PSID's "Jak 'en Poy" exhibition

Espousing sustainability and ‘green’ designs
By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

Now on its 44th year anniversary, the Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID) marks another milestone as it mounts “Jak en Poy,” an exhibition with a theme anchored on sustainable proportions. Twenty booths from Advanced Class 2011 employ ten material properties to create living/work spaces.
Jak en Poy centers on different spaces designed in creatively-planned solutions. Stone, steel, concrete, paper, glass, wood, bamboo, rubber, plastic and clay are all given a totally new meaning as it goes beyond the usual applications while breaking barriers to focus on an entirely different take on interiors. It celebrates integral concepts in design and strengthens the bond between academe and the interior design industry as it unfolds new interpretations of sustainable materials; this time making them analogous to creating unique and stylized interior designs.
The PSID has always been known to produce ground-breaking exhibits that become the benchmark of interior design exhibitions in the academic community. This year, the graduating students delve into the sustainable world of interior materials as they interpret and translate these ten properties that define ‘green’ or environment-friendly concepts. The challenge is to be able to apply these materials into twenty interior design booths that evoke different moods and styles without sacrificing focus on rooms that revolve around the idea of designing for a better world. Research into the properties, use and application as well as installation of each material, and analysis of its sustainable principles were deemed vital into the execution of the designs.
The character of the ten materials were all taken into consideration by serving as springboards in creating interiors befitting the variety of styles showcased in the mountings.
The exhibit takes on a month-long trek through childhood games as corridors and hallways are named and inspired by the concept that the present time prepares the future generations through sustainable interiors.
We are then ushered into the first three corridors: Bato, which takes a cue from the material stone; Gunting, takes on steel; and Papel delves into the properties of paper. Each material used is shared by two booths. We first enter ‘Eat ‘to Bato,’ a dining room concept of marble slabs and granite with wire from scrap and fixtures like tables from junk car parts. Excess wood pieces are beautifully crafted into a back-lit wavy wall accent piece while the stones in the cave-like structure simulate black onyx. Right beside it is ‘Rockusina,’ a kitchen design wherein the outdoors are beautifully brought indoors. The garden climate is bolstered by real indoor plants that functions, aside from décor, as air purifier as these take the odor and toxins away. The twin boudoir set-up ‘Tangible Dream’ uses lead-free cement to stay environment-friendly. On the other hand, the ‘Le Boudoir Rose’ living room concept employs modern rococo inspirations; creating a feminine and soft interior with lots of pink and pillows. The damask pattern detail in the divan and couches is simply divine.
Visitors are then whisked and guided through the other sections of the exhibit: holen (glass), goma (rubber), chato (wood/bamboo), patintero (concrete), plastic balloon (plastic) and palayok-palayukan (clay/mud). The analogies are based on the premise that the exhibit’s beneficiaries are the coming generations – the children of tomorrow as seen through their games.
The unique feature of clay in insulating temperature is put to good use in ‘Glamorous & Green,’ a neo-baroque toilet & bath achromatic clam design in black and white employing mosaic tiles from recycled materials. Moreover, the moldability of clay is brought to the fore in ‘Three to Tango,’ a den where one can eat, pray, love. The compact earth technique used therein is akin to the one employed by the Great Wall of China and the enduring Paoay Church in the Ilocos region.
‘Ecotechnowood,’ a toilet & bath idea is inspired from the flow of Nature and forest foliage. The set-up is deftly interpreted with the use of recycled teakwood and deck tiles. Ditto ‘Flight of Imagination’ where recycled wood materials spell out a spring-inspired kitchen and breakfast nook. Simply fab!
‘Boho Glam’ features a copper-filled bedroom concept culled from Moroccan, Indian and Eastern European inspirations. ‘De Hierro Pavo Real,’ on the other hand, is a neo-baroque inspired dining area that showcases a metal peacock’s tail furnishing. The dining table is made out of an aircraft wing ensconced between two elegant porter chairs. Bottle crowns (tansan) are treated with chrome finish and used in minute detailing while dog chains ingeniously conceal welded joints in the metal-craft. It’s a clever way of contrasting texture with polish.
Rubber is made playful, sexy and sweet in ‘Chiclette.’ That it sounds like the gum brand is because that’s the French word for “gum.” And lording over the entire bedroom set-up is a fantastic latex mural. Meanwhile, ‘Lastico’ was created for young couples who want to maximize space, as is the case nowadays. The dining room employs the use of rubber treated with silicon to assure durability for at least three to four decades.
‘Wonder Grass’ is an ode to the dependable bamboo as the material is wisely incorporated unto a splendid detachable breakfast nook/kitchen set-up. While ‘Bamboozled’ does a patriotic touch when it inspired the concept from a bamboo groove as it pays homage to the lowly nipa hut.
‘Paperview’ surpassed the challenge of creating paper unto structural elements through papier mache. The living room-cum-reading room concept also utilizes paper fillers in its throw pillows. Truly inspired!
‘Out of the Box,’ on the other hand, employs bi-wall cardboard pieces to create a young, hip and chic kitchen design. Laminates, acrylic and a mixed media painting made with bottle caps bring out the best in plastic as illustrated in ‘Yin and Yang: Equilibrium in Nature.’
For ‘Nouvelle Vie,’ the dining room concept is enlivened from a Scandinavian perspective of bringing the stark landscape indoors with PVC pipes, woven PVC chains and cushions filled with plastic pellets! The inspired set-up makes non-biodegradable materials useful and beautiful.
‘Looking Glass,’ the literary word for mirror, comes up with a highly-dramatic living room concept inspired from Joseph Paxton’s 1851 Crystal Palace masterpiece. A view from the restored London landmark is beautifully splayed on as wall mural.
Capping the exhibition is ‘Glass with Class,’ an Egyptian-inspired bedroom set-up that answers the query, “What if Cleopatra were alive today?” Hieroglyphic murals, frosted glass and fixtures echoing the mythology of ancient Babylon make you feel you have walked back splendidly in time.
Jak ‘en Poy is carefully planned, extensively researched and masterfully executed; creating another ripple that will eventually become a wave in the academic community and in the interior design industry, something that PSID exhibitions have always been known for, and will hopefully continue to be in years to come.
The Jack ‘en Poy exhibit is open to the public for the entire month of October at the Interior Zone showroom in SM North Edsa.