Fernando Gomulya
This innovative building is built at a 70-degree angle. The house serves both as a rejection of the surrounding faux-European buildings in the upmarket neighborhood.
Fernando Gomulya
The open-plan ground floor features a stunning pool. Budi Pradono is proud of this entry point to the property, saying it has an undeniable "wow factor."
Fernando Gomulya
There is a purpose behind this unusual structure: "It is important to redefine architecture, redefine the new living space and how people live", explains Pradono.
Fernando Gomulya
Located on the ridge of Mount Merbabu, in Central Java, this building also by Pradono is a house made of locally-sourced materials. Its center point is a library, designed to encourage the sharing of knowledge among local people.
Fernando Gomulya
Also know as Dancing Mountain House, this remote building uses sunlight as natural light during the day. The shower water is heated by solar energy and the property collects rainwater to use during dry season.
Fernando Gomulya
Simplicity is key. The building uses locally sourced materials: brick, bamboo and stone. The house doors are recycled from an older house.
Krishna Adithya
Pradono envisaged this Bali-based property as a contemporary, tropical living space.

Story highlights

Budi Pradono has designed a slanted house: the Leaning House of Jakarta

Designed to stand out, the house makes a statement about openness

Pradono's house is redefining architecture

CNN  — 

In every neighborhood there’s always one odd ball. And the upmarket gated community of Pondok Indah, home to Jakarta’s wealthy and well-known, is no exception.

In the midst of this collection of neo-classical homes, lies what has been nicknamed the “Leaning House of Jakarta.” Built at a dramatic 70-degree angle, it is the rebellious brainchild of architect Budi Pradono.

Standing out among the crowd

Unlike the Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Italy, which careens by mistake, the Leaning House of Jakarta is listing by design. At first, says Pradono, it was going to slant “a little bit” – “maybe 10, 20 degrees”.

“Finally, we found that 70 degrees (was the perfect angle). So, we brought something new to this area, something striking.”

02:59 - Source: CNN
Leaning house is designed to stand out

Pradono intends his beautiful oddity to serve as a rejection of the mock-European status houses in the upmarket neighborhood of the huge Indonesian capital. Designed to stand out, the house also makes a statement about openness – its glass frontage rejecting the closed ethos of the gated community with which it shares a border.

Property boom

Over the past 7 years, property prices in Jakarta – home to 10 million people – have doubled, hitting a lofty $15,000 per square meter. The Leaning House’s proprietor Christina Goux, a modern art gallery owner, bought the land the property now stands on a decade ago for just $500 a square meter – the value has since risen to $4,000 per square meter.

When building her home, she gave Pradono an open mandate.

“It’s my dream house,” she tells CNN. “If I build another house, it should be like this, too.”

Goux says she wants the three-story property to become a haven for visiting artists, exhibitions and small jazz concerts. Pradono is proud of his creation, and its refusal to be classified.

“It is important to redefine architecture, redefine the new living space and how people live”, he adds.