Many, many, years ago there was a wonderful Disney film called “Swiss Family Robinson” which was about a family cast-away on a tropical island. You can imagine all the adventures that they had, for which I have forgotten, but what does stick in my mind is the amazing tree that they made into their fantasy home. This was a vast tree with broad spreading branches and all the family’s rooms were perched all the way up with fun, creative ideas for each room. It was every child’s dream, much more so than Sleeping Beauty’s Castle or Mary Poppins fantasy cityscape.
Then there was the extraordinary tree city that the Elves in the “Lord of the Rings” movie lived in. Even more elaborate but a bit less real, so on balance Swiss Family Robinson wins out!
But what is the point I’m making here? Simply this: that amazing designs can drive a very positive emotional response, and long-lasting memories, and bad design can negatively change moods and appreciation, and be quickly forgotten! This is on a macro- level: the landscape, the environment, the buildings positioning, even before we consider the architecture and the interior design. When we get down to micro-level, the delight of well-designed things becomes even more personal and immediate: with Apple products leading the way for international brands, followed by a plethora of big-name brands who are renowned for their design like Lois Vuitton, Mont Blanc, Ray-ban and Burberry among very many clamoring for the shelves!
So where does Bali come into this picture? Everywhere and nowhere. Bali has its own extraordinary traditions of design: in buildings, masks, costumes, umbrellas, temples, and amazing giant effigies called ogoh-ogoh! It has the ubiquitous, thoughtfully-made canang sari offerings, the elegant over-hanging decorated bamboo poles called penjor and beautiful jewelry made in gold and silver. But, despite the many regulations, the buildings that comprise most hotels, resorts and villas, are no longer based on Balinese designs and instead reflect the western architectural styles that are – perhaps- considered more efficient and more appealing to international visitors. That is a pity in some ways, but hopefully is made up by the designers stretching their imaginations to create Swiss-family environments that leave us in awe and admiration.
And yes, there are some hotels and resorts that truly drop the jaws and open the eyes, and some of them are featured in NOW! Bali September-October 2025 issue, Bali by Design, which is dedicated to good design, but actually in my humble opinion, not enough. There has been every opportunity to use the Balinese traditions (and try to improve on them) and/or the talents of local artists and sculptors, architects and artisans to make Bali the envy of the tourism world, creating fantasy resorts and jungle-like or museum-like complexes that will be featured in every travel blog across the world, all representing Bali. But instead, we have compromised, and while there is very little that is “bad”, it’s harder to find the rare gems among the ordinary stones than it should be.
Walt, where are you when we need you?
