Made Wijaya: End of a Legend

Made Wijaya at home in Villa Bebek. (Photo courtesy of P.T. Wijaya Tribwana International)

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 5): World renowned, Bali-based landscape designer Made Wijaya, 63, passed away in Sydney while undergoing treatment for cancer on Aug 28.

Made (pronounced, Ma-Day) has made Bali his home for over 30 years and has written several books on tropical design, namely, Tropical Garden Design (1999),  At Home in Bali (2000), Architecture of Bali (2002) and Modern Tropical Garden Design (2007).

Born in Australia and named Michael White, he first ventured to Bali in 1973. The architectural student never completed his course but instead pursued his dream to live in Bali. Later, he was adopted by a Brahmin family and took the name Made Wijaya and embraced Hinduism.

The controversial personality was also a writer, film-maker and former tennis coach before he found fame as a designer of international repute. 

Some of his earliest projects were the gardens of the Bali Hyatt and the Bali Oberoi. And his best known project was the garden of the late English singer-songwriter David Bowie’s Balinese-style home in Mustique on a private Caribbean island. His proudest Balinese garden concepts was probably for the Lea Asian Garden section at the Naples Botanical Gardens in Florida.

It is estimated that Made designed some 600 gardens of public and private properties stretching from Southeast Asia to Australia and India as well as Spain, Morocco, Belize, Mexico and the US.

Besides his design practice, which is housed within his sprawling Villa Bebek home in Sanur, Made also operated a boutique hotel named Taman Bebek in Sayan, near Ubud. He had a staff force totalling some 120 people, some of whom have been with him for decades.

Condolences and tributes from around the world have been widely posted on social media especially on his Facebook page which is still maintained by a staff member of his company, P.T. Wijaya Tribwana International. Very few knew of Made’s illness as he kept the state of his health private, therefore his sudden death came as a shock to his friends and clients.

According to his long-time associate, Achmad Yani, there will be a meeting with the trustees of his estate to decide what to do next.

His ashes will be brought back from Sydney to Bali for a Hindu ceremony scheduled for October. The actual date is yet to be fixed. 

Johnni Wong is the general manager, Arts and Culture, The Edge Malaysia

The famous garden of Made Wijaya’s home in Sanur which has been extensively featured in his Tropical Garden Design book.(Photo by Johnni Wong)