Tamansari began in March 2025, on a 400 sqm piece of tropical tegalan land in Bali. From the start, the intention was simple: build with the landscape, not against it. The house plan was shaped around the existing terrain and the placement of mature trees, allowing the environment to remain as untouched as possible.
When we say tropical jungle, we mean it literally. Today, the garden is home to more than 50 species of plants–and still growing. Every layer of greenery is designed to function naturally within the space, creating a living ecosystem that benefits both people and the surrounding environment. A quiet sanctuary for anyone drawn to biophilic living.
Architecturally, Tamansari is a dialogue between Balinese vernacular design and contemporary brutalism. Traditional forms, textures, and spatial principles are reinterpreted through a more modern lens–balancing heritage, raw materiality, and the comfort standards of contemporary hospitality. The house incorporates salvaged cultural heritage elements: carved stone fragments, aged wood joinery, and architectural details sourced from structures with their own histories, folded into the building without explanation or display.
The bookshelves are an extension of the same logic. Built over years of research, fieldwork, and deliberate collecting, they hold a substantial body of works on Asian art and material culture, Indic and Buddhist philosophy, Balinese and Javanese tradition, botanical science, Indonesian flora and fauna, and nonfiction writing that takes culture seriously. They are working references that reward slow reading and reward it again on return. What is here is here because it earns its place.