Made Wijaya and Inspiration

A couple of weeks ago, the Star published an interesting interview with landscape and interiors designer Made Wijaya a.k.a. Michael White. Made made his name designing the gardens of the Bali Oberoi and has gone on to become something of a guru in his field. He points out Asia's shortcomings:

1. Many Asians lack conviction on design integrity. They often fail to follow through on important details such as furnishings, lighting or colour scheme. Asians are also handicapped by taboos e.g. fengshui blah blah.

2. Asian cities tend to prefer an architectural style that seeks to control nature rather than integrate it. So we usually end up with glass, concrete or steel towers which are air-conditioned to the max rather than open spaces, courtyards and natural vents that are more suited to our tropical climates.

3. Asians also fear colour in their homes. Made says: 'The tropics should be colourful, look at Sri Lankan architecture as well as Mexico and Africa. The Maldives, Mauritius and Malaysia are all brown and beige interiors, very boring-lah after a few years'. I couldn't agree more.

So the emphasis really is on interiors since not many of us have the luxury to construct our own homes. [If I did, I would incorporate many of the features of the Blue Mansion in Penang or the Chinatown courtyard shophouses in Malacca]. I draw inspiration from several sources though I have to admit that they are all foreign ones. I gave up on magazines like Trend or Home (published in Singapore) because all the homes that they feature do exactly what we shouldn't. Beige, glass, aluminium, leather sofas - in a word, Yuk! My favourite magazine is Livingetc. I am not sure what is the term to describe the London style they feature but I would call it vintage chic. They are very good at using colour and old furniture pieces that many of us would normally not look twice at. If done right, it can make decorating quite inexpensive because many of these old furniture can be salvaged from secondhand furniture shops.

I also like to browse coffee table books on Moroccan and Mexican style. I love their use of colours and textiles. These books and mags are expensive but there are ways to score cheapies. Some bookshops have back issues for under RM10. I also pick up coffee table books at book sales. I found my all time favourite from one of these sales a few years ago. It's a book by Designers Guild founder Tricia Guild. My latest find at the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale at Amcorp Mall last week is a volume on Indochinese style. I quite like this look: