Yoka Sara’s artistic flair is immediately apparent in the Kayu Aga House located in Canggu, Indonesia as a vacation home for an Italian businessman. The compound essentially consists of a carport and three orthogonal sleeping pavilions located in the four corners of the site. Occupying the center is a two-story pavilion containing the principal living/dining facilities, with an elevated studio at first floor and a verdant roof garden. The central pavilion has a delightful oval staircase with a bamboo balustrade rising from an elliptical pond. Each of the sleeping pavilions has a private garden court with a terrace and an outdoor bathroom.

The site is divided into four layers from west to east, expressed as slightly radiuses line, the first layer being a physical barrier to the noise from the road that runs along the western boundary. The barrier takes the form of a high wall and the service functions of the house tucked into the northeast corner of the site. The second layer is the “west lawn” that distances the main pavilion at the center of the plan from the noise source. The third layer is the linear structure of the central pavilion, with its elevated studio and roof garden, and the final layer, the “east lawn” between the central pavilion and the swimming pool. Notes in the margin of the architect’s sketches dispel the notion that the layering is random for there is a distinct hierarchy of privacy and formal zoning of uses.

There is a system of movement imposed on the design of this modern home. A processional route leads from the arrival court, in the southwest corner, in a northerly direction beneath a pergola to a point immediately west of the central pavilion, where a sharp turn to the east directs attention to a patio between the living and the dining rooms, and thence to the east lawn. The architect describes this “journey” as a process of rejuvenation and discovery. Natural light is an important consideration in the form of the structure, and some views are temporarily withheld by bamboo screens to arouse curiosity. The processional route extends to the 25-meter swimming pool with a gazebo, and beyond are tranquil views of rural life. A light wind blowing off the paddy fields stirs chiming bells. Via