Designing the future — Pinoys go global

We have seen the future and it’s as glorious as the past.

Here is a futuristic couch that slenders into graceful contortions (— picture one of Picasso’s women snugly lounging upon its angular shapes). A cool lamp with black abstract pipes that funnel out music (— imagine listening to Coltrane or The Cult in the freshly-mown yards of tomorrow). Mathematically-precise hanging lamps here, artfully-propped wing chairs there, and furniture designs that are forward-thinking and, at the same time, steeped in the rich history of Filipino artistry and artisanship. You can say it this way: they will make viewers feel nostalgic for a past that hasn’t happened. Yet.

And these are all conceptualized and created by Filipino designers — that’s the beauty of it.

“Filipinos are the Latinos of Asia, and this is our edge over other Asian neighbors,” shares Anton Mendoza — architect, interior designer and principal of J. Antonio Mendoza Design Consultants. “We are artisans that breathe life and beauty into the objects we create. We design with a fiery passion and that is our distinction.”

Anton is the creative director for the Philippine International Furniture Show (PIFS) 2014, which takes place from March 14 to 17 at the SMX Convention Center. The PIFS is organized by the nation’s three major trade associations for the furniture sector: the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF), the Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines (CFIP)-National, and the Pampanga Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (PFIF).

At the PIFS fair, the country’s premier names in furniture, lighting, home accessories and design will showcase their best and latest offerings. Precisely the ones that are being put together in company workshops or special ateliers; the ones that are bound to make an appearance in the cool, contemporary homes near you; the ones you’d want to dot your own domicile with. The event is a testament to Filipino craftsmanship, ingenuity, design and manufacturing talent, consolidating three fairs — CebuNext, Manila Now and Pampanga One — into one strong, focused show, according to PIFS chairman Christina Gaston.

“The PIFS has united the regions and associations,” she explains. “It is now the central showcase for the national industry.”

The role of Anton as creative director is to ensure world-class exhibition settings for the furniture and furnishings on view at PIFS 2014. It is essentially a curatorial role and is geared toward Mendoza’s leanings toward contemporary style and globally attuned vision. The man who puts everything together.

He says, “Since the PIFS is back after so many years, we try to come up with a very good show. Friends in the industry — Ed Calma, Joey Yupangco, Anna Sy, Conrad Anglao, among others — are helping design booths for the show, gratis et amore. It’s sort of our way of giving back to an industry that has been very kind to us.”

Anton adds that the PIFS will feature the rising stars of the Philippine furniture scene. Good exposure since the PIFS is part of the Asian furniture circuit — Thailand before it and Vietnam right after.

Azcor’s Eduardo Zuluaga, chairman of Manila Now, says it’s the time for young designers such as Stanley Ruiz and Daniel Latorre Cruz to shine because the market is getting younger and younger.

“I’m 30 years in the business, and I’ve observed that the buyers coming in are younger and have different, more modern preferences,” he says, adding that those who should be designing objects for the youth should be themselves youthful. “We are trying to keep things fresh.”

Anton agrees. He says, “The manufacturers are quite excited since the focus of this year’s show is the end-user. Design plays a very important role, but we’re trying to come up with new designs that will be more competitive (in the global market). Did you know that the creation of objects for the global market — the export of Filipino crafts since the galleon trade — has been around for almost 500 years?”

 That’s experience for you, he stresses.

“The Filipino designers were doing designs primarily for an international market — but that was before. Now, the local market is very responsive to these cutting-edge designs.”

There are times, the PIFS creative director continues, manufacturers will come out with a product that has a radical new look — different but alluring, strange yet compelling — and it will be largely ignored at the fair. Then a year or two later, the same piece will be showcased and people will marvel at how beautiful it is. “Then they start ordering,” Anton says with a smile.

He explains, “Sometimes it takes a while for the market or the buyers to absorb it because the designers, our designers, are very advanced.” For example, a ceruse finish or rust finish would generate zero buzz when it was first introduced; two years later, it becomes the trend. The buyers catch up.

Many Filipinos have caught up with the contemporary, have abandoned the cookie-cutter styles, and are raring to be pleasantly awed. And that’s always a good thing.

“Being the creative director for this show has opened my eyes to a lot of things,” Anton concludes. “We Filipinos have so much talent, we know that. But visiting all the factories, I realized how many of the amazingly beautiful objects are manufactured here — items for Ralph Lauren, Henredon, McGuire, Lane Crawford. My God, these are the furniture that I see in the showrooms abroad. And they are being made here!”

There is always talk about the future this and the future that. You might be surprised that, sometimes, the future is right inside our very own backyard.

All along.

* * *

The PIFS runs from March 14 to 17 at the SMX Convention Center, Seashell Lane, Mall of Asia Complex Manila, Philippines.

The roster of exhibitors at this year’s Philippine International Furniture Show includes the best in furniture, home accessories, lighting fixtures, and even art. The major names on the list include Azcor Lighting Systems, Country Accents, Vito Selma, E. Murio, Designs Ligna, Locsin International, Pacific Traders, Mehitabel, More Than A Chair, and so many more. A full listing of the companies participating at PIFS can be found at www.nextonenow.com/pifs.

Stanley Ruiz: Design to penetrate everyday life

Filipino designer Stanley Ruiz recently came home from New York after working with some of the top design brands in North America — Jonathan Adler, Real Simple, Time Warner, Indigo Books & Music. He collaborated with pioneering designers from West Elm and helped establish Soho Studios in downtown NYC. In 2008, he started his own design studio doing commissioned work for clients — ranging from ceramic tabletop, glassware, lighting, furniture, to installations and exhibition design. He also manufactures his own line of products under his eponymous brand. His works have appeared at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

What’s on Stanley’s mind is how design should be incorporated into everyday life.

Just look around your city, he invites. Look at the MMDA projects — flyovers and whatnot. Each municipality has its own take, its own color scheme, and own sets of aesthetics (or lack thereof).

There is a sense of chaos. Disconnection, even.

“Somehow if we could only tap that energy and work on something more unified,” he pauses. Later on, he says we need designs for education, infrastructure and even disaster relief.

The furniture industry is just one area where design should matter, according to Ruiz. He concludes, “We should think of what else we can offer the world — in terms of design.”

Daniel Latorre Cruz: Kicking the legs out of design

Daniel Latorre Cruz works as a furniture designer, chills out as a surfer, gets inspiration from art house movies (Tarkovsky!), and talks like a philosopher. Philippine-born and UK-educated, Cruz shuffles between ateliers in Manila and London in search of that sometime-elusive design idea.

“I get inspiration from the combination of both worlds,” he shares.

For the designer, it’s all about “kicking the legs out of design”: smashing it all up like a Brit punk rocker and then building it all up again.

He raves about traditional weaving as well as materials found only in the Philippines. Take capiz for example. “We don’t have this in the UK. And there is not one piece of machinery that can handle capiz. It is all hand-made. I like this challenge. The Philippines is an entire playground of creativity.”

The man works with metal but handles dark, opulent materials as well.

“Like black sand,” he says. “I stay loyal to the character of the material. It’s already perfected by nature, I am just helping it all the way by highlighting its characteristics. I like the material to show itself.”  

Dig this. This is how Cruz explains his piece, titled “Against the Element,” for the upcoming Philippine International Furniture Show: “It’s an experimental play of surface narratives — rusting, sculptural seatings for the outdoors with many orientations: as chaise, bench, planters or barrier. The intention is for the pieces to erode through time. After they’ve served their functional purpose, they become sculptures that evoke memories.”

It gives a glimpse of how nature works, he adds. “Of how fragile the future can be.”

He has also experimented with paper, creating enormous wing-nightshades. “The pulp is shaped with fingers and thumb strokes, when it was left to dry, there was this nice textural depth.”

The work is called “Icarus.”

Cruz reveals, “Creative-wise, new design comes from dreams and nostalgia. I like the play of light. Some of the ideas are visual experiences and my exposure to two cultures that I’ve gratefully gained.”