Indonesia’s first international standard performance and art venue sets an example for collaborative, developer-initiated and designer-led projects in Asia. Olha Romaniuk writes.
Bringing together various forms of artistic expression under one roof, the latest addition to Jakarta’s cultural scene is Ciputra Artpreneur, a 14,000 square metre art venue that aims to provide facilities for Indonesian artists to exhibit and promote their works. Comprising a state-of-the-art 1,200-seat theatre, museum, exhibition galleries and multi-purpose rooms, the new cultural nexus is the latest example of Indonesian developers taking a more keen interest in integrating art and cultural facilities into commercial and mixed-use developments throughout the country.
For Ciputra Artpreneur, local developer Ciputra enlisted the internationally renowned, multidisciplinary studio Benoy to deliver the world-standard facilities that were not only designed to accommodate international productions and travelling shows but were also grounded in the local context of Jakarta’s cultural and art scene.
Benoy’s design team, in turn, took full advantage of the new venue’s prominent location, nestled at the top of the Ciputra World Jakarta Mall, developing a spatial approach that incorporated content adaptable solutions like interchanging walls in the venue’s Main Gallery, adaptable to host large or intimate exhibitions.
“The design had to remain flexible to be relevant to both the local and international art scene in a range of media including painting, sculpture, performance and the visual arts,” Benoy’s design team reveals, “Therefore, the spaces had to be interchangeable and allow for a wide variety of expression. The double-height space in the Main Gallery, for example, allows it to be changed into a large screening area for video art and film.”
Contextualising Ciputra Artpreneur as the latest platform to showcase Jakarta as a force to be reckoned with on the international art scene, the design team presented strong, memorable design gestures throughout the venue’s spaces without overpowering the art on display. Benoy’s team also incorporates local art as part of the integrative design approach, ensuring a direct dialogue between the artworks and Benoy’s interiors.
According to the team, “The commissioned artwork by Hendra Gunawan influenced the interior design and, in places, was deconstructed and reinterpreted to fit the design scheme. The rich colours and expressive nature of the paintings have been complemented by the various textures, materials and patterns throughout the interiors of Ciputra Artpreneur.”
Within the space of the expansive, 1,200 seat theatre, Benoy’s team has created a visual feast for the eyes, providing a striking backdrop for the local and international productions taking stage here. The team worked together with an accomplished theatre consultant, Philip Soden, to meet aesthetic and technical requirements of the space and developed a faceted wall and ceiling panels accented by lights in between the deliberate panel gaps to create distinctive, geometric patterns animating the overall auditorium space in a unique way.
Having been envisioned as a place to discover and celebrate Indonesian and international art and artists, Ciputra Artpreneur sets a benchmark for other upcoming developments in Jakarta and beyond. The joint collaboration between Ciputra and Benoy highlights the value of integrating creative venues into mixed-use developments and establishes a precedent for future developer and designer partnerships.