Jakarta
lost one of its finest designers last month: Jaya Ibrahim, interior designer of
the iconic Darmawangsa, and Indonesian-style
ambassador extraordinaire, died on May 5 after an accident at home.
It
must be said that for such a big country, with such extraordinary cultural
richness, very few designers have devoted themselves to Indonesian style.
During the 1980s, Iwan Tirta
championed traditional batik as his
fashion house grew into an industry — a tradition now continued by a
handful of talented designers such as Milo, Ghea Sukasah, and Bin Manansang. In
architectural design there really hasn’t been anyone since the great Romo Mangun of Yogyakarta died in
the 1960s. One tends to think of Australians Peter Muller and Kerry Hill as
master interpreters of traditional Indonesian architecture.
Australian
Warwick Purser and Indonesian-born Wieneke de Groot
have devoted their lives to Indonesian design and crafts, it is true, and
Americans Dale Keller and Ed Tuttle did great culturally-referenced work here
over the decades; but the only successful interior-design professional who
exported classic Java style was Jaya Ibrahim.
Although
a Minang by birth, he worshipped everything Javanese.
His three homes in Jakarta are temples to Java style, and museums of exquisite
Javanese objects. His ‘regency’ aesthetic, formed over 20 years working in
London (see obituary opposite page) fitted snugly over his love of Javanese
palace refinement — the base of his work. For formal occasions in Jakarta
he dressed as a Javanese nobleman, even affecting the fan and flutters so
popular in Javanese palaces. The Jakartan Chinese
adored his aesthetic because it was clean, with no hints of voodoo.
I
was lucky enough to visit the first two homes he designed – one for
himself and his partner, John Saunders; and one for his mother — with
photographer Tim Street-Porter, my guru in design voyeurism. Tim and his wife,
Annie Kelly, often returned to visit Jaya and document his work — now an
important part of the archive of Jaya’s contributions to the international
design world.
Very
few young Indonesians have tried to emulate Jaya. They either don’t get it
(don’t love the Javanese aesthetic) or end up doing mannerist pastiches. Jaya
has had more influence over young turk
designers from Singapore — architect Chan Soo Khian, WOHA, and landscaper Chang Huai-yan.
In Bali, Malaysian architect Cheong Yew Kuan, a good
friend of Jaya’s, has developed a pavilion style, based on Indonesian
architecture, that is as refined as Jaya’s interiors.
It
is in Jaya’s collaboration with another Indonesian aesthete, Sukabumi-born Adrian Zecha,
founder of Amanresorts, that he achieved global
recognition. In China, Jaya’s interiors for two Amanresorts
there — The Aman at Summer Palace and The Amanfayun — are masterpieces of elegant restraint.
Jaya’s more modern work for The Setai in Miami and The
Chedi in Milan were also much acclaimed.
This
month the Indonesian design community mourns the loss of its biggest star, and
hopes that John Saunders and the Jaya teams around Asia keep the legacy alive.
Anyone
lucky enough to have stayed in the Darmawangsa
Hotel will have experienced the Jaya magic — walking through the uber-elegant museum-like corridors, one is submerged in Majapahit and Central Javanese culture.
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| Jaya Ibrahim and Asmoro Damais Arifin |
Jaya Ibrahim has died in Jakarta, aged 67. He was
Indonesia's answer to Harold Acton, the famed gentleman aesthete of Fiesole,
New York, and London. Like Acton, he was from good stock — nobleman
father from Minangkabau, Pakualaman
Yogyakarta mother — had exquisite taste and beautiful manners (honed over twenty years of working with Anouska Hempel (Lady Wienfeld) in London). I met him shortly after his return to
Jakarta — and the success of Blakes Hotel,
which he did with Hempel — and after he had
built the extraordinarily beautiful family home in Cinere
that made him a name in designer circles. We went on a trip to Minangkabau with a few friends, and visited Jaya's father's
grave: everyone in the township was as handsome as he was, and as lanky, and
even the bleached art deco Minangkabau architecture
there seemed a perfect fit. As a travel companion, he was gracious, almost
regal, and a great dispenser of brotherly and sisterly advice.
His career really took off after his huge
success with the Darmawangsa Hotel in Jakarta. The world seemed to own him for the last twenty years; many of his
old chums lost touch. With his partner, John Saunders, he established a
base in Bangkok from which to travel to China and Miami and Mexico, where he
was in great demand — his clean Asian aesthetic was very much in vogue.
His design sensibilities were refined. As he grew more into Madam Butterfly,
affecting a fan and geisha make-up during the later years, no-one
batted an eyelid. Like Lagerfeld, he had achieved a status and a pinnacle that
sort of demanded a more theatrical public persona. It was his slice of
cherished English eccentricity, perhaps. With his friends and clients he
remained charming and down-to-earth — more dandy
than diva. He opened a brilliant shop, called Solo, where we could all buy his
amazing furniture and lamps; he published a catalogue of his product, and was
much published in Architectural Digest
by his good friend Tim Street-Porter. The Venetian-Javanese palace he built with
his life-long friend, John, in the hills east of Jakarta, was another
masterpiece.
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More photos of Jaya's work by Tim Street-Porter
