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community of more modern, more
stylish GK houses that will be both
energy- and cost-efficient.
And that’s just a handful of art and
design fields that the GKonomics
Designer series hopes to involve. The
dream is to bring together the country’s
best minds from the various disciplines,
including fashion, photography and
advertising.
“
Design is supposed to be a solution.
Through design, we can find ways
to care for the environment and for
people,” says Michelle Barretto, who,
with Sergio Boero and Chiqui Lara,
created the brand and marketing
strategies for the project. “It could be
a simple bag made from old Zesto
packs or a solution to disaster-resilient
housing. We have the resources and
the need in this country. Design could
help to build the bridge that narrows
that gap.”
D E S I G N E D F O R G O O D
Tobias Guggenheimer
Formerly a professor at the Pratt Institute
and assistant chair of the Interior Design
Department at the Parsons School
of Design, Tobias Guggenheimer is a
leading figure in design education in the
country, as the executive director of the
School of Fashion and the Arts and the
principal of GA Global Design.
Chair pair
Tobias created two designs
for Silya — the woven design pictured
above, and another made of bamboo
—
both using traditional Filipino
construction and craftsmanship.
MiloNaval
Architect, interior designer and furniture
designer, Milo Naval is a member of the
board of trustees and the vice president
for design of the Chamber of Furniture
Industries of the Philippines. He is
also one of the founders of Movement
8,
which promotes Filipino design
internationally.
Reuse, recycle, innovate
Milo used his
experience in working with recycled
materials for this design: Naval used
T-shirt fabric and recycled tarp to create
this elegant remake of a swan chair.
Joey Yupangco
As the current dean of De La Salle
University College of Saint Benilde,
Joey Yupangco presides over the
education of the country’s next
generation of artists and designers. He
is also the founder of JY+A, a think
tank and design lab.
Culture and sophistication
Made of
abaca
,
rattan and woven cotton on
metal, this inventive piece has an
unexpected and unique feature: It can
roll out like a
banig,
a traditional Filipino
woven mat.
Clockwise from top
left: The blueprint;
an unfinished Tobias
Guggenheimer
chair; craftsmen
refer to the design
closely while hard
at work
PHOTOS
PATRICK SEGOVIA
