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 Outdoor copper bathtub at Bamboo Indah eco resort in Ubud, Bali – photo by Will Cottrell Art

Following John Hardy’s Vision: Bamboo, Wildness, and Genius

Trying to make sense of Hardy’s architectural vision is like being Martin Sheen on the trail of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now – a wild journey into the creative jungle. Bambu Indah pulses with the energy of risk, wonder, and deeply feminine bamboo magic.

Hardy, who founded and later sold John Hardy Jewelry, was once at the helm of the fifth largest jewelry company in the world. But it’s not just money that shaped Bambu Indah Bali – it’s imagination. And that can’t be bought.

 Sustainable bamboo villa with round window at Bamboo Indah in Ubud, Bali – image by Will Cottrell Art

Iconic Bamboo Buildings and Extreme Design Details

Bambu Indah is built and furnished largely by Ibuku, a world-renowned bamboo design studio founded by John Hardy and now led by his daughter, Elora Hardy.

When Elora took over after the unexpected death of Hardy’s original collaborator, artist Aldo Landwehr, she brought her background in fashion into the world of architecture. She isn’t obsessed with the technical details – she’s focused on mood, feeling, and atmosphere.

And you feel it: in the copper tubs, the reed-bed greywater filtration, the Moon House, the Treehouse, and the magical wooden joglos relocated from Java. This isn’t just sustainable architecture – it’s emotional architecture.

 Circular bamboo entry door framed by ferns at Bamboo Indah in Ubud – photo by Will Cottrell Art

A First Look at Bambu Indah: An Eco-Resort Like No Other

A bamboo lift. Spring-fed natural pools. Dozens of fantastical bamboo structures rising from the rice paddies and forest canopy. Bridges, treehouses, saunas fired by driftwood, and copper bathtubs under the stars.

Welcome to Bambu Indah, one of the most extraordinary eco-resorts in Bali, and perhaps the world. Tucked into the jungle near Ubud, Bambu Indah is the creation of Canadian designer and entrepreneur John Hardy – a man who seems to live, quite literally, under what he calls “the hole in the sky where the ideas fall down.”

 Curved bamboo architecture detail inside Bamboo Indah villa – Will Cottrell Art

The Land Comes First

At first, I was fixated on the bamboo architecture – the iconic buildings, the soaring structures, the extreme bathrooms. But slowly, I began to see the deeper truth: the land is the real heart of Bambu Indah.

Each building is nestled into the rice fields and forests. A copper bath sits beside a stream. An old Javanese bridal house floats above the jungle floor. Hardy’s genius isn’t just in what he builds – it’s where he builds.

As you walk the grounds, you see it all unfold: bamboo groves, spring-fed cold pools, permaculture gardens, tunnels, saunas, and even cows in a grass-roofed barn. It’s a world of natural luxury unlike any resort I’ve ever seen.

 Curved bamboo bridge over a jungle stream at Bamboo Indah resort in Ubud – photo by Will Cottrell

A Family of Bamboo Dreamers

Bambu Indah is more than a hotel – it’s part of a bamboo ecosystem. While John Hardy is the visionary, Elora leads Ibuku, and his son Orin runs Bamboo U, a bamboo design course that I attended while staying here.

Together, they’ve built something that is equal parts family legacy, architectural innovation, and ecological statement. The book lying on the table in one of the villas says it all: Living in Paradise.

Interested in more high-end bamboo buildings? See my review of the Bali’s awesome bamboo Green School here.