In Conversation: Conrad Onglao and Manny Miñana on the evolution of the Filipino home

CO: What’s your idea of a Filipino house?

MM: I like homes that are open. In the olden days, there was a silid, a dining room, a bedroom. You look at the bahay na bato, it’s very ordered. But as Filipinos travel and get great ideas, you see that the dining room, living room and kitchen all converge into a very open plan. Because of our exploration and travel, we have even expanded our spatial appreciation.

CO: You also have no set formula when you design?

MM: Yes, people are free to choose what they want. It’s always about loving and serving your clients’ requirements. That’s why we’re the same.

CO: But what do you do when a particular client is so insistent on one particular style or flow? 

MM: I always say I’m here to be a moderator, a guide for the client. The client may say, “Can we do this?” I’d say, “What do you think? Why do you want that? Why don’t we try this instead?” Before you know it, sometimes the final product even surprises me.

CO: Like how?

MM: Before, we were supposed to do a Mediterranean house. I was rolling my eyes. Then, I said, “I’ll do a twist and design an Argentinian ranch.”

CO: But what is a truly Filipino house? Can you really quantify that?

MM: My inspiration is rooted in our vernacular. I look at the nipa hut, bahay na bato, Hispanic house, courtyard house and mountain tribal homes. Then I tweak it, making it more contemporary and not literal. I might try to put in something like a glass pavilion, but then there are suggestions of Filipinism.

CO: Well, some people say the bahay kubo is the typical Filipino house, but if you go to Batanes, it’s stone. Down south, it’s very colourful. So how do you really define what a true Filipino house is? 

MM: The styles. They say it’s maaliwalas [spacious], open to the tropics; they say that the scale and proportion are reflective of the lifestyle of a person.

CO: So, it’s really the external that matters?

MM: External, a little suggestive. It’s more like people are getting away from the literal and extrapolating from the vernacular, making it their own. I call it my international style.

Read also: Inside Manny Miñana’s contemporary take on Filipino design

MM: How do you get inspired?

CO: My mind is very active in the morning. It could be while having coffee, or doing mundane things like driving a car, that an idea would just pop up. But usually, it’s the shape of things. The silhouette. I asked one architect once, “How come that building looks like that?” He said, “I got inspired one day by a shampoo bottle while taking a shower.”  

MM: Interesting. Some years ago, I was at a flower shop in Tokyo and saw this small glass vase, just six inches high. I looked at it and I thought, “This would be great for a chandelier.” So I used the idea for a three-metre-high chandelier for a project. My wife asked, “What is that?” I said, “I’m making a chandelier out of a small vase.” 

CO: One of my friends is inspired by fish and scales. Apparently, when he was young, he would go to the market and look at fish a lot, watching if it would jump. When you see some of his work, you’ll spot some essence of a fish.

MM: When I eat in a very exploratory restaurant, I think, “I could be more exploratory in my architecture.” So the cuisine is calling me to push the boundaries of my art. Do you feel that too?

CO: Yes. But some clients may not be open to you exploring other shapes. They have expectations. [To be free to do what I want] I decided to just find a piece of property in the province. Now, I’m the client and I’m the architect, so I can do whatever I decide, explore other silhouettes, other shapes.

MM: What is your house now going to look like?

CO: It’s a glass house. I’m in the less-is-more phase. So I was asking Zsa Zsa [Padilla, his wife] if we can live with less, because we’ve already tried maximalism. What about you, what inspires you?

MM: I look at fashion, at the silhouette of a dress, and say wow, maybe I can use this silhouette and tweak it a bit to make it more streamlined. It’s interesting.

CO: Do you have a signature architecture style?

MM: I am evolving as well. I really am. But retaining my biography. If you look at a project I did years ago, you can connect it with me now.

CO: So when I go to a village, I won’t see like, oh it’s a Manny Miñana house?

MM: No. Some people who walk into my house would say, this does not look like a cookie-cutter Manny Miñana house but it feels like one. Each house is unique but it is the feeling that stays the same, and it’s really usually an openness to nature. But Conrad, moving on, what is your favourite project?

CO: I would say the house I am building because it allows me to explore. However, I do have my favourite projects because I was inspired while doing them. For this glass house, though, Zsa Zsa is my client. She tells me what she wants. I’ve also discovered that it’s so hard to make decisions when doing my own house. There’s simply a lot of options in my mind. Zsa Zsa helps me narrow them down.

MM: I would like to say my next project is my favourite, but every project is sort of representative of something that I like. Not one has yet encompassed everything that I’ve liked. But I’m looking forward to a project that we just finished the blueprints. It’s in the mountains outside of Manila, angled at 45 degrees! Remarkably, we built a platform, and then we built houses around it. Even I was surprised that I could do something like that, integrating with nature. Every project is different, and every time you solve a different concern, you feel like you’ve done a great job. And it becomes a favourite. So, to say that one built project is an absolute favourite, I can’t really say that. Besides, my clients would kill me. (laughs)

Read also: A peek inside a suburban home designed by Manny Miñana

MM: What about a dream project? Do you have one?

CO: My next retirement house. It really is my dream to build something that will allow me to live for much less as well as to never get tired waking up every morning. Where I can say, “Yes, this is where I belong.” My next house would be my retirement home, with that same character of being less is more.  

MM: That’s why we’re good friends. It’s really where we are right now at this time in our lives. We have become simpler and more essential. My dream project, if you could call it that, has to do with wellness: a wellness centre, a house of wellness, a resort of wellness. Everything that I am doing to live better, I’d like to put into action: a piece of architecture to help other people. But I’m also praying that the client is elevated in consciousness so that we’re in sync. Because of Covid, people have become more conscious of wellness. Did you ever think about how Covid changed the way you look at architecture?

CO: Not consciously, but I do notice that most of our clients are spending more time in their respective homes, enjoying it more, adding those personal activity-centred spaces I mentioned earlier.  You’re right. Maybe Covid really changed our mindset. 

MM: A home is a sanctuary, basically a place to decompress and detoxify from the pressures of urban life. In my view, it’s basically getting inspiration from nature, and harmonising with its energies. Biophilia is closeness to nature and when you’re close to trees, ferns and vegetation, the energetic vibration of a space becomes so serene. When you open a house up to wind, air, natural light, water, it really refines the frequency of a space, or the spaces you occupy. I believe people are wishing for a more harmonious life. I bet you and Zsa Zsa are also thinking a lot about that now for your house.

CO: I did that on our farm. I didn’t wanna touch or cut one tree that didn’t have to be cut. When we have people over, they always say they’ve never had such a good sleep before. It’s like living in a forest, hearing all the critters in the morning and in the evening. 

MM: I read from one magazine that wellness is a three-trillion-dollar industry. Big labels are trying to unbrand themselves to be quieter because part of the future trend is trying to come inward. 

CO: And that’s the new luxury.

MM: The new luxury and what we hope our clients will resonate with in the future, that they can harmonise with their interior self, and make that reflective in their home environment.

CO: So what’s gonna happen to all of your chandeliers, Manny?

MM: (Laughs) Conrad. It was nice talking to you today.

CO: We’d also like to thank Tatler Philippines for inviting us to celebrate their 25th anniversary, and for supporting our industry, in particular, documenting the evolution of architecture and even interior design. What you have been doing for our industry is really priceless.

MM: I also want to personally thank Anton, Irene and the wonderful people of Tatler for featuring our projects in your pages. It has also helped inform the community about how Philippine architecture is evolving. And for that, we’re very grateful. So we salute you, Tatler, on your 25th anniversary!

NOW READ

Inside Bahay Pangulo, the official presidential address

If Walls Could Talk: A walkthrough of the historic Laperal Mansion

Denise Weldon’s exhibition ‘Witness of the Quiet’ invites viewers to take pause and be still