The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Alvin I. Dacanay
If you were given the chance to design your dream living space and decorate it with items from the top home-enhancement stores in one of Metro Manila’s most upscale malls, how would you do it? What would it look like?
Would it look classic or contemporary? Trendy or timeless? Would it throb with vibrant hues or soothe the senses with a cool color palette? And what would it say about you?
Eleven people—all involved, in one way or another, in the arts—took that chance, and Shangri-La Plaza is showing the spaces they came up with in a lifestyle exhibit, titled “Inspired Homes: Dream Living Spaces,” which opened at the mall’s East Atrium on October 8.
In a statement, Shangri-La Plaza expressed hope that the dream living spaces of the exhibit’s participants—art curator Yael Buencamino-Borromeo; architect Jason Buensalido; artist and The Philippine Star editor Igan D’Bayan; interior designers Argee Hubilla and Michael Pizarro; prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde; Moy Ortiz of the acclaimed vocal ensemble The CompanY; fashion designer Randy Ortiz; celebrity cousins Ciara Sotto-Oconer and Danica Sotto-Pingris; and makeup artist Angela Medalla Yeo—would “inspire others to create their dream spaces in their own homes.”
“Home is where the heart is, and here at the Shang, we house brands that can help you create the home of your dreams,” said Lala Fojas, Shangri-La Plaza’s executive vice president and general manager.
These brands are Ariston, Ashley, Audio Visual Driver, Bo Concept, Cutting Edge, Décor, D&K Kitchen Essentials, GE Monogram, Hacker, KitchenPro, KitchenWorks, La Sedia, La-Z Boy, Luxe Room, National Book Store, Pismo Digital, Regalong Pambahay, Restoration, Shell Canvas, Sheridan, Slumberland, SMEG, Summit Art Gallery, Tempur, and True Value.
“Inspired Homes” represents “a wonderful collaboration that presents the unique points of view and design aesthetics of” the featured living-space stylists, Fojas said.
Cozy and elegant
Moving around the 10 cozy and elegant spaces that make up the exhibit, it’s clear the participants favor clean lines, subdued colors (black, white, and earth tones) and wood elements. Some use gleaming metals to give their space a bit of a cool vibe, while others use vivid colors—mostly red—as accents to enliven their space a little.
Truth be told, there’s a certain coherence—a certain uniformity—in the featured spaces—most of them, anyway—that it’s easy to imagine them existing in a single house. Clearly, the stylists don’t only share exhibit space, but also very refined—and similar—design tastes.
Each space has at least one interesting element that may give hints on the participant’s character or background. In the Sotto cousins’ living room, it’s not the cushioned chair with zigzagging lines—which, at first glance, does not exactly fit with the rest of the space (this pattern, however, is repeated in the other spaces)—but the trio of ceramic birds on the dark-brown wooden table.
In Buensalido’s living space, it’s the large painting of a headset-wearing professional clutching a mobile phone in one hand, and the prominence of the color green—on the carpet, on the ottoman, on the empty fishbowl, on the shrubbery displayed. In Randy Ortiz’s master bedroom, it’s the oriental-lattice design on the pillows and bedsheet, and the brick-like pattern on the carpets that, to a certain extent, mirrors the large, round vase on the writing desk.
In Borromeo’s children’s bedroom (appropriately enough, the most colorful of all the spaces), it’s the bright red SMEG mini-fridge in the corner—a curious addition to such a space. In Pizarro’s master bedroom, it’s the six-piece mirror (fitting enough, each piece is a hexagon) hanging above the headboard and two lovely bedside lamps with three tiers of capiz shell-like gray square chips.
In Elizalde’s living room, it’s the consistent floral theme—from the white blossoms encased in glass bowls and the patterns on the throw pillows to the painting of blood-red blooms hanging on the pale beige wall—and the framed family picture featured prominently on the large, varnished wooden table. In Hubilla’s lounging space, it’s the round, apple-green reading chair and a pair of canes—one has the head of a white-haired, beared man; the other, a billiard ball.
Most interesting
Of the 10 living spaces, those of Moy Ortiz and D’Bayan seem to be the most interesting. In what can be called his sleek listening corner, Ortiz conveys his passion—music—with the headphones near the beige lounge chair and a mobile device on the black, almond-shaped docking station. The wicker-like “M” (it very likely stands for Mitoy and music) on a glass shelf and a quartet of shiny square mirrors forming a window add more interest to the space.
Like Ortiz, D’Bayan shows his interest in music by displaying in his space a pair of The Cure albums and a turntable that’s ready to play one of that iconic 1980s band’s vinyl records, as well as a small white gramophone on top of a bookshelf. In this space, the subjects of the books displayed—very good revealers of the owner’s personality, or at least their interests—range from visual arts (The Sistine Chapel) to rock music (Beatles vs. Stones), and boast of such names as Haruki Murakami, JG Ballard, Chuck Palahniuk and Neil Gaiman.
Classy. Clean. Comfortable. These adjectives describe the spaces in “Inspired Homes: Dream Living Spaces,” and these—plus another quality that the best of these spaces possess: a distinctive character—are what people dreaming of their ideal spaces should keep in mind when they get that chance to turn them into reality.
“Inspired Homes: Dream Living Spaces” will run until October 18. For more information, call Shangri-La Plaza at (632) 370-2500, loc. 597, or visit www.facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficialfanpage.