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The Katamama hotel opening in Bali next month stays true to its roots, drawing on architectural styles native to Indonesia.
Architect Andra Matin designed the five-storey structure following the rules of a Balinese practice called ‘tri angga’, whereby the building is proportionate in size to the number of its inhabitants.
More than a million bricks hand-crafted by artisans in the local village of Penglipuran make up the 58-suite structure, run by the PTT Family hospitality group.
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Matin and the interior designers – Singapore-based Takenouchi Webb – also took cues from ‘Jengki’, a post-war Modernist style developed in Indonesia, which was heavily inspired by the Mid-century Modern movement in the US.
‘[Building] the Katamama felt more like we were building a house,’ PTT Family’s interior and product executive Sashia Rosari told Monocle.
Each suite in the hotel has its own outdoor terrace and 1960s-style objects, including one-off pieces from the personal collection of PTT Family founder Ronald Akili.
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‘Ronald’s design is driven by his passion for the mid-century look,’ Rosari adds. ‘Sometimes the reference wasn’t just furniture: it might have been a Bauhaus room. It’s a particular vibe or particular feel.’
Elsewhere, the Katamama’s bar, led by mixologist Dre Masso, has a similar Modernist aesthetic with natural stone tiled ceilings. The hotel also has a 130 sq m swimming pool – decked with ironwood and locally crafted green tiling.
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Its restaurant – shared with the nearby Potato Head Beach Club, also run by the PTT Family – has a material palette of red bricks, rattan and natural stone. It is the result of a collaboration with Melbourne-based Spanish eatery MoVida.
The Katamama is the first of three planned projects by the hospitality group on the island of Bali.
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