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Whether consciously or not, human activities occur in provided spaces. These spaces are the objects that designers turn into places – according to their functions. Considering people's lifestyle, ‘luxury’ might be one of the most highlighted aspects of design during development. As space became more limited a new term of luxury came to the forefront: ‘Smart Luxury’.
STORY BY Barbara Hahijary PHOTO BY Bagus Tri Laksono
IZE Hotel (by TONTON studio)
The man behind the luxurious Amanresorts, Adrian Zecha, once said, “Space is one of the most important dimensions of the thing called luxury. Comfort, too, but emotional comfort is only possible with space.” Indeed, spaciousness may provide an unmatched quality of luxurious comfort for people, but at the same time, designers had to think about the efficiency of their design in order to smartly design a luxurious space.
Kalibata City
For many people, living in the big city is regarded as a luxury. On the other hand, the limit on available space in cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Medan and Makassar, means they have not expanded along with population growth. Therefore, both owners and designers have to consider the availability of space – which is the opposite of ‘luxury’. Due to this concern, designers managed to make a new concept of living with limited space. Compact living became better known after much research, as it answered the luxurious needs of living in the center of the city while at the same time enjoying most the luxuries usually associated with a landed house. Hence many people started move from 'houses' to 'apartment units'.
FRii
This matter also came into play for hoteliers, as the term ‘luxury’ for the guest might be as simple as being in a prime location with compact facilities. Hotel groups then started to build ‘smart hotels’ as their solution for guests’ desire for ‘smart luxury’. These hotels have comfortable, smart rooms that provide basic facilities (such as a good quality bed, bathroom amenities, safe deposit box, TV, Wi-Fi, breakfast and a business centre) in hotels that are mostly located in the upmarket business district.
Keraton
The space issue applies to many other places – from shops to office spaces. With the changing needs of the city, spaces in old buildings are also smartly converted to suit new functions. To some activities, people are also pampered with alternatives that need zero percent space, such as online shopping, which offers customers smart a shopping experiment with the added luxurious time saving of not having to visit stores physcially. Above all, the term ‘smart luxury’ appears when a ‘smart’ solution to people’s need for 'luxury' can be provided.
Keraton
Some people still consider ‘smart luxury’ as a wannabe approach – so it might not yet be considered ‘luxury'. As people tend to have different views and perceptions about these two words, you need to define your own priorities to sum up what ‘smart luxury’ space may suit you.