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Nuanu Gate

Entrance portal · A cross-cultural gateway of light & knowledge

The pedestrian threshold to Nuanu Creative City — a contemporary Paduraksa gate carrying snake, dragon, and shell motifs across an architectural arch of living plants and flowers.

  1. Brief

    The pedestrian threshold to Nuanu — where every visitor's first impression of the city is formed.

  2. Approach

    Adapt the Balinese Paduraksa gate into contemporary cross-cultural form. Carry Tri Hita Karana into the geometry.

  3. Outcome

    A solid arch with snake, dragon and shell motifs, crowned by a living arch of plants and flowers.

  4. Challenges

    Translate Balinese sacred geometry into a contemporary form that reads internationally without losing its roots.

  5. Result

    Nuanu's main pedestrian entrance — a future Bali landmark where tradition meets futurism.

I · The threshold

The first thing a visitor to Nuanu crosses is a threshold the studio composed in collaboration with Bali's craft tradition. The architectural base is a solid arch in the style of traditional Balinese Paduraksa gates, adapted into a contemporary, cross-cultural design.

Architectural concept, structural frame and foundation diagrams for Nuanu Gate

The gate is meant as the main pedestrian entrance to the city — a place where every guest's journey begins with a moment of wonder.

II · Symbolism

The arch carries snake and dragon motifs cast in heavenly colours — references to Balinese symbols of the divine in nature. The shell at the centre rotates through golden, white, and earthen variations, a sign of prosperity drawn from the same cosmology.

Above the gate is an arch of living plants and flowers — symbolising the sustainable bridge between East and West, an ecological gesture toward the place where people from all over the world come together.

The first pencil sketch for the Nuanu Gate arch, with snakes, dragons, a shell and floral symbols
First pencil sketches · Developing the gate's symbolic language
An early 3D visualisation translating the pencil sketch into sculptural form
Early 3D visualisation of the pencil concept
Full architectural 3D visualisation of Nuanu Gate
Architectural 3D visualisation · Nuanu Architects
Carved architectural details being installed on a Nuanu Gate tower during construction
The Nuanu Gate portal and towers surrounded by bamboo scaffolding during construction
Construction process · Architectural carving and portal assembly
Nuanu Gate with both fog-screen modules extended from the portal for servicing
Fog-screen modules extended for maintenance
Fog-screen test launch
Completed Nuanu Gate in daylight, framing the pedestrian bridge into Nuanu Creative City
Nuanu Gate · Day view

More than architecture — a symbolic threshold where tradition meets futurism.

Project facts
Year
2024 — ongoing
Location
Nuanu Creative City, Bali
Role
Concept · Creative direction · Cultural design
With
Nuanu Creative City (Host venue & coalition)
Other work