I got a lot of good feedback from last week’s feature on Cebuano architect Ed Gallego’s beachside beauty of a house. This week, we travel back to Manila for another winning home by a similarly gifted architect — Michael T. Peña. His design won the 2006 Metrobank’s Art and Design Excellence (MADE) award for architecture last year under the theme “Modern Filipino House.”
I wrote about modernity a few weeks ago, and said that local architects should define architectural modernity in their own terms. Michael Peña does just that, aided by the fact that he was his own client and had the creative freedom to do what he felt would accommodate his and his family’s needs, as well as surround himself with art, objects and flora and fauna they love. (He and his wife are bonsai aficionados and keep champion koi.)
The design of his house started with a challenging site: a corner lot surrounded by sloping streets. It did have great views, though, of the Marikina Valley. Michael took advantage of this and kept the elevated pad for his main structure while tucking in his garage and service areas into the slope.
Steps lead to an entry platform that crosses a koi pond and into a portal made from heavy wood. Wood, in fact, is a major material he uses to generously frame and accent the house. Many of the pieces and the architectural elements are the work of a fairly undiscovered artist, Agui Pagkatipunan, who recently had his first show at a gallery at the SM Megamall.
The two-story main structure is organized around a central double-height atrium that holds the living areas and extends to the sculptural staircase — wood, of course — at the end. A feature/spirit wall separates this space from the dining room, which itself flows smoothly to a commodious terrace and the garden beyond. This terrace is actually a favorite living area, being sheltered from the afternoon sun and from which their prize-winning bonsai collection can be viewed. Outdoor steps lead to another service area tucked out of sight at the edge of the garden.
The other main space at the ground level is the architect’s den swathed in warm hues and architectural black trim. Panels hide a mini-home theater screen lit by a ceiling-suspended LCD projector. A collection of art pieces is dramatically displayed in shelves that wrap around the space and also holds design books and magazines, including BluPrint, of course.
The second floor bedroom spaces are accessed by the sculptural stairs, which are spiral and sheathed in glass to take advantage of the sweeping views of the Marikina Valley below. The bedrooms themselves are reached by a gallery, which overlooks the main living areas.
The roof is tiered and topped with finials. The eaves are wide and juxtaposed against the fairly cubist geometry of the house’s main mass. The look is tropical Filipino but expressive of the functions of residence. The liberal use of wood, layered spaces and free-flowing spaces that always seem to connect with the outside makes the house a refreshing take on suburban design.
Modern Filipino houses are breaking free of the paranoia of high fences, security grills and breeze-stopping blank walls by rediscovering the garden and making facades more permeable, just like the vernacular architecture of the nipa hut. Instead of weaving fronds, modern Filipino architects like Michael T. Peña weave space into a strong composition that doesn’t have to be Mediterranean or Manhattenesque to be modern.
Filipino architecture can be modern. Competitions like MADE and the support of foundations like Metrobank go a long way in highlighting Filipino creativity in buildings, interiors and landscape architecture. Now, prospective homeowners have an option to the banality of imported design and designers. Call your friendly neighborhood architect, interior designer or landscape architect and get truly modern.
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The MADE competition was judged by world-renowned architects Francisco Mañosa, Jose Siao Ling, and Philip Recto, along with Commissioner Avelina de la Res, and the grand dame of the architectural academy Josefina Ramos. For inquiries on MADE, call the Metrobank Foundation at 898-8856 or 857-5918 or e-mail foundation@metrobank.com.ph.
For queries on good Filipino architects, interior designers and landscape architects, call the United Architects of the Philippines at 412-6403 and 412-6374; the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers at 867-1403 and 867-1404; and the Philippine Association of Landscape Architects at 0917-7922025.
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Feedback is welcome. E-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.