The Jogyakarta, Indonesia,
based architect Eko Prawoto is a remarkable example of a new generation
of architects living in the developing countries who struggle daily
to improve the living conditions of the common people. He researches
deeply into the relationships between the geographic conditions,
namely tropicality, architectural tradition, urban reality and community
interests and develops construction projects for both everyday life
and spiritual and cultural activities in the region. In the meantime,
Eko Prawoto is a close friend and collaborator of the local experimental
art community. He has firmly involved with designing art spaces
and exhibitions, among other activities. Inspired by the landscape
of Buonconvento, the idea was to create a gate as a filter that
conjugates the city and the natural landscape, installed at it's
borderline. He resorts to straw, the most available local material,
in the field of the region and constructs them in the forms of traditional
Italian arch-like portals. Clearly this project perfectly expresses
Prawoto’s profound concern with the relationship between architecture
and environment. For him, and no doubt for those who visit it for
both touristic and everyday motives, this is a gateway between culture
and nature.
Eko Prawoto, Straw poem, 2003
Argine di Porta Senese, Buonconvento
Project for Arte all’Arte 2003
Photo Ela Bialkowska, view of the installation |
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