Leading global hospitality design firm HBA (Hirsch Bedner Associates) announces its debuting participation at Jia CURATED 2026 by presenting an immersive installation, Through the Lens. Responding to this year’s festival theme, Nature Weave, Through the Lens acts as a dynamic architectural viewfinder rooted in contextual design. The pavilion reframes the visitors’ role from space owners to participants and explores how luxury hospitality design can deepen our relationship with the natural surroundings through curated atmosphere, emotion, and craftsmanship.
Taking place from 13 – 17 August 2026 at Pengembak Beach, Sanur, Bali, Jia CURATED is one of Asia’s leading platforms celebrating craft, design, and culture. This year’s edition brings together more than 250 participating brands, designers, architects, and makers from Indonesia and around the world, transforming Bali’s eastern coastline into an immersive landscape of exhibitions, installations, talks, and cultural exchange. Through the Lens is a physical expression of HBA’s signature perspective: looking out from within. Creating a breathing connection with the surrounding environment, the installation invites visitors to slow down, observe, and reconnect with the natural landscape. Here, nature is interpreted through the living lens of light, shadow, and materiality, woven into architecture, interior, landscape, lighting, and art as one continuous and cohesive experience.
“Luxury hospitality should never disconnect people from their surroundings. On the opposite, it should encourage, foster, and curate their relationship with them,” says Christin Castillo, Principal, Indonesia at HBA Jakarta & HBA Bali. “With Through the Lens, we wanted to create a moment of pause where visitors become more aware of light, movement, craftsmanship, and place. It reflects our belief that great design is ultimately about shaping how people feel and how they connect with the world around them. A design that gives form to emotion.”
Developed as a concept collaboration between HBA Bali, HBA Resort, and Light Directions – HBA’s dedicated lighting specialist, Through the Lens brings together expertise in hospitality interior design, resort planning, architectural elements, bespoke lightings, and art to create a multi-sensory experience that demonstrates how design can shape holistic wellbeing by strengthening our genuine connection with place.
“Looking through the HBA lens, we see light, nature, and how they interact with each other, understanding the emotional effect they have on us, which inspires our vision and connection to the geographical location when designing a truly unique resort that shares a spirit with it’s surrounding nature and people.” Ilija Karlusic, Creative Director, HBA Resort explains. “Inspired by Bali’s sunsets, we translated these evocative colours into dimmable bespoke lighting, capable of mimicking the sunset in real time through an emotional symphony of views, reflections, and materials.” adds Douglas James, Managing Partner, Light Directions.
Through the Lens journey begins before entering the pavilion, where movement within the space is driven by shifting light and layered reflections on translucent panels; a gentle coastal breeze breeze, and a bespoke scent profile enhance this multi-sensory arrival experience. Inside, traditional built boundaries dissolve into nature through a series of deconstructed, freestanding planes, each revealing a different dialogue between craftsmanship, materiality, and the natural environment. Among these are locally woven macramé created in collaboration with local Balinese artisans; ethereal fabric screens that move with the wind; mirrored surfaces that dematerialize the architectural structure within the landscape; and a deliberate aperture that acts as living lens, framing the raw view into a standalone luxury amenity, demonstrating HBA’s belief in creating design meaningfully connected to its locale. At the heart of the pavilion sits a sculptural centrepiece representing the core of HBA’s design legacy and technical mastery. Surrounded by permeable architectural layers, the installation embodies the firm’s approach to designing from the inside out, where architecture becomes a lens through which people experience emotion, culture, and landscape.
The compelling installation also reflects HBA’s long-standing commitment to Indonesia, where the firm has partnered on many of the country’s most recognised hospitality, residential, and mixed-use developments. Coinciding with the tenth anniversary of HBA in Indonesia, Through the Lens celebrates an ongoing creative journey that continues to bring together global expertise and multi-disciplinary design with local collaboration, craftsmanship, and contextual thinking.
Visitors can experience Through the Lens at Jia CURATED 2026, taking place from 13 – 17 August 2026 at Pengembak Beach, Sanur, Bali.
