Narda's Furniture Warehouse

Baguio - Spaces, originally uploaded by jsigharas.

Entering this warehouse we were surprised to find only two furniture makers. In a space this enormous and filled with a considerable amount of local wood just gathering dust, an environment like this is a designers' dream! We were told that in the 80's the Capuyans had more than 20 furniture makers working full-time to furnish an entire 5-star hotel being built here in Baguio. Since then, the 1990 Luzon earthquake (7.8 magnitude, 1000-plus deaths) and the band on logging in Benguet, the warehouse has significantly cut back on its furniture production, limiting it only to custom orders. The main drawback of the warehouse is its lack of power tools to cut and finish the material. This makes sense as their furniture-making style is quite un-processed: raw organic slabs of beautiful hardwood-rustic, unique and full of character. We hope to make use of the warehouse to the best of our capability and limited access to tools.