Post C: Residents Insight

I decided to interview my uncle Peter, he had been living in Bali a few years ago and I managed to visit him once while he was living and working their. He said that he lived in Seminyak, a great little area on Denpasar, Bali, for just over four years, he left about 3 years ago to move to Christmas Island to help with the growth of a new hospital there.

His work in Bali was a little different to the norm, he oversaw the setup of the Eye Hospital at the BIMC Hospital in Bali, after this he became the manager of the Eye Hospital wing. This was a step up for him as he worked for the Red Cross in Sydney.

He described the Balinese people as kind and giving, I think it is to do with their religion and their sense of family. He absolutely loved working with the Balinese people. He recalled that the only problems that he ever encountered were to do with some small work ethics; arriving late, wanting to leave early. But these were very minor problems.

He lived in a great little kampung, it had it’s own gate an security, with a perfect Warung at the entrance. Over the years he grew to know many people in the kampung, including the owners of the Warung, so it was a lot of fun, many laughs were had. At work the conditions were pretty comparable to back in Sydney, not much different. During the construction and fit out of the hospital he was a little worried, you know, having something built in a third world country, seeing how careless some of the construction workers were, walking around bare foot. But everything was fine, being a hospital I think they took extra care.

Taken by my uncle Peter

I asked him as a foreigner did he think it waseasy to fit in with the local community? He replied that neing the tourist destination that it is, is was pretty easy fitting around. He thought was a bit different when you live there though. Initially it was a bit lonely, but over time he made some great friends, both locals and internationals. The people in his local kampung were very interested in him when he first moved in, I think that they just wanted to practice their english. When I visited him back in 2008 I also noticed this.

When asked about the social life being in a foreign speaking country, he said that it was pretty good. There were lots of Warungs close to him, so I was eating out most nights as the food is so cheap. There were also many bars and restaurants close that catered to foreigners so it was pretty interesting.

Bali and Indonesia seem as a vibrant area yet relaxing and welcoming.

Post D: Lama hidup revolusi!

The mid to late 90’s saw the birth of Punk in Indonesia, this movement was a anti-authoritarianism move by young Indonesians during the final years of the ruthless and brutal dictatorship by President Suharto that lasted 32 years.

This gave more and more people the motivation see the world through their own eyes, not the politicians. Looking with intelligence and having the blueprint to fight the system, this allowed the Indonesians to respond to their own political, social and economic realities. Lama hidup revolusi!

Pari_2Punk, is an ideology, a form of expression and fashion, and to the punks its a way of life, it is life. Punks are free, they strongly believe in anti-establishment, anti-authoritarianism, non-conformity and not selling out.

Tight black ripped jeans, leather, tattoos, piercings, mohawks, and studs, these are ways that punks express themselves, no matter how old they are.

Indonesia has one of the largest punk scenes in the world, this is at no surprise, as punk culture is about being anti-conformity. In 2011, Indonesian officials arrested over 60 punks without charge. They were then forced into a a week and a half moral re-education camp, or put more simply, to brain wash them into conformity. As a result, punks do what punks do, as they are anti-authoritarianism, and the punks numbers grew into one of the largest in the world.

However, the tattoos that the Punks associate with are also associated with another group, criminals. Because of this Punks are often not welcome in some public places, including living in many neighborhoods. This has led to some escalated circumstances, with some Punks becoming scared and paranoid, even removing tattoos with razor blades and caustic soda.

This has never stopped the punks though, being independent, punk has never followed the system, it has always found its own way. Punks have taken to the underground and the street scene, “If you want to see street punk in Indonesia with your own eyes, you can come here and you’ll see it. Street punk means: living on the street, surviving on the street, fighting in the street, getting drunk on the street, sometimes having sex on the street.”

Punk has an open mind, this does not sit very well with the Indonesian government, they see this as a threat. The Indonesian government has a reputation of being corrupt even with the new president of Joko Widodo being around. It seems as though the Punks are one of the few groups fighting for a voice. Lama hidup revolusi!

DW 2015, Indonesias punk scene rocks on, viewed 26 April 2015,

New Yorker 2013, Pari, viewed 26 April 2015,

Punks Not Dead 2014, audio recording, Australian Broadcasting Cimmission,

Razorcake 2015, One punks travel guide to Indonesia, viewed 26 April 2015,

Post B: New York is going green!

PlaNYC is a design initiative that was born in 2007 by the then New York City mayor; Michael Bloomberg. The ambition was to ready the city for an increasing population, to boost the economy, tackle climate change, and generally raise the quality of life in New York. The action gathered together over 25 independent city agencies to strive towards the idea of New York being greener and greater.

Since the birth of PaNYC in 2007 there has been convincing improvement;

-Almost 1 million trees and over 6 million square feet of green rooftop added to the urban landscape.

-The cleanest air in over 50 years.

-Building codes have been upgraded to prepare for extreme weather, including floods and high winds.

-There is also a 20% reduction in carbon emissions sine 2005, this is on path to reach the 80% reduction by the year 2050.

central-park-kickThe initiative, that is largely funded by government agencies, recognizes that New Yorks future is shaped by how agencies and individuals acknowledge and answer to the rising challenges. This is an idea that many governments on local and international levels don’t understand yet, including our own federal government. If our current government can do only a small fraction of what this initiative is doing, all australians would be not only inspired, but also have a brighter future.

PlaNYc is an interdisciplinary initiative as it does not only deal with the challenges of transport and housing design, it also has the agenda of preparing for a changing climate, growing population, evolving economy, waste and recycling.

PlanNYC has taken the process recycling and up-cycling and pushed it directly to the people and the streets; with each of the 5 boroughs receiving more and more recycling bins, with the current total number being over 2000. In addition, in 2013 the number of clothing and textile drop off sites in public areas were increased across the city. PlaNYC also hosts 1 SAFE (solvents, automotive, flammable, electronics) disposal event each year. PlaNYC also applies a ‘Stop Junk Mail’ service that reduces the amount of junk mail and paper waste by city residents. To this date, this service has eliminated over 1,800 tonnes of paper waste. Everybody hates junk mail!

If one of the biggest, busiest and the ‘greatest city on earth’ can accomplish what they have, why can’t we? Everyday Australians view Americans as being right winged and aggressive, yet the Americans can begin to understand the basic principles of waste and recycling that will affect global warming. Is this so hard for Tony Abbott to do? apparently so.

City climate leadership awards 2015, New York: PlaNYC and GreeNYC, viewed 23 April 2015,

NYC 2015, One City, viewed 23 April 2015,

Pontoatnyc 2013, Central park kick, viewed 23 April 2015

Post A: Context is everything

Context is everything, It moulds the message in communication of design. Without context you would not be able to converse adequately. Context is a layer of exterior components that influence a given object. These layers can be physical or non physical. Materials and immediate environment are examples of physical context, while culture and economic pressure are non physical context.

These elements play a large role in the designing of products or places. Design for a house or for a warung in Indonesia would be different to that of design in Sydney. To understand these local contexts, it s important for us designers to be able to cater to the locals and create good design.

The context will decide the design style, material choice, the emotion and narrative behind the design. If done effectively, all of these components will produce continuity between a design and the user.

The economical context is associated with the circumstance of the countries economy. With the past decade, the global financial crises, and economic unrest has had a large impact on grand designs. Australia, off the back of the mining boom has been fortunate to have a stable economy, with a gross domestic product value of 1.6 trillion US dollars, this has allowed large spending on things like new and upgraded trains and train lines and newer and larger design organisations and competitions. In contrast, Indonesia has a gross domestic product value of 868 billion US dollars. This may seem high, but it means all the difference. Roads in Indonesia are of poor value and are rarely upgraded.

Culture is the beliefs and behaviours of a particular people. From generation to generation culture expands and contracts, it becomes a symbol of identity. Cultural context has a major role in determining contemporary design.


In Australia the scarf is a simple product that has been designed to have either of two functions; the warm the users neck or head, or to represent the users sporting team or country. In contrast, in Indonesia, a scarf is know as a Hijab, the function of the Hijab is about religious faith. Islam has greatly articulated the idea of modesty and decency between the opposite sex.

Design is and always will be affected by many elements. Theses elements form the context in which the designer designs. This procedure should not only be influenced by the designers own dream, but it must also adhere to the local and global surroundings.

Academia 2012, How important is context in contemporary architectural design, viewed 29 April 2015,


Al Islam 2014, The Qur’an and Hijab, viewed 29 April 2015,


Funkd Punk, 2015, Funk Punk , viewed 29 April 2015,