Ayala Malls, an avid advocate of sustainability, arts and culture, hosts a special project with Artkitektura Festival 2017, the first ever learning program in the Philippines that aims to educate and inspire the youth and professionals. Artkitektura Festival brings to the fore the idea that architecture can exist in harmony with nature and enhance human experience. Architecture is more than just building a structure, its responding to space and creating a conducive environment that promotes growth and harmony of all those who move and live within it.
“In all our developments, Ayala Malls always takes into consideration the environment we are present in. With Greenbelt, we preserved the park; in U.P. Town Center, Fairview Terraces, and Centrio in Cagayan de Oro we built our malls around the trees in that location for years. In our regional malls like Glorietta and Trinoma, we integrated greens through pocket and roof top gardens,” says Ayala Land Malls Inc. President Rowena Tomeldan. “What distinguishes Ayala Malls from others is the amount of space we allocate to greenery.”
Ayala Malls doesn’t only take the existing environment in consideration, they are also staunch supporters of sustainability.
In 2016, Ayala Malls launched Blooms and the Organic Gardens—a campaign committed to the conservation of indigenous Philippine plants and growing organic herbs and vegetable plants.
Until October, Ayala Malls becomes the proud host and stage for the festival—the first of its kind in the country—that celebrates the holistic approaches to architecture and the built environment through a series of exhibitions and talks.
When it comes to great architecture, what better way to kick off the festival than with an inspiring exhibition by no less than the master himself, architect Bobby Mañosa.
In two special exhibits at Alabang Town Center Activity Center (Aug 6-17) and TriNoMa Cinema Lobby (Aug 18-Sept 9), Ayala Malls brought the tribute exhibit—Mañosa: Beyond Architecture, launched at the National Museum in February. Mañosa, best known for his work on the Coconut Palace, Amanpulo and Pearl Farm resorts, is widely recognized as the country’s first and most stalwart champion of authentic Filipino architecture.
In addition to inspiring exhibitions and displays, Ayala Malls gifts its mall-goers with inspiring art installations that make us rethink of how we interact with space and how space impacts us.
Garden Soundscapes—a unique art installation design by Teresa Barozza, a sound artist, composer, and recipient of the Ani ng Dangal Award from the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts—creates such an impactful surrounding in Greenbelt Park. Titled “Vocalizations,” the installation creates a truly unique, all-sensory experience, weaving together color, ambient sounds, and movement, which highlight how nature is very much alive and vibrant.
Forty years ago, Greenbelt was home to over 500 different bird species that was thought to have disappeared with the aviary that housed them. But to this very day, bird species from the old aviary—the Oriole, Colasisi, White-Collared Kingfisher, and Zebra Dove, among others—can still be found in Greenbelt.
Combining the past with the present, by mixing real bird calls from birds that used to be in the Greenbelt aviary with the noise of the bustling city, the sound installation takes on an artistic approach to pay tribute to the history of Greenbelt. At the same time, it also acknowledges Ayala Malls’ sustainability efforts in preserving the park and its biodiversity, despite being in the middle of the Central Business District.
To the mall-going public, Soundscapes becomes an invitation to become aware of how actions and reactions, internal and external triggers, sound and silence, past and present, nature and urban life, create complex sense experiences. Listen to the sounds of the “wild” and catch the surreal experience nightly (6 to 9 p.m.), until Oct. 8.
Artkitektura 2017 also showcased other works of Filipino ingenuity side by side international design, at the Greenbelt 5 Gallery. In addition, the Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines (CFIP) added local touch with, “Silya,” highlighting Filipino, organic design on the same level, presenting award-winning chair designs made from native/organic materials. Passersby are invited to take a seat and see for themselves how furniture influences mood and movement within a space
CFIP will also host talks with featured designers on the weekends of September at the Greenbelt Gallery.