Design dilemmas

Readers’ reactions are the biggest boost to any writer’s ego. And I am no exception. Those that came through the e-mail more than made my day as they poured in. One of the guys who displayed genuine interest in the new format of this column is a prominent physician in Cebu. A lover of beautiful things and the environment, he has been continuously communicating to inform this writer of his mixed reactions to the different issues we wrote about. His observations are keen so that I have been very careful in writing lest he responds to the ideas he deems inaccurate or untrue. Dr. Henry Lim Uy is one such reader who closely notices every nuance or idea contained in Talking Design over the last five issues.

With the advent of the Internet we have received mail coming from far and wide. Places such as Long Island in New York, one coming from a place called Punchbowl in the City of Bankstown and still another from as far as Cape Coral, Southwest Florida. One lady named Mari Sison Garcia found the "Architectural Confessions" useful. To her the article was timely since she and her husband are currently upgrading their house to suit the present requirements of their (now) grown-up children.

Garcia’s queries came aplenty. She is asking whether it is wise to pay her commissioned architect a flat fee or if it’s better to have the project done on a straight-contract basis. My advice was for her to ask her friends regarding their individual building experiences so she may gather practical solutions and ideas from them. Personally I would sub-divide the phases of construction since with all the building and remodeling that I have gone through I have already mastered the art of saving pesos and centavos in the course of the project. As to the architect’s professional fee, I am certain respectable architects would be more flattered if their fee be a certain standard percentage of the total cost of the whole renovation projects.

Another reader inquired about "minimalism" design. To my mind the best way to describe minimalism is by classifying it as the opposite of layering or elaborate and often cluttered interiors. To subscribe into the "less is more" syndrome requires a cultivated and disciplined style, and add to that, the willingness to part with one’s favorite and prized processions. So if you are one of those who derive sheer pleasure by being surrounded by layers of beautiful objects and things you love to feel and see, leave minimalism to the others.

Reader Kelvin Brown informs me that her husband has been hooked on anything Balinese so they go to the island paradise whenever their schedule allows it. She is asking for some ideas that she can incorporate in their Bankstown home to satiate her husband’s Bali fetish. Our advice is to pick ideas that are original to the place. We have seen a glossy volume featuring contemporary adaptations of the Bali spirit as concocted by some Indonesian artists. And I swear to Kelvin Brown that rustic and ethnic Bali architecture is far more charming when they are original and authentic.

Speaking of Bali, their food, like Filipino cuisine, revolves around a lot of sautéing. You and I know what onion and garlic produce when one sautés. We had this problem while living in a high-rise condominium in Manhattan, New York.

With us cooking our favorite adobo and other Pinoy delicacies, it was unavoidable that the foyer on the 37th floor (shared by three other unit owners) reeked with an aroma so different from all the other floors. This despite the fact that our unit’s kitchen had a powerful exhaust plus a wide window to it. There is one feature in the Balinese approach to planning where kitchens are treated like outhouses. Yes, you’re correct, kitchens are independent of the main house and connected to the house only by covered and columned colonnades.

We have recently discovered a way of expanding the actual area of the lot we are building upon. Both Gli and I love plants. The more the merrier. So after laying out the different requirements on the master plan we were confronted by the revelation that very little area is left to be assigned as our garden. Pausing after trying several alternative schemes, we discovered that we had a book in the family library still waiting to be taken out from its sealed plastic packaging. The book is on Moroccan houses and after opening and reading a few pages we were led to this realization: why not have a deck on top instead of the traditional roof? So it is like gaining an extra 200 square meters for a garden in the sky. Clever, is it not?

Everyone seems to gravitate towards having scrumptious colors in their interiors. Electric pinks and purples are everywhere. Great looking armchairs and sofas are not spared. This love for vibrant colors is further exemplified in throws and pillows if they find re-upholstering extremely prohibitive. Sofa pillow is big business and all the major purveyors of home accessories come up with oodles and oodles of this colorful and intricate pillows in great array of fabrics.

Final item: One woman noticeably following in her mother’s footsteps is this good-looking daughter of the famous designer Donna Karan of the DKNY fame. Gabby Karan, who’s barely out of her teens, is on her own albeit she’s very much part of her Mom’s latest venture purveying appurtenances for the home. She is the person behind the riveting window displays of the DKNY life collection, now ensconced in a flagship store that stands proudly along Madison Avenue. Seeing her individual taste and design sensibilities subtly revealed in her SoHo loft dwelling, her design laboratory, one can justly conclude she is indeed a fine chip off the old block.

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