Escolta’s First United Building wins highest prize at 2024 Good Design Award Philippines
MANILA, Philippines (Updated July 1, 2024; 11:29 a.m.) — The restored First United Building (FUB), one of the oldest buildings in Escolta, Manila, was hailed the winner of the Malasakit Gran Prix Award, the highest prize, at the 2024 Good Design Philippines on Saturday.
The structure, formerly known as Perez-Samanillo Building, was designed by architect Andres Luna de San Pedro, son of renowned painter Juan Luna. It was the tallest building in Manila upon completion in 1928.
The Department of Trade and Industry's attached agency, Design Center of the Philippines, awarded it on Saturday as the historic Art Deco landmark embodies the power of restoration and “adaptive reuse” in driving urban regeneration. The building now serves as a hub for creative communities in Old Manila as well as a model of “sustainable preservation.”
It currently houses various local businesses and shops as well as the First United Building Community Museum that offers a glimpse into Escolta's golden era as Manila's premier business district.
"The historic building's transformation shows the power of placemaking, where it's not just the walls and posts that make a place but the communities that flourish in it. The restored First United Building in Escolta revitalized the district, attracting creative tenants and drawing a new demographic of visitors and regular audiences that come to Escolta to escape the cookie cutter spaces that proliferate in many urban areas,” Mylene Abiva, Good Design Award Philippines 2024 Jury Chair and Co-chair of Design Center’s Design Advisory Council 2024-2027, said.
“Despite challenges, the building's revival showcases the power of design and preservation, not only in restoring its past but also in fostering Escolta's economic resurgence that caters to the next generation of the creative class,” she added.
The FUB owner also welcomed this victory.
“We see this award as a validation that what is organic drives sustainability. Both take time and patience. Hindi makakahon,” Robert Sylianteng, owner and President of FUB told Philstar.com.
Right to Care Card, Philippine Textile Table Swatchbook bag awards
Quezon City’s “Right to Care Card,” a program that allows its resident LGBTQI couples to make medical decisions for their partners during emergencies, also won an award at the 2024 Good Design Award Philippines.
The healthcare proxy document won the Gold Award for demonstrating how design can enhance inclusivity and government services.
Another Gold Award recipient is Philippine Textile Table Swatchbook of ANTHILL Fabric Factory as it showcased indigenous Philippine fabrics through “storytelling narratives and interactive features.”
Rhea Matute, Executive Director of the Design Center of the Philippines, lauded this year’s awardees for their solution-oriented services and products.
"This year's awardees are indeed a reflection of the transformative journey of Philippine design as a strategic problem-solving process that drives innovation, builds business success, and leads to a better quality of life through innovative products, systems, services and experiences,” Matute said.
"Our designers are storytellers, changemakers and agents of malasakit (compassion) who exhibit the resilience and creativity of the Filipino spirit,” she added.
The awardees automatically qualify for the final round of Japan's Good Design Award (G Mark) that will take place in August in Chiba, Japan.
Crisela Magpayo Cervantes, Vice President of Marketing Communications for Globe Telecom, said that the winners of this year’s Good Design Award Philippines will be supported for their global endeavor.
“We are excited to see and support our country’s designers in introducing Philippine design to the global market,” she said.
About Good Design Award Philippines
Good Design Award Philippines, launched in 2019, is a biennial program that recognizes outstanding designs across various categories. It was staged at The Globe Tower in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City on Saturday, coinciding World Design Organization's World Design Industrial Design Day (WIDD) on June 29.
WIDD, established in 2008, is the first international day of observance created uniquely to highlight the merits of the industrial design profession and its impact on quality of life.
This year, the organizers said that it received a record-breaking number of design entries of 204, a 25% increase compared to its last edition in 2022.
The award was established by the DTI-Design Center in collaboration with the Japan Institute of Design Promotion and ASEAN Japan Centre.
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