Founder of weaving atelier BYO Living, Lim Masulin, wants to change your perception of the craft

In new Mod-Asian grill restaurant Tribal, opened by the Ebb & Flow Group and designed by acclaimed Indonesian architect Andra Matin, one can enjoy a 14-day dry aged Irish duck and mushroom pot rice surrounded by rattan walls and a ceiling of hand-woven rattan macrame. These were created by weaving atelier BYO Living, which was founded by Lim Masulin in 2008.

From a small space like Tribal to building facades, Jakarta-based BYO Living has pushed the boundaries of the weaving craft, using natural rattan, cane, fibre, synthetic rattan, metal, plastic, recycled plastic, leather, waterproof paper and even a fungus-based material. The company works mainly with Sundanese master weavers from Tangerang and Cirebon in Indonesia.

Lim’s foray into the craft started with observations he made in his previous career. “I used to work in the duty-free industry and travelled extensively to fairs like Salone del Mobile in Milan and Maison&Objet in Paris, where I realised that so-called award-winning designs didn’t employ very inventive craftsmanship techniques [relating to rattan weaving],” he said.

These ‘techniques’ were simplistic and cookie-cutter, which meant they could be easily copied. “The craftsmanship was more cosmetic, gimmicks to look different rather than game-changing design approaches,” Lim elaborated.

Hence, the start of a game-changer with BYO Living that collaborates with top architects and designers to realise the most complex weaving projects projects around the world. Clients include Dior for projects in Cyprus and Puerto Banús, and the Four Seasons Okinawa. In Bali, the company’s craft can be found in the Andra Matin-designed hotel, Potato Head Suites (formerly Katamama), as well as Desa Potato Head, designed by OMA.

In Singapore, aside from Tribal, its work can be found in the woven ceiling of Merci Marcel in Palais Renaissance, as well as custom seating and lamps for The Coconut Club.  

The company has come a long way from the early days, where challenges included building a strong in-house artisan guild. Lim wanted to look into undiscovered local techniques, and appropriate them into contemporary uses and aesthetics. But the first-generation master weavers – many of them uneducated – were resistant.

“It was extremely hard at that time because most craftsmen do only a single type of weaving for a whole year while we insisted that our artisan guild must focus on developing unique signature weaving techniques for each project and designer,” explained Lim.

The best leaders lead by example, and this was what Lim did, working with the artisans overnight to meet deadlines. They started to see that he understood their difficulties and how he made personal sacrifices to upkeep their livelihood, such as selling his car. Slowly, they built their trust in him and became open to exploring different weaving methods.

More than running a business, Lim is an advocate for Indonesian craft. In 2013, he and his friends started House Vision Indonesia to further the discussion of housing studies in his home country. Some of the architects started asking BYO Living to apply a more architectural approach to the company’s weaving methods so the team delved into harnessing technology such as 3D modelling software to develop large-scale weaving applications.

This melding of craft and technology was instrumental to the company’s success. Lim elaborated: “BYO Living’s current software capabilities allow for the research of material properties, building information modelling, machine learning, the study of structural tensegrity, etc. This advancement helps to deliver extraordinary architectural performances with the lightest structure and optimal weaving techniques.”

For Lim and his team, no challenge is too great. One admirable research was using post-consumer plastic waste as a material, which resulted in an expansive ceiling feature for Potato Head Studios in Bali by OMA Hong Kong. He believes large-scale applications such as this help create sustainable architecture. “It also reduces the carbon footprint and creates impact in other ways, such as giving jobs to waste collectors, and helping to clean up pollution and plastic waste.”

Like-minded collaborators like OMA help BYO Living create boundary-pushing work. Lim names Matin, whom he first met while working on House Vision Indonesia, as another important supporter. “I see Andra as a patriotic collaborator who’s willing to significantly contribute to Indonesia on an international stage. As much as possible, he speaks out on what he believes is right, never caring about fame. I find in him the right partner in empowering the spirit of creative collaboration,” said Lim with palpable gratitude.

Their  collaboration goes beyond commercial work. “Andra and I are starting to do architectural installation campaigns to improve the quality of life in West Jakarta,” shared Lim. On Aug 16 later this year, BYO Living will release a new book with Thames & Hudson featuring 16 houses designed by Matin – the first in a series initiated by Lim with the aim of adding to Asia’s literature on sustainable architecture. Next year will see a second publication on Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka of Schemata Architects.

Bringing together people and collaborations is Lim’s forte. Aside from passion, he has the ability to drive the overall big picture while “empowering the strengths of each team member in order to complete the game” – a streak his high school basketball coach saw in him. His father, “a very persistent and hardworking person” inspired his tenacity.

Lim majored in Computer Science and Economics in the University of Wisconsin, Madison in the US but highlighted travel as an indispensable teacher. “I’m a believer that we need to open our eyes to be a global citizen,” he stated. From his economics teacher, he realised the importance and power of an open economy that “allow certain cultures and countries to specialise in developing unique skills for a country perform better” – something he felt was lacking in some parts of the world, including Indonesia.

“I feel that weaving is able to fill some of these gaps with regard to social impact, cultural research, material innovation, creating a future identity, passive cooling, computational design, enlivening large-scale government infrastructure such as airports and public markets, retaining architecture tradition, prefabrication applications, enhancing education institutions regarding structural craftsmanship, exhibitions, and so on,” Lim enumerated.

But it will not be easy. Lim bemoans the authorities turning a blind eye to the declining quality of craftsmanship as villages start to lose their relevance. “These villagers can’t compete with Muji, Ikea, and other cheap products from the modern marketplace. There is also little empowerment, such as training or financing facilities,” observed Lim.

Taking things into his own hands, he initiated an exhibition in the annual Indonesia-based ARCH.ID convention in 2020 called Wonders of Weaving, which promoted future applications of the craft. “We have questioned whether we can build prefabricated houses with weaving and structural craftsmanship; whether we can perform better with lab-tested, passive-cooling performance weaving facades; whether the weaving aesthetic can be applied to high-rise buildings, whether new materials allow weaving to absorb pollution and deflect dust, etc.” shared Lim.

Studies with research groups have also enhanced the discourse. With Ricardo de Ostos, a co-founder of London-based architectural studio NaJa & deOstos, BYO Living has explored how woven architecture can benefit real habitats like mangroves. “We worked with a biologist to learn how our installation would react to being submerged. What species would grow on it? Extending this science to future applications, would we be able to create facades where plants can grow to cool a building or allow birds to build nests?” Lim expounded.

His team has also come a long way, with master weavers now experts of new three-dimensional techniques that enable them to generate more intricate design expressions. Current experiments include using glass, weatherproof LED strips and programmable kinetic weaving.

The possibilities are endless and achievable one by one with Lim’s determination. “My hope for the industry and craft in the future is to follow through the rise of a much-needed new design movement. In the past, we had the Bauhaus, The Metabolist movement in Japan et cetera. There is no design movement that really addresses the needs of holistic wellbeing needs of humans, which covers physical, spiritual, environmental, and most importantly, mental health,” he stressed.

He added: “If craft, together with design and architecture can focus on improving the livelihood of humans by improving these four spheres, man will live with better purpose. We should not abandon them in the face of massive industrialisation, copycats, cheap solutions to climate change problems, and badly designed urban planning that causes more pollution. If we do well, we will be proud to say we are more civilised than before, that we prepared a better or more humane world for our next generation.”