Tourism development architecture in Indonesian land and sea

During the July University winter break, 20 students, including myself, embarked on a two-week global studio to Likupang in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.  The focus of the studio was to learn about design strategies for sustainable resort tourism development in Indonesia, with the objective to map, monitor and evaluate the extent and impact of tourism development and infrastructure within environmentally sensitive locations. The group was a mix between undergrad Architecture, Interior Architecture and Landscape Architecture students, along with Masters Architecture and Landscape Architecture Students.

Many of us organised to travel from Sydney to Manado together, so we didn’t feel so alone on arrival. By happy accident, we ended up bumping into fellow students at Changi airport. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the trip to be honest, even given the detailed itinerary from the studio coordinator. Considering this, as well as being on a trip with people I didn’t know, I decided to go for it and embrace as much and as many of the situations as possible. Our first stop was Manado City, where we spent a couple of days learning about the history and architecture of North Sulawesi. Driving through the mountains, we learnt about traditional Minahasa architecture, as well as the culture and religion on the area.

We then travelled by boat to Bunaken Island and stayed in lovely and extremely accommodating local homestays, allowing us to support local craft and hospitality whilst still investigating resort architecture. It was on Bunaken Island that we undertook the research of our assignment, though we were lucky enough to break up the study with breaks to the beach and café for local specialty drinks.

On one of the days, which happened to be my birthday, we went snorkeling and diving along the coral reef wall. We were extremely lucky enough to come across a 6m whale shark, which we were told hadn’t been seen in the area in at least 10 years. We also managed to see an abundance of other sea life and the most colourful coral. The evenings were filled with laughter and entertainment, from all of us recounting our day and the shenanigans that we had been up to, amongst amazing food lovingly prepared by the locals. We then took the boat the Bangka Island, where we stayed at a premium resort- for study purposes of course. Again, in between finishing up the drawings for the assignment, we took ample breaks for snorkeling and swimming in the crystal blue ocean. Our last stop was back in Likupang, where we finished up our research and presented our drawings to a cohort of students, academics, and professionals at Sam Ratulangi University.

Yashina Vallabh
Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
Interior Architecture Morotai, Moluku Islands, Indonesia
Global Short Programs Travel Scholarship recipient