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Makers of Humanity
Desainkolektif is a brand, a community, a platform — and above all, a conviction. We exist at the intersection of design and humanity, connecting makers across disciplines to create solutions that are functional, beautiful, and deeply meaningful.
We repurpose, reclaim, and reimagine. We believe generosity is a principle of progress — that identity is not material, it is human. What drives us forward is not what we own, but what we build together.
Concept, design development, tender documents
Space planning, material selection, FF&E
Site survey, quotation, material planning
Work scheduling, material provision, reports
Interior brand guidelines for retail and F&B
Multidisciplinary makers, every project
"How much potential are we sitting on?"
Indonesia carries generations of extraordinary makers — batik artists, potters, weavers, woodcraftsmen, bamboo artisans, and craftspeople whose skill runs deeper than any formal education. The artistry and competence is here — what's missing is the connection between disciplines and traditions to bridge Indonesian makers and the current design conversation.
Desainkolektif was born from that gap. From years of observing a world of overproduction and undervaluing what already exists, realising that transformation doesn't always require new materials, just new thinking.
Indonesia's cultural richness and craft traditions — especially its collective spirit — is the foundation. Desainkolektif exists to unlock it.
01
A conversation between Javanese heritage and Japanese minimalism, set by the river in Pererenan. Six hundred square metres designed to feel rooted in the land it sits on.
02
This project began with a question: what if a home told the story of human shelter from the beginning? An old Indonesian house reimagined around a monumental river stone wall — raw, ancient, immovable. Above it, the hand of design. The marriage of what nature provides and what humans build on top of it. A cave that became a home.
03
The original twelve-sided structure of the villa was never demolished — it was the starting point. Everything was designed around it, honouring its geometry while breathing new life into it. An island retreat shaped by the identity of its owner, and the rhythm of how they choose to live when the world falls away.
04
Inspired by the New York townhouse, reimagined for a young Jakarta family. Three courtyards cut through the building, pulling light and greenery from ground to sky — the Japanese answer to a house that lost its front and back. What remained was something brighter, lighter, more alive.
05
Streamlined, modern, almost spacecraft-like — this Uluwatu residence was designed around one thing: a near three-sixty degree view of Bali from the top of the hill. Every line serves the landscape. Every space opens toward it.
"Looking for retail, F&B, or hospitality work?"
Request PortfolioCase studies, process documentation, and behind-the-scenes — a record of how things are made and why they matter.
Founder, Desainkolektif
Cynthia was born and raised in Jakarta to architect parents — growing up in a home they designed and built themselves made thoughtful design simply the norm. When 1998 hit, the crisis quietly revealed what she had been absorbing all along: that objects carry more than status — they carry memory, meaning, and purpose. Moving to her grandparents' home could have been a difficult chapter, but it became one of the most defining years of her life.
Her grandfather, Darwin Hasan, was a renowned calligrapher — watching him in solitude, with precision and complete devotion to every stroke, taught her that every mark made deliberately carries meaning — in calligraphy, as in design.
"Making something with full intention is one of the most human things a person can do."
Her journey of international exposure begins after high school, taking her to Singapore, San Francisco, and New York. An internship at Thislexik showed her that discarded things could become entirely new objects — that transformation doesn't always require new materials, just new thinking. The summer after, interning at Andra Matin Architect, she saw that Indonesian design philosophy was meaningful, but needed someone willing to carry it forward.
Her final year at Parsons was a project to redesign government housing — she got the chance to witness the reality of how people lived there. Even then, things were left behind without a second thought — not out of carelessness, but because the system made replacement easy.
"Our society discards this much as a norm. What are we doing?"
Those journeys led back to everything — about design and intention, about humanity and craft, about reimagining what we inherit into something worth passing forward. The problem was never of lack, it was of care.
"I came back to Jakarta carrying all of it — and one question that wouldn't leave: how much potential is there for us to explore if Indonesian makers and creatives could finally find each other? Desainkolektif is my attempt at an answer."
Currently accepting new projects and collaborators. Whether you're a client looking for thoughtful design, or a maker looking for a place to belong — this is your invitation.