More of '70s Mod design

Yes, it was called Mod design then. The term was popular and was even used for a hit television show, The Mod Squad. This week I bring back more of Wili Fernandez’s creations for the rich and famous of the ’70s. But first, some readers’ feedback.

I received many e-mails from all over regarding the series a few weeks ago. We start with one from pioneering journalist Blanche Gallardo, who wrote: “Hi, Paulo, we haven’t met, and I regret that. But in another way, I’m glad, because it proves the objectivity of what you wrote in last Saturday’s Philippine STAR about me and the pioneering work I have done on Philippine architecture and design. The time you speak of were trailblazing days for Filipino architects and interior designers (then known as ‘decorators’).

“We were way ahead of the pack with designs that were of the moment, for the moment, and of contemporary relevance, only occasionally borrowing from the past to enrich the current and the present. We hadn’t yet got stuck in living in the past and reworking and rehashing, ad infinitum, the themes and forms of days gone by, as we seem to do these days.

“Even our economy was vigorous, second only to Japan and moving forward, not stagnant. Tadao Ando and Toshiyika Kita had yet to put modern Japanese architecture and furniture design on the world map, and the traditional Japanese house had yet to reinvent itself into the precursor of modern minimalist design.

“Some corrections, I hope you don’t mind: 1) Alan Castro is not Filipino, he is Portuguese and still living in Hong Kong; 2) Noli Galang was not the art director. It was my husband, Bert Gallardo, who was the art director; Noli was his assistant. And it was my husband, in fact, who brought Noli into the team; 3) You missed out on the other, more important Filipino on the AM staff: Johnny Gatbonton, who was the editor (in-chief, really, though that title was never used in the case of Asia magazine and 4) We also had Arnold Moss (another Filipino) as copyeditor.”

Thanks, Blanche, for the trailblazing work you and your colleagues did, both for Philippine journalism and for Philippine design.

Next is a note from Anton Garriz of Dubricon, who wrote via his iPhone, “I’ve been meaning to write to tell you how much I enjoy your pieces about the ‘old’ architects and the classic homes. Great work! Once you’ve run out of Forbes and Dasmariñas homes, maybe you can feature San Lorenzo homes, only because they have relevance, size-wise, to today’s homes. I can’t imagine too many 2,000-square-meter homes being made today — not for mortals like me, anyway. I truly dig looking at those old pictures. Thank you.”

Well, Anton, I do hope to feature more of these “old” houses soon.

Next we hear from Sandra Sotto, who e-mailed, “Thank you for featuring the houses of the 1950s, which bring back beautiful memories, especially the home of the Marquez-Lims (wasn’t that on Notre Dame Road in Wack Wack?), which I visited when I was a little girl. The Marquez-Lims were friends of my parents since our families both come from Iloilo City.

“My parents constructed this house in Bacolod City when I was in first grade, which was patterned after a Frank Lloyd Wright/Richard Neutra design.  But our stay in Bacolod was short-lived since my grandmother ordered us back to her palace in Iloilo City.  It was my father’s way of cutting himself from her apron strings but to no avail. I am very interested in the works of Richard Neutra and the house in Arizona is similar to our house in Bacolod City.

“The Lagdameo house in Forbes Park (Narra Ave.) is also of the 1950s, but I do not know who the architect is.  I know that the house of the late Ernesto Rufino Sr. on Mahogany Road (Forbes Park) was done by Gabby Formoso.  These are worth featuring.  Perhaps you can make a book on these. Thank you again.”

Thanks, Sandra. I am thinking of a book about these houses, their owners and the creative architects and designers of the period. Any publishers out there?

Finally, from architect Ed de Lara now based in the States: “Dear Mr. Alcazaren, your Philippine STAR article (Feb. 6, 2010) on Formoso’s houses jolted me back to the years when we had normal overnight work at his office atop the Bank of America building off Paseo de Roxas in Makati.  I said normal, because there was so much work to do back then, that our “normal” working hours used to include working through the night to cover deadlines; creating masterpieces not only for Filipino clientele but from around Asia literally.

“One of his favorite events is for a whole-day celebration of his birthday at his residence in Antipolo, participated by everyone in the office.  One time we had a walkathon for employees from the subdivision entrance culminating at his driveway, easily four kilometers, at least.  Then breakfast, picnic at the poolside, joined by his loving family, then the real party at nightfall.  It was always fun.

“One thing I’ll always remember was his ability to draw out creativity from his loyal charges, always ready to tackle an architectural design problem.  His employees are loyal to him, because he treated them well.”

Thanks, Ed. Formoso was from an era when all major architects were icons; when all clients looked to Filipino designers for their buildings, landscapes and interiors. Sadly, those days are gone and many clients who say they support Filipino creativity actually hire foreign architects, landscape architects and interior designers. They do hire locals but only as glorified “draftsmen” to “add character” to designs whose inception and authorship are from cultures not of our own.

That’s why I feature pictures of Filipino designs from a better time. In the early days of modernism, clients still trusted Filipino designers to deliver world–class structures and settings, indoors and outdoors.

The pictures this week show two more houses whose interiors were done by Wili Fernandez. The first house was done by the Mañosa brothers — Manny, Bobby and Pinggoy — who practiced as a group then. Although conservative in style, the house was modern in massing and shows the way architects then were able to bridge traditional inclinations with modern lines and lifestyles.

The second house was designed by architect Mariano Cadiz, father of Medardo Cadiz, a famous Fil-Am planner and architect operating from Australia and Manila. The house in Makati was commissioned by Benjamin Abela and was a modernist take but with local flavor in the use of wood and carved decoration.

The third house is that of Conrado Sanchez, in a similar vein but with more texture on its adobe walls as a contrast to the interior design of Wili. Of note in this house is a sunken living room — a popular adaptation of a western interior fad but well-integrated in the local architecture. I can just see the bellbottoms of the guests drinking San Miguel Pale Pilsen — the only beer we could drink then.

If you have a ’70s home, and pictures of when it was new, please send them to me. I may be able to identify the architect and possibly list them in a register of modern residential houses of the era … and maybe inclusion in a future book.

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Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.