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Ready, Set, Go

A starter home for a young starting-up family balances aesthetic, practicality, and good vibes and serves as a canvas for a modern yet sentimental setting.

A starter home for a young starting-up family balances aesthetic, practicality, and good vibes and serves as a canvas for a modern yet sentimental setting.

by Ian E. Baol photography Genesis Raña

The house’s façade by itself already sticks out like a sore thumb in the Mahogany Grove urban village in Talamban, and if one took into consideration the other houses of a similar aesthetic, you’ll get an entire hand.

Architect Buck Sia’s own starter home maximizes 145 of the 150 square meter lot and extends skyward, enough to tower over many other houses in the neighbourhood. The brown tile landing gives a preview of what is to be expected inside the house: organic, streamlined design this young architect is known for. “The house attempts a more international style with planes creatively stacked. It also mixes color and texture with the massing and planes,” noted Buck, of the major influence of linear and planar architecture in the house’s over-all design.

A Dedon phoenix lounge set and orbit daybed greet one upon entering the hardwood door that faces the north-west, which, in Feng Shui, is believed to be advantageous for the family’s head: where the flow of energy is said to add to one’s leadership qualities, and to reinforce trust and respect in the house.
In the daytime the house is easily flooded with natural light, maximized by the use of numerous clerestory glass-to-glass corner windows and the use of sheer roller blinds that keep the interiors well-lit while protecting everything within from prying eyes. The raised ceilings also help circulate a maximal amount of air that smoothly flows from one room into another.

The kitchen, although actually quite narrow, appears wider, with the absence of walls. The kitchen was blended with the dining area, both sporting very modern settings: the kitchen holds a mishmash of Electrolux, Vitamix, Cuisinart and Excalibur appliances, and immediately unfolds into the dining set of a Clayton Tugonon table and Dimensioni chairs. Buck avoided the use of swinging doors and instead used sliding ones to maximize more of the limited space of such a start-up house and to be able to divide and blend the rooms effortlessly. The sliding magkuno door reveals a convertible corner, which for now holds some house utilities, and leads to a powder room. From the glass-to-glass corner window one is brought to look upon a miniature bamboo and kamuning garden, landscaped by Jaime Chua, sporting only two elements of stones, plants: very Zen, which also perfectly fits Buck’s signature aesthetic of elegance and practicality through simplicity.

Connecting both floors is a “floating” landing (that was the architect’s desired intention) whose illusion of lightness is magnified by smooth white stones underneath. The “floating” concrete landing supports an LED-lit cantilevered stairs with stained-wood steps that leads to the second floor—where more magic happens.

Three bedrooms and the master’s bath follow after one is greeted by the family’s “faith corner” at the top of the stairs. High ceilings also maximize the deluge of natural light on the second floor, also brought about by corner glass-to-glass windows and special glass panelling, of about six inches in width, between the walls and ceilings. The master’s bedroom is admittedly not very spacious, but Buck saved space by building the closets and some shelves into the wall. The bed was of Buck’s own design, and like the cantilevered stairs, has a floating effect. Lighting fixtures secured from Bionic Builders, wedding gifts, and some of Buck’s own design light up the master bedroom at night. The adjacent bathroom has a simple, utilitarian design using Toto fixtures, a Moershu enclosure, and APE ceramic tiles. Of the three bedrooms on the second floor, one is also soon to be converted to a nursery.

The walls in general, though still a bit stark, will soon be filled with photographs. Buck says the décor will always be a work in progress as they just do everything themselves, and noted that they are inspired by one thing or another over time. This starter home is like the starter couple who will soon be joined by a new member of the family. Just as this young architect mentioned: everything is a continuing work in progress.

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7 Things You Need To Know Before Watching Balangiga: Howling Wilderness

Following its premiere in October 2017, controversies still creep on “Balangiga: Howling Wilderness”.

This one-of-a-kind film with surreal takes on one of the Philippines’ dark times surely deserves our time. The story is seen through the eyes of a boy that uniquely shows humanity’s cry for help.

Before its screening at your nearest cinema weeks from now, here are seven things you need to know about this morbid film about a portion of our history.

It revolves around the Balangiga Massacre in 1901.

During the American occupation in the Philippines, Company C of the 9^th Infantry Regiment arrived on the south coast of Samar Island, Balangiga in 1901. Their arrival was to cut the contacts of Filipino guerrillas to the people.

According to sources, the Americans confiscated all the weapons of the residents in Balangiga, men were detained and were treated badly. They burned down a church and its bells were taken which are still not returned to date.

Under General Jacob H. Smith’s orders, his officers burned towns and killed all who aged ten and above. For historians and people who lived there, the massacre came after the events of Smith’s orders. Americans practiced scorched earth policy and took food and killed people.

The film revolves around the journey of 8-year-old boy Kulas and his grandfather as they fled the town after Smith’s order to kill everyone over ten years old as revenge for the “rebellion” of the people in Balangiga.

Some scenes were limited especially violence on animals.

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) mentioned that actual scenes of the film were limited.

The sickening scenes of animal slaughter, corpses and deaths will shock or excite us more.

Its tone will keep you interested

Even with gruesome scenes, the dreamy-feels tone with a mood that will continuously haunt you will surely keep you seating on your chair.

The film has minimal dialogues it will also show beautiful shots in the countryside.

It won awards in QCinema International Film Festival 2017

The film won Best Picture during the 2017 QCinema International Film Festival.

Following its back-to-back awards, it also bagged trophies in the 66^th Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) and Urian.

It will be a part of Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2018

Because of its numerous awards in different film festivals, “Balangiga” will be part of the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2018 as a guest entry under Special Features Section.

Under this section are best picture awardees in different independent festivals from 2017 to be shown as exhibition films.

The director of the film is also a musician

“Balangiga” was one of the masterpieces of director Khavn dela Cruz. Surprisingly, dela Cruz’s composition “Katurog Na” sang by folk-rock artist Lolita Carbon won Best Original Song in 66^th FAMAS.

It was intended to be a historical film for children

According to dela Cruz, the film is an unfinished project.

In his interview with ABS-CBN, he mentioned that he focused on adding and re-shooting the film to make it more accessible to a wider audience, especially for children.

History films show us more. “Balangiga” explained and portrayed more on the horrors of the armed conflict between the American forces and Filipino people.

More importantly, it showed that there is no good outcome from colonialism.

The film will be shown starting on August 15, 2018 in selected cinemas nationwide including Robinsons Galleria.

See you there!

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Scenes From the Manila Art Fair 2026

photography by Doro Barandino

“Art is unpredictable and goes in different directions. I have no idea. I would rather live the present moment.” —Bencab, National artist of the Philippines.

Q&A with interior decorator and jewellery designer Doro Barandino

Which of the participating art galleries had the most unified and exciting theme?
Leon Gallery had the most amazingly put-together collection. Though the gallery engaged various artists, the overall visual effect felt like one unified theme. Leon Gallery used a sack-like cloth (most likely raw linen) as the background for the booth, and it brought the collection together. It had an old-world feel in a chaotic setting.

Who were the artists that were the most visually engaging?
The works of Carlo Tanseco were definitely my favorite. The artist used an eye chart (Snellen chart) as the background for the image of Dr. Jose Rizal giving us the middle finger—such an “in your face” message. The concept of our national hero as a modern-day provocateur was a wake-up call to everyone. Very subversive and underground material. I was also attracted to the works of Japanese artist Tadashi Kogure; they’re very architectural.

Was the choice of venue and its layout helpful in engaging the whole art vibe?
What I noticed was that the masters like Juan Luna, Fernando Amorsolo, and Fernando Zóbel still attracted the most viewers at the art fair. People are naturally drawn to their masterful strokes and historical significance, or perhaps these artworks are not readily accessible for public viewing. Or maybe those booths that carried the masters’ works were strategically positioned right after the registrar.

The choice of venue at Center One was a good move—it created a total art vibe. Manila Art Fair remains the premier art fair in the country today, showcasing the finest modern and contemporary art while offering curated projects and immersive installations.

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Butch Carungay’s 50th in Neverland

By Emmanuel Hamoy

Cebu’s glitterati came out in full force for Butch Carungay’s 50th birthday bash at EdenClub. It was a fun-filled night overflowing with Pol Roger, trivia games whilst traipsing the light fantastic.