Consultant Crisanto lends a fresh designer touch to a casual dining table at the FAME show. The half-back chairs are by Vienna Furniture, the seat pillows by Catalina Embroideries. The sunny crockery is by Cardinal Ceramics.
Moroccan gazebo in the garden. The Zobels' processional black-and-white curtains have been reinvented as an exotic Moroccan tent within a glass-enclosed garden pavilion. In the corners hang Spanish wrought-iron lantern-lamps. Hand-plaited designer abaca rug, ottoman and side table are from Soumak, Makati. The dainty Dalmatian model is Pongo.
Thus the Filipino forte for innovative crafts in natural materials and high-end modernist furniture has high-dived into the 21st century. Designer Leo Yao experiments with bleached banana trunk and twisted raffia for giant armchairs. Modernist Milo Naval designs bold, modular furnishings wrapped in earthy natural materials- and confident attitude. Val Padilla creates eclectic furniture in fine leathers, handmade paper or seagrass. Ed Yrezabal produces golden Permacane furniture using a high-tech lamination process on rattan- for items that lend a graceful presence to resorts and lanais. And who knows what Cebu's rising star Kenneth Cobonpue will design next. after his airy cubist seat and curvy topiary chaise?
The Filipinos' designer niche has been cast, aiming to lead the industry beyond the competitive marketplace. Budji Layug is backing it wholeheartedly. He wants passionately to embrace the culture, arts and crafts, and unique materials of the whole region and create a truly "Asean style". As he sees it: " Our only edge is innovative design for the high-end market There's no choice: to survive among competitors with more technology, cheaper labor and more materials, we have to design cutting-edge products for design-driven clients-and stay several steps ahead of the copy-cycle!"
Tropical Interiors celebrates Philippine interior design by exploring the most popular styles-the Elegant, Natural, Urban and Eclectic. But the more exciting matter vibrating between the pages is the Philippine moderne sensibility evident among the homes and decor products. This new style book is indeed more about Filipinos' soulful creativity- the invention, experimentation and individuality of designs that swim ahead of the rest.
Lindy Locsin hallway with Val Padilla floor lamp.
Tropical Elegance
Contemporary Asia shines through this elegant Philippine style that merges traditional artefacts with modern crafts. Designers employ subdued textures, fine Philippine artwork, and masterly forms of furnishings.
The mat-upholstered Millie Love Seat by Yrezabal bears a graceful demeanour, backed by the S-curved Molina screen. The organic divider-a wood and steel grid filled in with a natural vine mesh-along with the Alberto table lamp, were designed by Val Padilla for Locsin International. The golden chair with a knotted armrest is the Malena Lounge chair by Yrezabal. The ecru silk and hemp rope 'carpet' is an exotic fabric creation by Silk Cocoon.
Contemporary Cane
Natural light and myriad shades of white are mandatory design elements for smart contemporary homes in the Philippines. In their Makati house, Gregg and Aida Marshall have personalized these basics by adding creamy Javanese sandstone, linen-white fabrics, filmy katsa muslins and a conscious use of the tropical light to form an elegant home.
After some eight changes of address in 12 years, Indonesian-born Aida Arifien Marshall has gleaned an appreciation of the comforts inherent in American design and successfully married these with the traditions of Southeast Asia- in this case, a fine collection of the Asian crafts she so loves. She viewed some 90 Makati houses before deciding on this big, white house for the family's new residence.
To extend the house's views and afford more natural light, Aida revamped the central areas by installing sliding doors and a large picture window in the sala. Their walls, and the lanai floors, were refurbished with creamy sandstone tiles imported from Aida's Javanese hometown, Jogyakarta. Teakwood furniture and sandstone jars- part of the Arifien family's business-decorate the interiors. A white-upholstered sofa folds around a massive, square coffeetable, remodelled from an antique bed. Seated in this elegant Asian sala, everyone gazes out toward a picturesque Balinese water garden, designed by Aida's mother.
The statuesque Gia lamp with a capiz finished shade; Julio woven black-leather chair; and Metro, a three-level light table, are contemporary chic designs from Padua, Yrezabal and Locsin. Decor bowls and flower vases wrapped in black twine and wooden vessels with woven rims are modern accents by Carlo Tanseco for The Store.
A window seat with Oriental airs. The well stuffed Nobu Accent chair (by Yrezabal) has won apt recognition in the Japanese market. Nobu sits by Dumbo, a barrel-shaped light table (by Locsin). The modern setting is complemented with ceramics by Rivera Clay, Makati.
It is on the Marshalls' airy lanai, which looks like an open -air stage with drapey white curtains-that our stylist Aida Concepcion assembles an array of fabulous, contemporary Filipino furnishings. Playing against backgrounds of natural sandstone, katsa curtains and garden greenery, she orchestrates several romantic-contemporary settings.
The furniture items of this spread are produced by leading Philippine designers for the overseas market. The matted loveseat, Millie, and three stylish armchairs are manufactured by the Yrezabal Corp, local inventor of the arty but exclusive Permacane process. Permacane is an high -tech method of laminating rattan cane to form sculptured limbs for creative furniture.
There are other remarkable designs in a tropical -modern mode. The Molina screen is a graceful confection of nita vine applied in a 'crazy weave' format hiding its unique S-curved steel frame. This see-through screen and the two modern accent tables, Metro and Dombo, each with translucent side walls, were created by furniture designer Val Padilla, for exporter Locsin International. The oil-polished Relax chaise, made with handwoven solihiya (open cane-weave), comes from Lightworks, naturopath designers of "organic furniture that flows with the cosmos".
Languid scene in Madame Arifien's Balinese garden. A long lounging chaise by E. Murio Inc. combines fine Malacca cane and exquisitecolonial taste. Two stone accent balls made of Pinatubo volcanic lahar are from Amazing Space, Shangrila Mall. The colourful malong cloth is from Zamboanga, courtesy of stylist Aida Concepcion.
Tropical accessories. The organic stoneware pieces are by Ugu Bigyan (artist potter of Quezon Province), while the vine tray is by Mr Renata Vidal, designer owner of First Binhi Corp, decor-product suppliers with sheer genius for recycling nature's vines and grasses. The nailed-down wooden vase and the stringey, twined vase (picture directly below) are designed by Carlo Tanseco for the Store Inc. Tanseco trained in architecture, but jumped right into designing crafts for his Gen-X lifestyle store. Three colourful resin lamps are retro-modern designs from The Raphael Legacy of Cebu; the resin-mosaic lamps won the Mugna Award 2001 for their seventies-mod design. They stand upon an unusual copper-finished table with three legs, from Lightworks, Manila. A Philippine shell suite by the window: translucent capiz shell stars in two diamond-cut lamps; while