Mr Alex Bayusaputro
Mr Benjamin Joseph Kim
Names: Mr Alex Bayusaputro / Mr Benjamin Joseph Kim
Company: Genius Loci Pte Ltd / PT Genius Loci (Asia)
Position within company: Creative Directors
Website: www.geniusloci.bz
. Tell us a little about your background in design
Alex – Education FIT New York City, with about 20years of experience working in New York, Singapore and Indonesia
Benjamin – Temasek Polytechnic – School of design, with about 15years experience in Singapore and Malaysia
. How would you describe your personal design style?
Alex – The ability to put together unique items and design elements and translating them into bespoke details that contribute to a sensory environment.
Benjamin – Texture and experience
. Where does your design inspiration come from?
Alex – The environment in which we are in, it can be the land we stand on or the insect that lands on my dining table. There are so much we can interpret from what we see and what we feel.
Benjamin – Traditional details, artisan and craftsmen, shapes as well as forms.
. In what direction do you feel that design is moving towards in a general sense?
Alex – I see the design industry, moving towards a more vibrant environment, colour and bespoke details.
Benjamin – Colours, fashion and culture influences. People are more affluent in treasuring a memory or expressing a lifestyle. It can be said, this design is them and they are what the design represents.
. Name five key themes to consider when approaching design in 2015 and beyond.
Alex – Function, Form, Colour. Texture and Unity
Benjamin – Texture, Senses, Colour Form and Experience
. If you could offer one piece of advice when it comes to design, what would it be?
Alex – Always be hungry for creativity
Benjamin – Desire to put a smile on a face
. How important are The International Hotel and Property Awards as recognition of talent and achievement?
Alex – It allows an opportunity to stretch and share the boundaries of design across the globe
Benjamin – A showcase and platform to allow design to transcend to areas only the mind can imagine
. What projects are you currently working on?
Alex –
Supermall (shopping Mall design) in Surabaya
TP5 (shopping Mall design) in Surabaya
1 Hectare Residence in Jakarta
Various Hotels in Bali
Various Show units in Jakarta
Benjamin –
Various Developments in Malaysia
Various Restaurants in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai and Chengdu
Compass Mall (shopping mall design) in Singapore
Valley Point Mall (shopping mall design) in Singapore
. What are your aims and goals for the next twelve months?
Alex and Benjamin – To produce our own coffee table book as a milestone
. Final thoughts; tell us a little more about yourself
Your most treasured possession?
Alex – My Hands
Benjamin – Family and good friends
Your favourite holiday destination?
Alex – Turkey
Benjamin – Austria
Your favourite hotel / restaurant / bar?
Alex – Mandarin Oriental in Paris
Benjamin – SLS hotel in LA
Your favourite book / film / song?
Alex – Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson
Benjamin – The Singapore Story by Lee Kuan Yew, song has to be Royal by Lorde
Your favourite food and drink?
Alex – Spanish Tapas
Benjamin – Chinese food
Your favourite way to spend an afternoon?
Alex – Read a book and seat by the padi field to watch the world go by
Benjamin – Listen to my kids tell their story along the beach front
If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?
Alex – A painter
Benjamin – An editor
Anything else interesting?
Every individual life encompasses some form of design and thoughts, being it the chair you sit on, the shops you walk into, the food we taste, and the clothes we wear. Designers and Architects have to keep consistently adapting to the lifestyles and be disciplined and consistent in our believes. Everything we do has a before and after repercussion to somebody’s lifestyles.