LOST LINDENBERG HOTEL
Far from the hustle of the Canggu hipster frenzy, and far from the Ubud flower seekers, this place invites visitors to join on a new kind of journey, one that begins on a melancholic street of Pekutatan, and culminates somewhere lost inside a brutalist tree house architecture. Just like everything else wanting to be trippy, this trip starts with a vegetable garden. The raised lava stone beds are laid out in psychedelic patterns visible only from the sky and exclusively designed for the birds flying high above to see, …or maybe also for the occasional drone. Only those brave enough to tress-pass will encounter the garden of Eden, but first they need to find the hidden door within Tobias Rehberger’s colorful wall. Like rabbits they may breach through the opening and enter the tropical paradise. Beyond the artist’s obstacle a thin pathway meanders through a lush jungle, like the literary ribbon used by author’s to keep their plot together (or in this case possibly also just simply like a scar in the landscape).
“Bon Voyage”, let this story begin.
Perched like giants amongst an array of coconut palms and protruding from the canopy of the tropical landscape, 4 towers arise from the black sandy beach below. Clad in wood from head to toe, and painted to the colors of the forest, these colossal structures blend well into their environment. Only a jagged roofline barely discernible from afar by the fishermen out at sea is hidden amongst the trees and high enough to overlook the Indian Ocean.
“I could not forbear getting up to the top of a little mountain, and looking out to sea, in hopes of seeing a ship : then fancy that, at a vast distance, I spied a sail, please myself with the hopes of it, and, after looking steadily, till I was almost blind, lose it quite, and sit down and weep like a child, and thus increase my misery by my folly.” ― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
There is something nostalgic in the air. The interiors are warm and cozy as if wanting to hold us. Inviting us to believe that we ourselves are inhabitants of this place, or maybe as if someone else has been living here for a prolonged period of time and made this their home. Lava stone, green stone, tropical hard wood, burned wood, river stones all come together under these coordinates. The colors and the materials are locally sourced, but somehow also reminiscent of a place left behind somewhere afar. On the shelf something that was in our pocket when we arrived, reminding us of home, or maybe simply something we found while grooming the beach. Wooden louvers in the bathroom blur the line between the outdoors and the indoors, allowing the sea breeze to enter, while bestowing a sense of protection from the heating sun. Panoramic windows allow us to spy on that passing boat in the horizon, or if we are lucky at the sexy silhouette inside the neighboring tower.
We are not totally Lost, at least not yet. Elegance, simplicity and our proper manners have traveled with us to this remote place and are clinging on to us as if needing our company. Linen curtains and linen bedsheets make us feel so civil, yet relaxed. Maybe later towards the end of the day our manners will fade in warm hues of melancholy, in particular after sunset, once the man at the bar has served a gin on the rocks while the turntable reshuffles “Lay, Lady, Lay” for the 10th consecutive time.
Architectural team: Alexis Dornier & Studio Jencquel.
Interiors and landscaping: Studio Jencquel.
The furniture, the lamps, the crockery and almost all accessories in this project were custom designed by Studio Jencquel.