The Beach Front
Villa Kanan & Kiri - Ketut Siandana and Popo Danes
A project that is of particular interest since it features the work of two Balinese architects, whose distinctive styles bear little resemblance to one another.
Both took very different approaches to the challenge of ensuring that one of the project’s primary selling points – the ocean view – was utilized to the maximum on what is a relatively narrow site.
Villa Kanan (above right) is inspired by traditional rural communities, with a living compound that aims to capture this feeling of a traditional tegalan (cultivated area), featuring a profusion of trees and the extensive use of traditional materials. The im-perative that each of the villa’s four bedrooms enjoyed ocean views was achieved by careful site observation, focusing on levels and orientation. The result is that each bedroom has the feeling of standing entirely alone in front of the ocean, each private from its neighbor. The villa’s pool appears to float above the ground, al¬lowing views of the ocean yet complete privacy from the beach.
Popo Danes came on board at a later stage of the project and while his design appears at first glance quite differ¬ent from the first, it actually complements it, this being his intention. Villa Kiri incorporates the classical Balinese courtyard in his design, using a rectilinear arrangement which places the courtyard in the centre so that even the garden at the rear of the villa enjoys a view of the ocean. At the same time, a modern aesthetic is combined with a functionality that is inherently local.
