By Alene Joy Alcabasa, Agatha Ashley Yap Seng

Photos: John Angelo Sergio

Manila, Philippines—Now in its second year, Interior & Design Manila is the first curated trade show for Philippine-based interior designers.  The event is also considered as the industry’s primary source of the newest interior design products and services that showcase the fusion of art and function.

Below are some of the featured products, collections, and interactive booths that stood out at the trade show.

GRM Biowood

GRM Biowood does not burn unlike other types of wood.

Sold with a 15-year warranty, Biowood is a reconstituted composite of 70% wood and 23% uPVC (unplasticized polyvinyl chloride). It’s also a lightweight and durable product that’s easy to install. In fact, if you’re thinking of moving to another place, you can simply detach the product and assemble it again.

If you visit its booth, you’ll see the product submerged in water; Biowood will not deform in water, which makes it best for your bathroom.

Digital Ceramic Printing on Glass

Digital ceramic printing on glass is the newest product of Pacific Glass, which was the first to introduce digital glass engraving in the Philippines. In partnership with Dipcote, Pacific Glass’s digital ceramic printing on glass encourages boundless creativity with highly-controlled functionality, which keeps in check various special elements of glass architecture and design such as translucency/opacity, light diffusion and transmission, energy efficiency, privacy levels, and anti-bird collision.

Grandma’s Handicrafts

Grandma’s Handicrafts offers wood crafts—cabinets, drawers, and tables—made by cultural minority groups, which make these items one-of-a-kind because each wood piece has its own story, i.e. the sarimanok from the Maranao tribe, and the anito from the Tagbanua tribe.

Each item is carved manually and takes two weeks to several months to complete, especially the intricate carvings on the solid wood furniture.

Sanghabi Furniture Collection

The Sanghabi (isang habi or one weave) furniture collection was designed to celebrate the “Filipino extended family.” In Philippine culture, you’re considered part of the family if you’re a colleague or friend (fascinatingly, even pets are treated as family members!) Similarly, like fibers being woven into a marvelous tapestry, individuals come together and become a family.

Designed to encourage people to engage more with one another, the collection includes a side table (sikan), a set of ottomans (sabtanay), a coffee table (linang), and a lounge chair (higala) whose base and legs have little nooks for pets.

The Singhabi Furniture Collection, whose pieces make use of retaso wood and veneers from South Sea Veneer, invites people to pause, sink in, and live their lives again in full appreciation.

Pietro Collection

With the aim of designing for pleasure, the Pietro Collection exudes modern glamor that blurs the lines between the past and the present, timeless flair and modern chic. Its walls are embellished with agate wallpaper; its accent columns shimmer in malachite.

Its designer, Dr. Jigs Ranada Adefuin, has been designing for 20 years; he’s known for his strict methodology in proportioning textures and patterns.  He believes that “a good design should be accessible to all, and Philippine design deserves more support from us.”

Mix and Match Color Lab

The Mix and Match Color Lab by Boysen Paints is an interactive booth where visitors are given wooden blocks of different shapes to paint with a brush and your choice from a wide array of paint colors.  Boysen lets their visitors experience fun while painting to encourage each one to be more adventurous when painting their own walls and furniture pieces at home.

At the color lab, Boysen also showcases its color trends for this year, which combine contemporary, neutral, and classical colors.

Besides these great finds, the Interior & Design Manila 2017, which runs until tomorrow, March 11, at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, has other interesting exhibition booths. So make sure to stop by.

For tickets (P500) and more information, visit its website.