Tropicality: Houses by Andra Matin is the first English-language monograph on one of Indonesia's most admired architects, gathering sixteen houses that redefine what indoor-outdoor living can mean in a tropical climate.
About This Book
Across Indonesia, Andra Matin has spent two decades designing houses that dissolve the boundary between interior and landscape — homes elevated on stilts, sheltered beneath vast concrete canopies, or concealed within dense forest. This monograph brings together sixteen of his finest residential projects, selected for their craftsmanship and their intuitive relationship with tropical conditions. Where much Southeast Asian architecture goes undocumented in English, this book fills a significant gap, presenting Matin's tactile material sensibility and his philosophy of relaxed, climate-responsive living to an international readership. For architects and designers working with warm climates, natural materials, or the demands of a warming world, it is essential viewing.
Key Features
- 256 pages of residential architecture photography and project documentation across sixteen houses
- Published by Thames & Hudson Australia, ISBN 9780500343753
What You'll Discover
- How Matin deploys structural dramatics — from stilt-elevated platforms to monolithic overhanging concrete roofs — to mediate between interior comfort and tropical outdoor conditions
- A material vocabulary built around tactile, natural surfaces that respond to humidity, light, and landscape rather than resisting them
- Residential typologies specific to Indonesia's scale and climate, including a hexagonal weekend villa embedded in forest — an approach rarely examined in architectural publishing
- Why tropical residential architecture is gaining renewed relevance as architects globally confront the design challenges of a warming world
About the Author
Andra Matin is an Indonesian architect whose studio has produced a body of residential work widely admired across Southeast Asia. His practice is grounded in a sensitivity to tropical climate, tactile materials, and the relationship between built form and natural surroundings. Tropicality is his first English-language monograph.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 256
- Dimensions: 30.5 x 26.5 x 2.7 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780500343753
- Publisher: Thames & Hudson Australia
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and designers working with tropical or warm climates, those interested in Southeast Asian architecture, and anyone drawn to the relationship between residential design, natural materials, and landscape.