00:03Let's just say that I was able to identify this extraordinary structure, take them apart,
00:10completely reinterpret them someplace new, and then I had the help of extraordinary
00:15artists and builders. I'm Marihanna Cisneida. I'm an architect and an artist. I've been
00:26married for 20 years. So I grew up really extraordinary. My mother is Argentine, my
00:33father Cuban. We were my dad's second family and my father was a very well-known
00:41industrialist. As beautiful as it was for my brother and I, it was complicated for
00:47my mom because we were my father's unseen family. You know, that is why the theme
00:54of seen and unseen is so important for me and it's very much a part of the Balinese
01:00right, the Cicala and Nizcala, but it's also a theme in my life because we were the
01:05unseen family. That was the beginning and I was so many lessons about how architecture
01:13does not need to protect you. It's a relationship that you have and you know
01:19what's interesting is that we went from having, you know, a life of luxury to a life of less luxury,
01:36but we never noticed the difference.
01:41I was always looking for a place that felt like home. For some reason it wasn't
01:49California for me. And then one day I came to Bali and that was an immediate, you
01:55know, I fell in love almost instantly and I recognized Bali as this place of honest
02:01simplicity. So I had lived in an arid environment and I knew that this almost, you know, rainforest
02:10climate, it was going to take some getting used to.
02:16So mostly as an architect you get hired to do an extraordinary remodel. I really love that.
02:22You know, breathing new life into a kind of an abandoned house that nobody was interested in.
02:28And I've always, always been drawn to old structures.
02:34So I decided to build the first one. I thought, okay, I'm going to put my own home and I'm
02:40going
02:40to bring over this very simple structure. This is a much more complex one that you see now.
02:46You have to have this extraordinary, long, long grass roof.
02:51You know, but the baladines are the best craftsmen in the world for this.
02:56You have to learn, like, exactly how do you build that roof, you know?
03:01It's not just, oh, okay, put it, put it up.
03:04So that was a long learning process.
03:09So I thought, here in Bali, why do we need to have doors?
03:13You know, let's just for now, let's see what happens.
03:17And let's just leave the living completely open.
03:19For me, I guess I never ever thought about safety.
03:23I mean, part of it is that Bali and Indonesia at that time and now,
03:29Bali continues to be so safe.
03:31But back then, it was incredibly safe.
03:43Joglo is actually a pavilion structure.
03:47They were never meant to be lived in.
03:50They are these odd, unique pavilions that were designed
03:56at a time when the royal family was in power.
04:01And people would buy them kind of as a status symbol.
04:06And so they would put them in the middle of their compound
04:09and they would invite people to have a, you know, conversation.
04:13And the more tears you had, this is actually a lima sun,
04:17but the more sort of layers you had,
04:20that signified that you were of higher ranking.
04:23So those were never meant to be lived in.
04:26Lima sun is actually rectangular in shape.
04:30And they also, they do lend themselves a little bit easier
04:35towards bigger houses.
04:38You know what, I just, I love them all
04:41because it just depends on what the client wants.
04:45If it's one person, one or two people,
04:47it might be, you know, that the juggler is a better option.
04:51But if you have a family, the lima sun works better for that.
04:56So I was able to very quietly learn from the workmen.
05:01For them, wood is also sacred.
05:04The stones are also sacred.
05:06So when they're working, I mean, it feels like you're working with monks.
05:10Very unique experience.
05:14The architect knows what is right.
05:17And in particular here, it happens to many builders now,
05:21that the architect will say, you know,
05:23I have to have this sort of roof.
05:26A few years down the road, of course, the builder gets blamed.
05:29And, you know, that roof really doesn't work
05:33in this really, like, rainforest condition.
05:41So here, almost everything that I have,
05:44this couch that you see here was designed by me.
05:49And I designed everything because I can,
05:52because I find it delightful to do that.
05:55The first doors that I made are just from old pieces of wood.
05:59I didn't know because at the beginning,
06:02you know, Peksu, what would you do here?
06:04And he ended up making the most gorgeous frame.
06:08He then put a panel of old wood and just some simple hinges.
06:13Those doors couldn't be more perfect.
06:16And the cost of those was, you know, it was creativity
06:20and it was using what we had.
06:22But there was no, there was no actual extra cost for it.
06:31I've also found that in the States,
06:33you need to have a lot of collaboration.
06:37Now these offices, you know,
06:38you're working with a lot of different people.
06:40I suppose maybe people here as well.
06:42But I just, I always decided that for me,
06:45the smaller the team, the better.
06:48I mean, we're like three people, you know?
06:50One manager, one project manager.
06:53And it's because the vision, you know,
06:55is there from the beginning.
07:00These houses have always been a collection.
07:03About 25 that I have built in, in Ubud,
07:08they really are part of the collection.
07:09And I also believe that, at some point,
07:13came from another location.
07:15Because the function didn't work anymore.
07:17And they came here to create a new life.
07:20Maybe it's possible, you know,
07:23because they do happen to come apart.
07:25It wouldn't be easy.
07:26And maybe it's not the first preference.
07:29But imagine, you know,
07:30if all of a sudden,
07:32the homes are not happy here anymore.
07:35A few of them,
07:37the whole thing comes apart.
07:39And, you know,
07:40we very, very catalog it,
07:42and very, very carefully
07:44move its essence someplace else
07:47to a completely different environment.
07:51That's not the end,
07:54but the beginning of the work
07:55in another location.
07:57So I think that's kind of interesting.
08:00So for the first time,
08:01I'm really thinking that
08:02with this way of building,
08:06and now it's here in Bali,
08:08but maybe the next one
08:09could be someplace else.
08:15These houses,
08:17they have a heating quality to them.
08:18I feel that I was able
08:22to bring together
08:23some really rare elements.
08:26and who knows for how long that would be.
08:29But let's just say that
08:30I was able to identify
08:32this extraordinary structure,
08:34take them apart,
08:36completely reinterpret them
08:37someplace new,
08:38and then I had the help
08:40of extraordinary artists and builders.
08:47I think there's a magic in what I have managed
08:53to create in these houses.
08:55And I think that it's interesting
08:57because these are things
08:58that you see, you know,
08:59in retrospect.
09:00When I think about my mom,
09:03and I think about the fact
09:04that she took her whole,
09:07her whole life was a work of art.
09:08And that was just absolutely clear,
09:11you know?
09:12But nobody said that
09:13while she was living.
09:14I was an architect,
09:16and I am now an architect
09:19and an artist.
09:20You know, I feel very fortunate
09:21that I've been able to collaborate
09:24with the Balinese.
09:26It was magical if this house
09:28was even able to be built,
09:29to be honest.
09:29There's no way,
09:31even now,
09:32if I tried to redo it,
09:34even here,
09:34I'm not sure I could.
09:43I actually,
09:44I don't really see these as jugglers.
09:46They're not jugglers
09:47in Limassan anymore.
09:49And they really have been transformed
09:51and reinterpreted
09:53into something very new.
09:54In the same way
09:55that I identify these in Java,
09:58I could have said,
09:58well, they put it on in Java,
10:01you know?
10:02And that was very true,
10:04you know?
10:04And maybe they should never
10:05get moved to Bali.
10:06And they did move to Bali,
10:08and then they got
10:08completely transformed.
10:10So I feel like
10:10all of the work is completely,
10:13it's fresh,
10:14it's new,
10:15it's reimagined.
10:17I think that is my talent.
10:20I think that's Alejandro Cisneros
10:23at work.
10:27I am humbled by how everybody
10:33who I've collaborated with
10:35has absolutely continues
10:38to adore their experience
10:41in their drawings.
10:44And that's a surprise for me,
10:47because I never knew that
10:49that would happen,
10:51you know?
10:51And so I give it away.
10:54They take it,
10:55they take care of it.
10:56And it gives them so much.
10:59All of the extraordinary people
11:01that I've worked with in Bali,
11:03that everybody,
11:04they feel so fortunate
11:06that we were able to co-create
11:09these one-of-a-kind homes for them.
11:15I have a lot of energy,
11:18and I feel that the essence
11:21of what I am doing translates.
11:25I definitely am up for,
11:26you know,
11:27doing work internationally.
11:29That would be a beautiful challenge.
11:31It's very, very difficult,
11:32hard work to do these,
11:34but I think it's worth it.
11:38Important moving forward,
11:40and always,
11:42is the collaboration
11:43has to feel right.
11:45Such difficult
11:49vervings
11:49to come,
11:50bring this into fruition,
11:52that it really,
11:53the collaboration
11:54needs to be absolutely
11:55perfect and seamless.
11:58So I would say,
11:59you know,
12:00moving forward,
12:01the only,
12:01it would have to be
12:02very, very special clients.
12:04The kind of person
12:05that gets chosen
12:07by the work.
12:11Stay tuned.
12:14I have to hear your scripture
12:24I'll talk for you later.
12:25I want to hear your shout-outs.
