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Thomas Elliott: A designer of dreams
JP/Jerry AdigunaTwenty-two years later he is still in Jakarta, building peopleâs dream houses
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JP/Jerry Adiguna
Twenty-two years later he is still in Jakarta, building people's dream houses.
'Most Americans don't study Indonesian architecture. For me it was all new and it was great. I went to Borobudur temple, Prambanan temple, to Bali and I found an amazing culture, amazing architecture, amazing designs,' he said
at the launch of his first book, Path of Discovery: Architecture in the Tropics, at Periplus bookstore in South Jakarta on Thursday.
'So I kind of fell in love with that and wanted to explore more. That's what kept me here.'
Before moving to Indonesia, Elliott had been doing well working for an architectural company in San Diego. The journey to Indonesia started when his friend asked him to go to Jakarta to work on a project.
As some of his friends had moved to Asia and there were not so many jobs available in San Diego at the time, he agreed to the offer.
'First, it was a little bit shocking because from the airport, I directly went to Pasar Tanah Abang [in Central Jakarta] to a little ruko [shop house] where I would work, but I immediately started to fall in love with Indonesia,' Elliott says.
Since his arrival, he has worked as the director of design for a local architectural firm, PAI Design.
'In America, you have so many restrictions and it does hamper you, it controls you a lot. But here, you have more freedom and lot more materials to use,' he says.
Most of his work profile is building and designing very private, high-end houses in Jakarta and some other cities. Some of the houses he built took more than five years to finish. One of them was completed in 15 years.
He said it took him a long time to finish the house because of the size. He was also responsible for designing the interior in line with the owners' preferences.
'We need to make something beautiful so people who drive by will say the house is nice and the owners will feel proud. But the interior is so critical because it's where you live. It has to be comfortable,' Elliott said.
'I really enjoy doing all this. A house is very personal and I get to know people, especially if projects are nine-years long.'
Elliot also works on luxury condominium projects. He has just finished renovating the Hermitage Hotel in Menteng, Central Jakarta, and is working on the renovation of suites at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta, completing two projects in Beverly Hills and some houses in Malaysia and Singapore.
'I enjoy hospitality residences. I don't do a lot of office buildings because they are a little too simple, all façades and there's not a lot of details, whereas I really like to work on the details.'
Elliott, 54, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. When he was 8-years-old, he started to draw and design buildings. As the son of a US naval officer who was always on the move, he did not have a place to really call home.
But with his drawing skills, he liked to imagine his own version of a dream home. 'I often imagined how a house worked and I knew for quite a long time that I wanted to be an architect and interior designer,' the father of three said.
He pursued his dream by studying architecture at California State Polytechnic University. In the last year at university, he took part in the university's architecture study program in Italy. It turned out to be a life-changing experience.
'Even though I traveled a lot as a boy with my father, it was always in America. But when I went to Italy, I realized I really didn't know anything although I did well in school,' he said.
He found out the ideas that he thought were new and different had already been done by the Italians 500 years ago.
'I really had to start all over again, get smart again and try to open my eyes ' drink it all in,' he said.
After a year, he went back to the US and got his architecture license at the age of 26. Then he was
ready to decorate the world with his home designs.
'I went around the area in Santa Barbara, and found three or four empty pieces of land and imagined what projects could take shape there. Then I designed from scratch,' he said. 'That really helped me start as a designer,
forget the old stuff.'
He explored many new home designs, received many awards, including Gold Nugget Awards and AIA Award of Merit, enjoying his success as a young designer until things got a little boring and he felt the need to find new challenges and headed to Indonesia.
After over a 20-year professional career, he still needs to challenge himself to be able to create something new.
'I don't have a signature design, because I enjoy doing it a little bit different each time. I like to be challenged, to move on to one thing to the other,' he said.
'Designers are creative people, so I don't want to keep doing the same thing all the time.'
