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"What's your favorite room to design for yourself and why?\n\n Because I wanted a sense of spaciousness just for me and my wife, I designed the master bedroom, master bathroom, walk-in closet and my library as one continuous room. With this approach, I feel I have a sort of home-inside-home concept.\n\nWhat's the most difficult part about designing for yourself? What's the best part?\n\n The most difficult part was that I didn't have a working plan ready for the contractors. I gave them hundreds of hand sketches and working drawings. Basically, I designed on-site. I came, I imagined, and I drew. It's difficult and fun at the same time. The best part was when I got the big idea of what to do with thousands of recycled bottles. I was experimenting\u2014used materials can be useful and interesting. I tested many ways to construct using the bottles. They add a unique quality to my home. Every time the sunlight or artificial light hits them, it is an orchestra of light.\n\nDid you use the Internet? What is your favorite online shopping site?\n\nI use the Internet every day, mostly for searching, reading news, etc. The only shopping site I use is Amazon.com, for books. I never shop online for building materials because you need to see and feel them. But for research on new materials, I sometimes check the Internet.\n\nDid you stay within your budget? Or did you have a budget?\n\n Of course I had a budget, and the house is more or less within my budget. There is nothing fancy about my home and its interior furnishings. My home cost around $160,000. That includes all interior furnishings. That figure in an Indonesian context is considered medium range.\n\nHow does designing your own home change the way you work with clients?\n\n Clients are more confident working with me when they see my design philosophy applied in my own home. The spirit of recycling also gets into their thinking in a revolutionary way. It's good to hear that some of my clients are starting to think about using recycled materials, too.\n\nHow did the current economy affect your design choices, or did it?\n\n Yes, of course. But the cost of building materials for construction is standard. Finishing choices usually make a big difference. Also, interior furnishings can make the cost very high. I see often in Indonesia that the total cost of interior furnishing is higher than the construction cost. I managed to make it affordable by designing a lot of built-in furniture. I bought a designer chair or lamp just to accentuate. The rest, mostly, are locally made.\n\nDid you incorporate changing technology into your home? If so, what were the challenges and benefits?\n\n The technology is basic. No special \"smart home\" appliances, only a wireless doorbell.\n\nWere you finally able to try out something your clients were not adventurous enough to allow?\n\n I was able to experiment with recycled bottles\u2014something that my clients were not brave enough to allow. But now, after finishing my home, several new clients are asking me to come up with something fresh and experimental with new or recycled materials for their home.\n\nDid you arrange your schedule so that you could work exclusively on your home, or did you work on your home between other projects?\n\n I worked on my home between other projects\u2014that is why it took two years to complete. A regular home of that size usually takes a maximum of eight months to complete. I had only Saturdays and Sundays to visit the site and talk to my contractor.\n\nWhat advice would you give those designing their own home for the first time?\n\n You have to design a home that can truly express your personality. And, if you are an architect, making a big design statement is rewarding and worth pursuing because society expects something extra from an architect's own home."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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