this reverie, we want to enchant the audience and make them see and feel the beauty of nature again, through the flickers of light created when water and sun meet with a touch of wind.

The watchtower is made of wood along with other simple elements such as loam-(earth), corrugated iron, canvas and steel. 

Raw materials

Self-sustaining

Inside the demountable wooden structure is a spatial route upwards that lets the visitor contemplate all sides of his environment.

The basin will refill itself with water through a water drainage forged through holes in the specific places of corrugated metal roof. 

A international dialogue between architecture and nature

Using a tiBy using a wooden structure, we also invite reflection on how, in architecture, we can work with – rather than against – the threats and treasures that nature has to offer. For example, to tie in with a current debate in the Netherlands: is the ambition to build more with wood the answer to sustainable and future-proof housing? If so, under what conditions, and how would this play out in the Indonesian context in high-density cities. During our stay in Jakarta, we will explore these questions further.

The event takes place 8-18 November 2023, Bintaro District, Jakarta, Indonesia.