The University of Sydney. Gazette 1998

Pick of the Bunch
Real wild child
In this new addition to the Grapevine section, we profile in more detail alumni who have had particularly adventurous, quirky or exotic lives since graduation.

Made Wijaya’s “flower child” philosophies have won him an international reputation for his design of Balinese gardens since he graduated from Sydney University in 1975.

His work is described by noted landscape photographer, Tim Street Porter, as “tropical Cotswolds”, and he has attracted such glamorous commissions as the design of the garden at David Bowie’s house in Mustique. It’s a far cry from his days as Michael White, Bachelor of Science (Architecture) student from Woollahra.
Made, who describes himself as a garden artist, has designed some of the best gardens in Bali, including the five-star Bali Hyatt, which took him two years and a team of 70 gardeners to complete.
He is also in demand throughout Asia and has worked with some of the leading architects of the world, including American firms Kohn Pederson Fox and Owings and Merrill, Geoffrey Bawa and (Sri Lanka) and Peter Muller (Australia).

When Made returned to the University for the first time in more than 20 years to give a guest lecture earlier this year, he attracted a full house, including architects Philip and Louise Cox, artist Peter Kingston and Wendy Whitely.

During his lecture, which was co-hosted by the Faculty and the Architecture Alumni Association, Made paid tribute to his former lecturers Associate Professor Jennifer Taylor and Senior Lecturer Col James, and also to the Balinese people.
“I learnt quite a bit about artful naturalism from my studies and my friends, but the Balinese really taught me how to love nature, how to work nature and how to tame it into these sort of artworks,” he said.

How the expert does it: Made’s own garden at his home, Villa Bebek, in Bali as photographed by Tim Street-Porter.

Dream Homes and Romatic Gardens
by Sara Crowe

Internationally – renowned designer of beautiful Balinese gardens, Michael White, last week returned to the University of Sydney, where he began his 'crusade' 25 years ago.
White – now known as Made Wijaya–spoke to packed lecture there on "Theatrical Nature: Setting for Dream Homes and Romantic Gardens", as part of the Department of Architecture, Planning and Allied Arts' Thursday night lecture series, included in the audience were architects Philip and Louis Cox, artist Peter Kingston and Wendy Whiteley.

"Twenty years ago I slunk off this campus to begin my crusade," said Made, a graduate of a Bachelor of Science (Architecture), the first step towards a Bachelor of Architecture degree.
"It was first a crusade by a gang of' 'champagne Maoists', sprung from the bowels of the Tin Sheds to save the Western world from consumerism. But it developed, via Nimbin and the Aquarius festival, and over 450–odd gardens later, into a crusade for beauty in the form of poetic, tropical gardens and rustic charm in architecture," he said.

Made has designed some of the best garden in Bali, at the five–star resort of the Bali Hyatt, the Four Seasons Resort, the Amandari Hotel, the Oberoi and the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel. The Bali Hyatt gardens took him two years and a team of 70 gardeners to complete.

"This was the first truly mixed, English tropical, colonial, natural, romantic palace that sprang up in Sanur (a town in Bali),–– said Made, who calls himself a garden artist.
"It's taken root throughout south-East Asia and I'm proud to say that I started it here".

He has also designed gardens in Jakarta, Singapore and furthers a field, including David Bowie's house in Mustique, in the West Indies and currently, a hotel for Francis Ford Coppola in Belize.

"Balinese Gardens, a phrase which is much–misused today in South–East Asia, is my signature style," Made said. His early gardens, as seen at the Bali Resorts, were coined "tropical Cotswold" by the noted landscape photographer, Tim Street–Porter.

Associate Professor Jennifer Taylor said Made was known and admired throughout Bali and further away, and he had worked with some of the world's leading architects.
Made has made a major contribution to the evolution of garden history, she said.
He has written several magazine articles and books to preserve the Balinese culture and architecture, and said the Balinese had taught him how to love, work and tame nature.
He also paid tribute to Professor Taylor's 'incredible lectures on landscape history' and to Senior Lecturer Col James' encouragement: " You can do anything' he once said, and I believed him," Made Said.