Formative Year (2005-2009)

I divided the story into several chapters. The first chapter is my formation year. I came from a builder’s family, born in Surabaya. I spent some of my childhood in Bedugul, Bali accompanying my father that worked in the construction of Bali Handara project. I was astonished to see the culture of Bali, the island of God. When I was ten years old, I moved to Jakarta. Jakarta is a mixture of colonial, traditional, and ultra-modern cities. This juxtaposition shows the true potential of Indonesia, and this potential has its weakness in its infrastructure and integrative planning.

Since working in the architecture field, I was curious about what’s the limit of architecture. I was hungry for learning, and the first step is to get to know myself better. I moved to Bandung to study architecture in ITB. I worked in Ridwan Kamil + Partners’s studio, Urbane, for a year before working in Singapore in DP Architect, and finally accepted to work in Foster and Partners London. I put some understanding that The studio selected me, not me choose them. I did send many applications, and many got rejected. Few were accepted.

The second step was understanding that the studio has goals, and I do have plans. How to put both goals in harmony is the key. I need to care about the studio’s goals. By doing that, I have responsibility for the studio. The story then continued when I studied again in Sydney, continuing my master’s degree in Urban Design and Development under Jon Lang and James Weirick. Then, I started my firm, Realrich Architecture Workshop. This chapter is the formation year, year before I met Laurensia.

Greetings,

Realrich Sjarief

Formative Year