yinjispace

ARCHITECTURE
RF Studio
PHOTOGRAPHY
Tommaso Riva
EDITOR
Gina
Collection

In a conversation with Rafael Freyre, he told YINJISPACE, "If I were to express the spirit of this project in one sentence, I would say that this project is a landscape theater." In the Yayasan Bali Purnati project, the Peruvian experimental art and architecture firm RF Studio once again demonstrated its acute insight into the symbiotic relationship between nature and culture. The firm takes exploring the interaction between contemporary habitation and ecosystems as its core, and creates site-specific works with a handcrafted warmth based on local landscapes and materials.

As Rafael Freyre said, "The focus of this design is not on building new things, but on discovering what already exists." The spirit of this place is older than ours. Architecture merely listens and responds. On this land that is currently under pressure from development and culture, this project, with a humble attitude, enables a dialogue between tradition and modernity, making architecture a bridge between nature and humanity.

Bali, Indonesia (September 3, 2025) | RF Studio, the art and architecture practice led by Rafael Freyre, unveils its latest project: a radically intimate residence for Yayasan Bali Purnati (The Bali Purnati Center For The Arts), a foundation dedicated to the performing arts in Bali. Located on the foundation’s grounds in Batuan, the extension project consists of three villas and nine guest rooms designed to support the foundation’s residency program and public programming.

The collaboration between Rafael Freyre and Yayasan Bali Purnati began in 2002. Rafael arrived in Bali with a suitcase, a notebook of drawings, and the company of the late theatre director Robert Wilson, following a summer at the Watermill Center in New York, a space known for experimental performance. That first visit laid the groundwork for a long-term exchange between architecture, performance, and place.

Rather than introducing a new aesthetic, the architectural intervention was designed to integrate seamlessly with the existing context, and complement the foundation’s amphitheatre and stage. The project merges architecture with landscape as a seamless, living system: adapting to the land, honoring native vegetation, and allowing nature to lead both form and experience. Built in part from natural materials found on-site—salvaged wood, bamboo, volcanic stone, and handmade terracotta—the structures weave around existing trees, follow the land’s contours, and open toward the light and quiet of the rice fields. Interiors were created in close collaboration with local artisans, with all furniture and fixtures custom-made for the site.

The residence, like the foundation it supports, is rooted in performance—not only theatrical but also the daily rituals of life: waking, bathing, resting, watching the moon rise, merging with the outdoors in hidden gardens, sunbathing, or simply being still. It welcomes artists and curious travelers alike, inviting them to move at the pace of Balinese time.

As the island faces mounting pressures from overdevelopment and cultural commodification, the project offers a quieter path, where tradition and modernity are not in opposition but in conversation. A bridge between cultures, and between species. The work, like the process behind it, is subtle, grounded, and intensely human.

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