Its title, ‘Tropicality: Houses by Andra Matin,’ hints at the subjects of this first-ever monograph on the residential work of Indonesian architect Andra Matin, published this month by Thames and Hudson. Framing tropical nature and landscapes through sequences of enigmatic spatial experiences, the 16 projects included were designed between 2006 and 2023; and through them, this architecture book narrates the studio's expanded approach to tropical modernist architecture, which embeds identity and culture into design, so a home becomes a portrait of people and place, as well as climate.
‘Tropicality: Houses by Andra Matin': explore the book
Born in Bandung, where he also studied architecture, Matin established his studio in Jakarta in 1998. Within the context of Indonesia, his work is certainly grounded in the devices associated with Tropical Modernism, derived from vernacular techniques and adapted to the modern age.
He works with a simple and exposed material palette of concrete, timber and brick, often using stilts and shaded overhangs associated with historic houses of East Java and Bali among other regions. Indoor and outdoor are always blended through circulation and courtyards, and landscaping is ever-present.
IH Resience, Bandung, 2015
Yet beyond a deep understanding of both vernacular and modernism, each house expresses a distinct character often driven by the lifestyles of clients – entrepreneurs, filmmakers and creatives – and sculpted through their interests in art, books, music, convivial socialising and quiet introspection.
AM Residence, Jakarta, 2012
In the foreword, Lyndon Neri, co-founder of Shanghai-based Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, writes: 'Matin's houses serve not as mere containers and backdrops for life, but rather dwellings as expressions of values drawn from the most intimate planes of existence and from personal attachments.'
IH Residence, Bandung, 2015
These ideas are present at Matin’s own family home, the AM Residence in South Jakarta designed in 2012 and featured in the book, where inventively layered elevations are connected by transitional ramps and informed in shape by the triangular site and its central trembesi tree. The modelling of light and dark across these layers provides a simultaneous shelter from, and immersion in, nature; there’s a shady library with a glazed wall framing the garden, a subterranean bathroom with a window to the roots of the earth, and an outdoor living room floating in a sea of green plants and trees.
Y&T Residence, Jakarta, 2022
Through the pages of the book, Matin blends architecture, landscape and living until they appear indistinguishable. It’s a skill Wallpaper* recognised in 2007 in its index of emerging architectural talent, the Architects Directory; after catching up again in 2020, his studio had grown from about 12 employees to more than 40. Now, after an Aga Khan award in 2022 for his innovative and ecologically-minded design for Banyuwangi Airport, this book is another layer in Matin’s architectural career that continues to extol the symbiosis of climate and culture for the contemporary age.
LH Residence, Jakarta, 2018
Tropicality: Houses by Andra Matin', with a foreword by Lyndon Neri, text by David Hutama and photographs by Davy Linggar, £50
-
Arket teams up with cult Swedish brand Massproductions on a new design collectionA selection of objects from Massproductions' The Little Things collection are now available via Arket in exclusive editions
-
Discover The Connaught’s near 130-year history in its first ever book‘The Connaught’, published by Assouline and written by Wallpaper* editor-in-chief Bill Prince, charts the Mayfair hotel’s extravagant history
-
The return of the bullhead: the watch design that refuses to conformLittle known outside of watch circles, but enthusiastically collected within them, bullhead watches have always been divisive. Identified by the crown at 12 o’clock, it made design sense – no digging into the wrist, allowing easier function as a stopwatch - but remains a speciality. But now, the bullhead is back
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into bouldersThe American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
Three lesser-known Danish modernist houses track the country’s 20th-century architectureWe visit three Danish modernist houses with writer, curator and architecture historian Adam Štěch, a delve into lower-profile examples of the country’s rich 20th-century legacy
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthThis September, Wallpaper highlighted a striking mix of architecture – from iconic modernist homes newly up for sale to the dramatic transformation of a crumbling Scottish cottage. These are the projects that caught our eye
-
Richard Neutra's Case Study House #20, an icon of Californian modernism, is for salePerched high up in the Pacific Palisades, a 1948 house designed by Richard Neutra for Dr Bailey is back on the market
-
A Bali retreat combines ‘width, warmth and quiet clarity’Alexis Dornier's hilltop holiday retreat in Bali's Uluuwatu offers a personal take on tropical architecture
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellingsWhile architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernismWe explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthWallpaper* has spotlighted an array of remarkable architecture in the past month – from a pink desert home to structures that appears to float above the ground. These are the houses and buildings that most captured our attention in August 2025
