All is Calma, all is bright in Pam Mendoza’s design
May 8, 2004 | 12:00am
Unknown to her many friends, Pam Dizon-Mendoza’s middle initial C stands for Calma, her mother being the youngest sister of Lor Calma. Every architect and interior designer in our country knows that Lor Calma is the father of modern design and is a respected name in this field. It is very unlikely for a member of the Calma clan not to be artistically inclined. The genes are just too strong to suppress. But Pam did not realize this when she decided not to be an artist like her cousins. When it was time to choose her profession, the economy was on a downturn and she felt that she should take a course that would give her a broader range of career choices after college. She enrolled in an accounting course at St. Scholastica’s College and was awarded the SGV Gold Medal for Excellence in Accounting. Soon, she was a junior auditor at Laya Manabat Salgado & Company. But her father asked her to work for him in his construction company and she did as vice president for operations and finance. She valued her experiences in her first two job experiences but felt no pizzazz in what she was doing.
"When you like what you are doing, you wake up in the morning excited to meet the day’s challenges. I did not feel that way. I could not imagine myself growing old in the field I chose," she confesses.
Art was in her blood and Pam could not shake it off. There and then, she enrolled in the school that her uncle co-founded, the Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID). This was her real passion, and there was no turning back. Her graduation piece, a bedroom interior, gave Pam her first break in interior design. A guest at the exhibit saw her work and loved it. The client engaged her services right away and to this day, after almost nine years, this client has remained faithful to her.
"I just recently renovated her entire house," says Pam. "All these nine years, she has engaged me in some work or another. I have seen her family grow and she has seen me grow in my profession and personal life. I am now married and a mother."
This client, Pam claims, gives her carte blanche in both the exterior and interior designs of her homes. They share the same taste in everything. "Projects like this are a blessing; almost a miracle!" she exclaims.
From that exhibit, Pam’s practice has modestly grown and now includes a staff of three architects: Almer Macalinao, Jay Maninang, and Boyet La Torre. Her team does the production drawings and presentation materials. From her desk, the design concepts originate. She could be designing Modern, Pan Asian, or Mediterranean, whatever her numerous clients demand.
Pam’s style is an exercise in restraint and skill. This is evident in her interior architecture, color palette and choice of decorative pieces. Her choice of paintings complements the interiors rather than calls attention. Like a painter, she treats the surface of her walls like a huge canvas. She believes that excessive use of strong colors negates the total effect, rather than enhances it.
"There are so many beautiful materials, but I have to limit the application so that the materials stand out, rather than kill each other," she explains.
She treats each project in a special way. "I consider every client unique. I give in to their demands but guide them so that elegance and restraint are the final imprints."
She makes sure that her work reflects her style: Timeless, modern, uncluttered and fresh. Simple, yet moving and powerful. A Calma in every sense of the word, she utters with pride.
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