Mayo 26, 2007
When Wynn Wynn Ong showed us her very first collection of jewelry a couple of years ago, we were not just impressed — we were enchanted. Using unusual shapes of amber, topaz, rock crystal and turquoise, together with rare colors of agate and sandstone, she fashioned the most stunning rings and cuffs we had ever seen in a long time.
The combination of colors and textures was so masterfully executed to create such alluring pieces, each one having a strange beauty that was so special and individual.
She named them Andromeda, Medea,
Just like her creations, Wynn Wynn has many fascinating stories: how as children in
Six years have passed since her first collection and her jewelry has evolved into even more intricate incarnations using the highest quality gemstones and techniques that have either been forgotten or are just too labor-intensive for most jewelers to bother with.
Pieces like “ Triton’s Gift” and “Tentacles” have traveled the seas to delight fans in
So you can imagine the anticipation we felt when she announced that she and her husband Norby had decided to do a total renovation of their home. What stories would this house tell and where would Wynn Wynn’s imaginings take us this time?
The excitement was further heightened when they commissioned Lor Calma Design and Associates to execute the renovation. This architectural firm has designed some of the most beautiful homes that have been included in the Phaidon book of Contemporary World Architecture and even won awards for its innovative work like the Philippine pavilion in the Aichi Expo, Japan, which received the gold medal for best design among 160 international exhibitors.
A work that the firm did, which the Ongs particularly like and know well, is the celebrated home of Ervin and Josephine Knox in Punta Fuego, where they had spent enjoyable weekends.
Of course, each project is different. In the case of the Ong residence, it was a totally new creation. Approaching the house from the road at night, uplights from a groutless tiled entrance herald a gate of floating slate doors, magically standing on invisible hinges, a virtual piece of sculpture created from ingeniously designing something essentially functional. The structure dictates a compulsory pause, commanding would-be intruders to go no further but luring those who appreciate aesthetics to venture into the inner chambers for more wonders.
Just when you thought that sleek modernity in travertine and slate was the agenda for the day, you open the front door to a magnificent Gothic altar perched on a purple 18-foot, freestanding wall delineating the foyer. It’s another pause of appreciation and a prelude to the alleluias as you step into the living room and allow the architectural glory to unfold before you.
Remembering the house from over a year ago, before it was gutted down for renovation, this was a complete transformation.
“There was really so much space that was under-utilized so we had to reconfigure the layout to make it more efficient and dynamic,” Wynn Wynn observed. “The den, which was one level below the living room area, was practically dead space so we converted it into the dining room with an adjacent kitchen.”
This increased the living room space, expanding it into three separate seating clusters with the third cluster opening into the lanai and pocket garden outdoors. The bedrooms are one level up and a loft with his and hers study/work rooms is two levels above. All these areas are interconnected by a multilevel staircase, which is a stunning sculptural centerpiece, as well as a link for the different blocks of habitation.
It’s a clear architectural idea where the lines interconnect to create an originally designed living space, delineating the various sections and having an easy flow from one area to the next. Here again, an architectural element, the staircase, which is essential and functional, becomes a virtual art piece — one that makes you pause and step back. It’s an intelligent and aesthetic way of separating the public from the private areas without traditional walls or borders that hinder the flow.
Unlike some minimalist spaces that look boring and are devoid of imagination, this one captures the eye and the spirit. There is beauty in the spare, elegant lines of the architectural design — it really is quite breathtaking as you take in the expansiveness of the high ceiling, which is punctuated by the staircase rising three levels in geometric precision.
To temper the grandness of it all, sliding glass doors open to the serenity of a reflecting pool that lines the perimeter of the house, visible from the front foyer all the way to the back lanai. What also brings everything down to earth are the lounging clusters of bespoke furniture like armchairs in reptile-embossed leather and sofas which Wynn Wynn upholstered in Bo-beige linen (Bo being their beloved Labrador who enjoys the sofas as much as everybody else).
One of the coffee tables is pure recycled chic designed by Wynn Wynn using scrap metal I-beams. She tried to give each sitting area its own individual character with her choice of furniture, paintings, sculptures, antiques and accessories that adorn it. Guests naturally hop from one cluster to the next for a different mood and for new objects and paintings to admire and talk about.
In other areas of the house, the choice of art is as well considered. The collection of religious Christian art, for example, fills a wall of the dining room, the sacred place for breaking bread, while the Buddhist statues watch over the family hallway leading to the bedrooms. The hallway also has a Maya Muñoz painting of a woman’s face, which Wynn Wynn thought looked very much like one of their family, so she gave it a special place in the private quarters while Muñoz’s portrait of a man was relegated to the living room.
“Inside Arnolfini’s Marriage,” a cherished painting by the couple’s dear friend Debbie del Pan, hangs appropriately enough in the master bedroom, while Jason Montinola’s painting of a doll-like Madel, looking like a prospective bride of Chucky, lords it over their daughter Stephanie’s bedroom. For their son Michael, a more expressionist image of a man by a banyan tree by Thai artist Komwong was chosen.
The art pieces and objects were actually pivotal in the design of the house. “When I design jewelry, I’m excited by the gems. When I see them, I’m inspired as to how they will be set and what form the piece will take. With the house, art pieces inspire me as to how a space should look.”
The intricately carved Gothic altar in the foyer was such a prized piece that Wynn Wynn wanted it to be the first thing one sees upon entering the house. She already imagined the oxblood-polychrome objet floating on the tallest possible freestanding aubergine wall that would comprise the foyer. A favorite sculpture by Dei Jardiniano, which she got from the Drawing Room, resulted in the creation of a “garden sculpture walk” a la MOMA, seen from her dining room. This area was also dead space before with just potted plants. Now, the window was transformed into sliding doors to open into the walkway where you can have tête-à-tête away from the heavy partying indoors.
Partying was actually a major consideration in the design since the Ongs love to entertain friends. Wynn Wynn, a founding member of the International Wine and Food Society, is a very good cook and will whip up a feast of Burmese and Southeast Asian dishes enough to feed a barangay even if it’s just for a party of 12. Of course, guests look forward to bringing home her trademark piambreras so they can have the heavenly mohinga noodles one more time.
Dinners and parties are all easily accomplished with the kitchen in an open design right beside the dining room. For easy access, one whole side of the kitchen contains china, stemware and other dining accoutrements concealed beneath sliding glass doors. The wines are also hidden beneath the bar counter separating the dining room from the kitchen. Although the dining-kitchen area has a decidedly efficient and modern look, Wynn Wynn decided to keep her old dining set because it has sentimental value and she also liked the patina of old wood which is a nice counterpoint to the modern design of the house.
Perhaps the most telling of Wynn Wynn’s touch is the guest powder room which she designed and supervised for a good five months and four days using seven colors of glass mosaic tiles. She didn’t want any grouting gaps for a seamless look so each 1x1-inch tile had to be placed individually. As if this wasn’t complicated enough, she had to design the placement of each tile in a random pattern where the colors had to blend for the look she wanted — the inside of a black-lipped Tahitian oyster of iridescent purple, silver, and green hues. No picture can quite capture the beauty of those walls whose shimmer is almost palpable and gently kinetic. The final effect is quite precious and worth all the time and effort. It brings to mind a cuff that Wynn Wynn experimented on for one of her collections, the production of which also took a couple of months because of a process that took time to perfect but resulted in the most exquisite piece.
Just when we were about to remind her that clients have been clamoring for new jewelry designs, she whipped out a prototype for her next show: two large rings with the most unusually cut stones. She had to acquire huge blocks of rutilated quartz to achieve the shapes she wanted, but this is what made the pieces singular and covetable. They were positioned asymmetrically in such a way that you’d be reminded of a house and architecture.
The creative process does run in many astounding ways. A house turns into a jewel and a jewel turns into a house. With Wynn Wynn, you never know where her imagination will take her. And we are all the richer for it!
