Despite advancement in modern technology, some people tend to look back and find luxury in heritage and handcrafted wisdom. It happens in many design disciplines including architecture and interior design. Thanks to BYO Living, the world can enjoy having the heritage of traditional weaving solutions in contemporary settings.
For ages, weaving culture has always been a solution for our livelihood – its design always adapts to future context. That is why BYO Living is practical at heart for their research and development, which is to listen to what the architect needs so they can customise products accordingly.
Some projects may need lightweight or budget fix, while others need more of the aesthetic or certain graphical approach. “Many people think that weaving is a trend, but for the years that we have built our presence, I think it is far more than that. During the recent economic crisis, BYO Living offers inexpensive building material solutions that also reduce usage of air conditioner. So economically, it goes both ways,” says Lim Masulin, the principal.
Today the companies went further in bigger scale of projects around 15,000-20,000 sqm. The pores in the woven panels provide great performance for better air ventilation than lower temperature in the interior spaces. No doubt that it would be a good material solution for a building that aims to get the LEED Platinum certification like Menara Astra, Jakarta. Architect Budi Lim, who designed the interior of the office spaces, gallery, private museum and Auto2000 inside this building, requested these spaces to have woven ceiling panels, covering thousands of square metres. These panels are handwoven with patterns from Sabang to Merauke made with a kind of rattan that grows only in certain location in Kalimantan.
This environmentally friendly approach can also come with the green material science. In one project in Surabaya, BYO Living covers the entire building skin out of woven panels made of recycled industrial plastic waste. This project also targets the industry standard of highest green building certification.
Material wise, there are requests of using different types of material. Yabu Pushelberg, for example, demanded for a metal woven panel from their office in Toronto.
The company also develops the computerised system for signage and logo, both for decorative panels and bigger scale projects. Having this, let them shift their way to exhibit their products, from trade expos such as Maison&Objet Paris to conceptual exhibitions like Venice Architecture Biennale. “CSR programmes, governments and international media outlets come with different enquiries. Recently we have been responding to artificial intelligence, robotic engineering, sustainable technology and shading coefficient – values that are curated for green building certifications,” Lim asserts.
Besides giving out the best for environment, BYO Living collaborates with local NGOs and the governments to train people to make better application with weaving skill. In collaboration with Pantau Gambut, an online platform that empowers peatland restoration, they promote peatland reservation in remote Bararawa Village in South Kalimantan and trained the villagers to apply weaving on everyday objects like chairs using their local material called purun.
BYO Living is currently working at Tulang Bawang Barat Market in Lampung. The entire building skin of this project will be made of woven panels, hence BYO Living transfers their knowledge and technology so it can be produced by the local people. “Our weaving wisdom keeps growing, why do we keep it in our closet? Let’s share it and collaborate” closes Lim.