1 BALI AGA ARCHITECTURAL MORPHOLOGHY IN CONTEMPORARY BUILDINGS CASE STUDY : PURI AHIMSA & TAMAN AHIMSA VILLA AT MENGWI - BADUNG Author : Ida Ayu Dyah Maharani Doctoral Student of Art and Design Program Faculty of Art and Design Institute of Technology Bandung dyahmaharanee@yahoo.co.id/ dyahmaharanee@gmail.com Second Author : Dr.Imam Santosa,M.Sn & Dr.Prabu Widodo,M.Des Faculty of Art and Design Institute of Technology Bandung imamz@fsrd.itb.ac.id & pwardono@yahoo.com Abstract From four different periods of Balinese architectural history, it is obvious that architectural life styles were started during the Bali Aga period when humans started to settle down and occupy an area built their settlements. However, currently these settlements and their architectural styles as local genius have been faded away since the era of Bali Madya. The knowledge of Bali Aga architectural styles has not been transmitted to later periods. This in turn has made them less popular than the later concept of Bali Madya. The down of Bali Aga architectural styles has also been worsening by the rapid development of mass tourism which brings influences to Balinese architecture development. They come to enjoy the Balinese natural beauty, the culture of Bali and its architecture. It is its uniqueness and traditional sensation that attract tourist’s attention to enjoy the traditional Balinese architecture with all its local characters. Sadly, Balinese contemporary architecture tends to presence a newer version of Balinese architecture which is recognizes as fresher and different from what has been mainstreamed long before, have clean cut forms, geometric, minimalistic and sometimes an analogue of some natural forms, less ornamented in modern materials and colors. To sustain the value of Bali Aga architectural styles, it is important to research the continuity of this style by employing morphological study. The idea is to recognize and to understand the local genius as the background to develop a new strategy by implementing some concepts that are still relevant to current situation. The use of morphological study is essential in researching what elements are recognized as relevant by evaluating some hospitality project by Arte Architects and Associates. Some works that will be discussed are contemporary villas : Healing Center and Rental Villa Puri Ahimsa and Taman Ahimsa, both located at Mengwi in Badung Region. From the evaluation, it can be seen that some concepts of Bali Aga has been implemented in the design, however, there are also some adjustments that can be obviously seen. As a conclusion, in these buildings, some Bali Aga architectural concepts can still be implemented in modern contemporary villa buildings, in different functions from its original functions and in different geographical characteristics. Key words: architectural morphology, Bali Aga architectural styles, tourism, contemporary villas, visual form. A. INTRODUCTION There are four different periods of Balinese architectural history, that are widely accepted, as defined by Gelebet (1978) which are: Bali Mula (an era when humans live nomad), Bali Aga (around 8 – 13 AD), Bali Madya (started from 14 AD when the Bali was influenced Majapahit Kingdom), Bali Kolonial (started when European influences was introduced) and Bali modern. In a small island like Bali, vernacular architecture was started from the Bali Aga era whereby humans tried to settled down. This era mushroomed from around 8 th century to around 13 th century, before Majapahit Kingdom influenced Bali or known as Bali Madya or Bali Arya period. The notion vernacular is coming from the word vernacullus which means local, inlander. 1 The development of vernacular architecture was running in a slow and lengthy period which makes its form deeply rooted in the society. As a relatively big archipelago, Indonesia has a wide variety of cultures which occupy its thousands of islands. Architecture has also become the backbone of local culture of Indonesian people since architecture is often linked to social system, kinship, to religious rituals. Furthermore, Paul Oliver defines vernacular architecture as houses of the ordinary people and other buildings related to their environmental context, using available sources from their surroundings to build their buildings and using traditional technology. All vernacular forms were built to fulfill specific needs to accommodate economic value dan way of life of living culture. Principle of vernacular architecture, as defined by Yasraf Amir Pilliang, is form follows meaning. 2 1 Gartiwa, Marcus (2011) Morfologi Bangunan dalam Konteks Kebudayaan, Penerbit Muara Indah, Bandung 2 Sachari, Agus (2002) Estetika Makna, Simbol dan Daya, Penerbit ITB, Bandung