Filipino-Spanish beauty Cristina Elan Policarpio is passion personified. When asked to describe herself, the 5’6” looker says she is a person who works really hard when she enjoys something. Architecture and design are among her passions.
“My favorite subject is Design because I’m free to design just about anything and let my imagination go wild,” declares this bubbly and animated Architecture student at the University of Sto. Tomas. “Lately, we’ve been studying the history of architecture, the appreciation of different styles and how they came to be. It’s really fascinating to see how form evolved from function and how, even today, we still design the same concept.” Cristina reveals that as a kid, she liked coloring books and making things using her creative hands. “I am the creative one in the family so later on, Architecture made sense,” she gushes. Cristina is very focused on finishing her course with flying colors. With Rem Koolhaas and Christian de Portzamparc, two of the most ingenious architects of our time, as her inspirations, Cristina is not far from accomplishing her goal.
Aside from art appreciation, the middle child of businessmen Rafael and Rose (nee Palou) Policarpio is also into the ’60s and ’70s music. This paved the way for her to work with music icon Ramon “RJ” Jacinto on the Sunday show, RJ Online. Co-hosting this show brings a certain high to this lovely lass as she loves meeting people and hearing their stories. “The more you know about people, the more you learn about life. It’s always interesting to see life through the other side of the looking glass,” she shares. Cristina furthers that she enjoys the music of the ’90s as well, citing Gin Blossoms, Third Eye Blind, Matchbox, Sublime and Hootie as staple artists in her playlist.
Cristina, the well-grounded lady that she is, tries to keep in mind that life can’t be all about going out and having a good time. So she maintains a good balance in her life. “I also believe that we should try to outdo ourselves each time. Every day is a challenge to do better. Every day brings opportunities to do better,” adds Cristina, whose passion for structural art extends to her eagerness to take her master’s at the Architectural Association of London after finishing school in Manila. — Jerni May H. Camposano