As a lifestyle and hospitality brand with a vision, Potato Head has carved out a niche for itself by pairing cool formats with local culture and crafts, and nowhere else has the Indonesian company demonstrated this ability more extensively than on Bali. The sunny tropical paradise is the very cradle of its success, and shelters the popular Potato Head Bali, a cluster of restaurants, bars, an expansive swimming pool, a hotel and amphitheatre, all set in a landscaped garden by the sea. The alluring premises and all the events held here pull large numbers of visitors from home and abroad, adding to the Island of the Gods‘ reputation as one of the planet’s must-see holiday destinations. However, there’s an environmental flipside to the island’s natural splendour and abundance of beautiful sites that has inspired Potato Head to launch the Sustainism Lab. Bali specifically struggles with plastic pollution, and apart from tons of waste that’s produced on the island itself, increasing quantities wash onto its beaches.
Interestingly, much of that marine pollution is caused by Indonesians themselves, and inadequate legislation and law enforcement has so far hardly tackled the problem. Potato Head‘s newest venture boosts its alignment with local culture through nature preservation, offering a full-fledged research and design workshop dedicated to finding innovative solutions to waste. Sustainism Lab is headed by Dewa Legawa and Scott Farren-Price who’ve set up experiments for regenerating waste into new materials and products. As such, the venue also serves as a much needed platform where individuals and professionals can engage in sustainable practices and exchange ideas for the benefit of the island. The current experiments include plastic bags being transformed into raw material for other purposes, and mixing styrofoam and seashells to create another raw material. Location: Potato Head, Jalan Petitenget 51B (Kuta).
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
