US architects Aranda\Lasch unveil a museum that blends art with landscape

Budidesa Art Park, designed by New York- and Tuscon-based architecture firm Aranda\Lasch, will help the Indonesian island of Bali to make its mark in the global contemporary art world

(Image credit: Aranda\Lasch )

By Ellie Stathaki

published 1 October 2015

Bali’s appeal, heritage and natural beauty are no secret – and the new Budidesa Art Park is set to help the Indonesian island make its mark in the global contemporary art world too. The project, created by Aranda\Lasch (opens in new tab) architects and Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneur, philanthropist and collector Budi Tek, will encompass a series of art gardens, exhibition spaces and a residence within the island’s tropical environment just north of its capital of Denpasar.

Tek is a well-known supporter of the arts. Having founded the Yuz Foundation (opens in new tab) in 2007 to promote art – local and international - the creation of this museum in his home country was the next step for the entrepreneur, who, together with the architects, envisioned this experience as ‘art within nature’.

The mild Balinese climate is perfect for this, so indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces blend into one in this project, seamlessly connecting with their natural context. A series of inhabitable, strikingly cascading roofs give visitors the chance to view the artworks while taking in Bali’s beautiful landscape – at the same time, adding a strong sculptural quality to the building itself. The complex’s residence blends Chinese and Balinese layout typologies, echoing the project’s art collection.

The New York- and Tuscon-based architecture firm presents the scheme’s design in public for the very first time this week, through their participation in the main Chicago Architecture Biennale exhibition (opens in new tab), currently showing at the city’s iconic Culture Centre.

The project - bankrolled by Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneur, philanthropist and collector Budi Tek – will blend art and landscape

Tek is a well-known supporter of the arts and has envisioned this experience as ‘art within nature’

The mild Balinese climate is perfect for this, so indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces blend into one in this project, seamlessly connecting with their natural context

The project’s art collection — The complex’s residence blends Chinese and Balinese layout typologies, echoing the project’s art collection

INFORMATION

Photography courtesy of Aranda\Lasch

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).