Young Filipino Interior Design students encapsulated diverse Filipino values in sustainable furniture and fittings that champion Filipino art and tradition.
Entitled Value+Able, the project challenged the promising innovators from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) School of Environment and Design (SED) to conceptualize and create a series of furnishings that evoke and remind the Filipinos of what are important to them at the present time.
The budding artists revisited A Study on Filipino Values, a scholarly research conducted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA) as part of the government’s Filipino Values Formation Program.
The list includes self, family, basic needs, education, work and livelihood, faith, health and wellness. Also included are life and purpose, creative excellence, honesty, integrity, resilience, human rights, kapuwa and happiness. Completing the roster are love for country, governance, peace and development, culture, arts and sciences.
The students utilized sustainable and locally-available materials such rattan and bamboo. Details that speak of the Filipino heritage, to include abaca, capiz shells and indigenous weaves and fabrics, were likewise spotlighted. Artificial rattan and metal were also incorporated in the design.
The finished 31-piece assemblage ranges from armchairs, lounges, stools, accent chairs, swings and têtê-à-têtê, to end tables, coffee tables and dining tables.
The team was comprised of Interior Design students Patty Malihan, Reayenne Hernandez, Kesey Ang, Fahd Atienza, Anne Santos, Julianne Pajarillo, Carmela Frongoso, Myca Lobendino, Ginelle Poblete, Paolo Madarang, Alexander Vega, Faye de Leon, and Reshvick Luna.
They were mentored by industry experts and educators IDr. Romulo Suyom, IDr. Chelsea Rimando, IDr. Regina Cello, and IDr. Randy Pabona.
The project concluded with an exhibition at the 3rd Floor Atrium of SM Aura Premier in Taguig.