Marco Kusumawijaya is a practitioner, activist and thinker in the fields of architecture, environment, arts and urbanism since 1983. He currently is orienting his practice and thinking towards sustainable urbanism.

He started Green Map Indonesia in 2001, and is still member of the Green Map System international advisory council. His fellowships include residency at MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles (2008) and Asian Leaders Fellowship Programme at The International House of Japan in Tokyo (2009). Among his his published books are: Jakarta Metropolis Tunggang-langgang and Kota Rumah Kita. Among his memorable works is the one with UPC (Urban Poor Consortium) – UPLINK in Aceh, May-December 2006, when he was involved the the planning and reconstruction of 23 villages (with 3,331 houses) in Banda Aceh and nearby coastal subdistricts. According to a UN-HABITAT survey, this project is considered the best in technical soundness as well as in home owners satisfaction. He served as chair of Jakarta Arts Council (Dewan Kesenian Jakarta, DKJ) in 2006-2010.

He co-founded the Rujak Center for Urban Studies (RCUS) in 2010 and has been its director since. RCUS’s mission is to assist cities and regions to change towards ecological sustainability, based on co-production of knowledge. RCUS does research, policy advocacy, as well as concrete projects in the field. Since 2013 RCUS owns and co-manages a sustainability learning center “Bumi Pemuda Rahayu” in Yogyakarta. This facility runs programs that intersect arts, communities and ecology.

On BROKEN, Marco will present Jakarta’s current urban issues. He argued that Jakarta, as Indonesia’s Special Capital Region and the second largest city in the world, has a rooted problem of social cohesion and metabolism in the city system. He will explain how the city is at stake, and its future damage will be from the collective result of the individual citizens’ decision on how they produce and consume (and by that also means design and planning) even from the micro level and daily activities.