Throughout his career, Eko Prawoto was known as an architect, an architectural teacher and a visual artist. Works of architecture and art can hardly be separated. In both realms, Eko created spaces that were simple, close to nature and challenging as a process. The design seemed "imperfect", less aesthetics, more ethics.

His main inspiration was nature itself. There is a big role for intuition in his works, and in architectural practice there are also seeds of humanity that must be maintained. The role of architecture/art is that of the guardian of life, "a tiny leaf in the thick of a big tree, or the tip of its soft root in the darkness of the ground, a fragile twig on which to perch a bud or flower. However, it is from the willingness to those play small roles life can be maintained."

The Archipelago Architecture Movement was promoted by a number of young architects some time ago. This movement responded to the rise of modern architecture which was not rooted in the rich traditions of building art in the country itself, only giving birth to a hodgepodge of architecture with "anything goes" as its principle. His search for the broadest architectural traditions of the archipelago brought Eko closer to village and kampong life. Traditions are deposits of knowledge, skills that grow in harmony with nature. He called his architecture "arsitektur kampungan (plebeian architecture)".

The magnificence of architectural works has already mainstreamed structures that are autonomous over nature, ignoring their temporary conversational value and simply living on top of the natural landscape that previously existed. The traditional architectural model is the pyramid, the structure of which Eko used to rebuild - with wood left over from the ruins - dozens of houses that were destroyed in Ngibikan Village during the big earthquake in Yogyakarta, 2006. This Ngibikan project was nominated for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture , 2008.

"Indonesia is culturally prosperous. Kampong is architecture itself which is very close to life. Kampong is very inspiring because there is warmth, relationships, honesty and about people who live in it," wrote Eko Prawoto. For him, kampong is the future of Indonesia. Eko Prawoto's works have been exhibited at the Venice Bienniale, Italy (2000), Gwangju Biennale, Korea (2002), Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial, Japan (2003), Singapore Biennale (2013) and Sonsbeeks, Netherlands (2016).

LENG, IMAGES, MAKETS, VIDEOS, CARPENTRY OBJECTS, PHOTOS AND ARCHIVES

Leng, the bamboo installation works presented in this room marks Eko Prawoto's debut in the realm of fine art. This work was displayed at Eko's solo exhibition at Rumah Seni Cemeti, Yogyakarta in 2008. The bamboo arrangement in a row is reminiscent of the simple fence motif that divides the yard from the streets in kampong. Its height acts as the wall, some of it touches the roof. A fence or a wall? A boundary or Partition? Active or passive? That threshold is what is revealed through Leng. The soft separation between bamboo lines that are upright or lying down, supporting each other or intersecting creates a rhythm that encourages active observation and affective sensitivity. Leng is a game of partitions in space, a vehicle or a shadow that wants to guide, not hinders. As Eko called his architectural work "pleasant architecture", this bamboo installation can be called a "pleasant installation".

Eko Prawoto's works of art obtain its aesthetic motifs through processing tectonic aspects in the realm of architecture: utility and image. This aspect combines the techniques/practices of craftsmanship and beauty, bringing together the hardness of materials and poetic expression, creating continuity between closeness and distance.

Eko Prawoto has done sketches, drawings that are not architectural designs, mockups and photographs for a long time. Not only was he attracted to the scale and grand structure of buildings, he also enjoyed the atmosphere of the natural landscape as seen in some of his soft and lyrical pen drawings. In the last few years, since deciding to move and live in the village, Eko Prawoto had been interested in collecting carpentry and agricultural tools, objects that are very useful in the daily lives of village people which he still often found in the market. The vehicles, which look artistic and simple, are now collected in a place he named Museum of the Ordinary Things (2019), not far from his house in Banjararum village, Kulon Progo.