TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The designer of the Garuda Palace at Indonesia's new capital Nusantara (IKN), Nyoman Nuarta, has said that the palace's design represents the unity between more than 1,300 tribes or ethnic groups of Indonesia.

Nuarta, who was contacted by Antara on Saturday, August 10, 2024, revealed that he chose Garuda as the form of the palace building so that "there would be no jealousy" between regions.

"I chose Garuda as the foundational idea because everyone is familiar with it. It is impossible to put each ethnic group identity in one building," he added.

Indonesia has more than 1,300 ethnic groups with their own unique cultures, traditional houses, arts, and crafts.

"In order not to cause jealousy (between the groups), I do not want to use tribal identities for the palace building design. It feels unfair. Thus, I chose Garuda as the core idea," he explained.

He said that Indonesia's Garuda Pancasila symbol was created by Sultan Hamid II from Kalimantan.

"After I decided to use the (Garuda idea), there was not a single group that protested. I do not want to cause division because of wrong design," Nuarta added.

Meanwhile, he welcomed the opinions saying the Garuda Palace's design gives a "mystical impression."

The Garuda Palace at Nusantara Capital City (IKN), East Kalimantan, Indonesia, as seen on Friday, August 9, 2024. (ANTARA FOTO/M Risyal Hidayat/aww)

According to him, people's opinions are more or less influenced by their own experiences.

While speaking about the structure of the Garuda Palace, Nuarta said that its current brass color will slowly change to bluish green, like the color of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Statue in Bali. This color change is called the patina effect.

In addition, the blades of the Garuda Palace structure are made of weather-resistant steel, and will change from reddish to dark color in one to two years.

"Garuda Palace looks dashing with its head like that (looking straight). It is up to people's perceptions," the designer said.

Artist Nyoman Nuarta explains the concept and final design on the model of the Garuda Palace of Indonesia's new capital Nusantara, at Nuart Sculpture Park, Bandung, West Java, August 24, 2022. The design of the new palace adapts the shape of the Garuda bird with a wingspan of 200 meters, a width of 30 meters, and a height of 76 meters. (TEMPO/Prima Mulia)

ANTARA

Editor's Choice: Garuda Palace in Nusantara Is Symbol of Indonesian Independence, Says Minister Basuki

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News