A Modern Filipino Home

Manila - Homes, originally uploaded by jsigharas.

We were grateful to visit the home of Mausen and Davig Ong with MM, an artist whom we first met at an art opening at Mo_space Gallery, to have dinner and spend the evening with them and conversing over wine and lounge music. Their home is seamlessly perched on the edge of a plateau that overlooks northeastern Manila's - offering panoramic views galore. Their "open" home features a three-story porch constructed out of aged timber that was saved from old houses intended for demolition. At first sight it looks like an oversized gazebo. The structure blends perfectly with it's surrounding, lush, tropical gardens allowing nature to become part of the wooden abode. Benjie Reyes, a Filipino artist, designed their home in a distinctly modern architectural style. Discreet from the outside, one cannot fully appreciate it's entire ambiance until you enter. We instantly felt the warmness of the home with it's interior done in beautiful dark wood that displays Benjie's mastery of the medium. The interior decor is composed of a mixture of antiques, traditional crafts, and works by contemporary Filipino artists. Mausen and David's home is a beautiful example of a modern Filipino home, and the evening inspired us in many ways.

Fort Bonifacio Global City

Manila - Spaces, originally uploaded by jsigharas.

Fort Bonifacio is an urban development in Taguig City, Metro Manila. Originally known as Fort McKinley, it was a property acquired by the U.S. government during the American colonial period. Today it is the home to upscale residential condominiums, trendy restaurants, bars, clubs, and many retail outlets.

We frequent this shopping center quite a bit as there is a great book store called Fully Booked (they have a great selection of architecture and design books), free internet at Starbucks, expensive but good food, a few galleries (Mo_Space is one), and a few high-end furniture stores (Bo Concept, Natruzzi and the soon to be open Vitra, which we got a special sneak preview of with the owner, Mausen Ong).

Back In Manila

Manila - Objects, originally uploaded by jsigharas.

After a week touring bamboo hot spots in the Visayas, we met with Mely, our bamboo trip coordinator, at what seemed like an unoccupied, empty mansion in Manila. Mely uses a single room of the residence as an office away from her home-base in Abra. The most spacious room of the home displays a number of furniture prototypes (mostly chairs) made by a few designers working for her. Their furniture is mostly constructed out of bamboo, using plywood-bending and molding techniques to create their forms. It's great to see them experiment with bamboo furniture in a modern approach, but they use a lot of toxic resins and lacquers, which we look down upon. Unfortunately, we are not able to post any photos of the furniture as they are still prototypes, but we did find this beautifully woven suitcase among a shelf of other fine bamboo products.