Los Angeles-based architect Elsye Alam, principal of ID-EA, has completed the Alam Family Residence project in Jakarta, Indonesia. The three story contemporary home was designed to host two generations and three households in a single building. An “E” shape plan effectively organizes the internal masses of the house creating two inner voids that brings light and air deep into the house through both plan and section. Extensive vertical glazing around the inner courtyards and generous use of skylights opt out the need for artificial lighting in the spaces including closet spaces during the day and yet creates constantly changing light conditions that activate the interior. The interior of the house is a series of free-flowing, continuous spaces that fosters a supportive, interactive family lifestyle. The consistent minimal white palate in the common area gives visual dominance to the bold red prayer niche representing family’s tradition in a modern way, the bold yellow aquarium which located in the heart of the dining-living areas, the dark wood ‘rolling carpet’ of the staircase, the abstracted borneo jungle water wall with local natural stone, and the vertical garden in the courtyard.”
