Given the proximity of a national university, some 40% (600) of Keputih’s houses are boarding houses, mostly crowded and shabby with little heed to sanitary needs. This building offers a precedent for organised, clean, low-cost, low-maintenance, environmentally friendly lodgings. The design borrows two principles from Indonesian architecture. First, communal spaces - here one among the first-floor bedrooms, the other on the roof - to encourage community spirit. Second, rich wall surfaces: here pierced concrete panels inspired by gedheg (woven bamboo) and gebyog (wood panels). These assist cross-ventilation and natural daylighting, while critiquing mass-production. Vertical shafts act as "air funnels". Doors and furniture are made partly of recycled wooden crates.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture