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space matters: mid-century chic

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For some people, it is already a challenge to juggle their work and their family life. What more if your professional life is a network of different roles and activities? This is true for Dr. Gerard Lico who is an architect and art historian.

Gerard teaches at the College of Architecture in the University of the Philippines (UP) at Diliman and practices architecture as the Campus Architect of the same institution. He is the author of Edifice Complex: Power, Myth, and Marcos State Architecture (2003), the video series Audio-Visual Textbook of Philippine Architecture (2007), Arkitekturang Filipino: A History of Architecture and Urbanism in the Philippines (2008) and a series of interactive cd-roms such as  “Arkitekturang Filipino: Spaces and Places in History” (2003), “Through the Lens of an American Soldier” (2004), and “Building Modernity: A Century of Philippine Architecture and Allied Arts” (2008).

For his research work in architectural history and cultural studies, he was conferred the UP Gawad Chanselor Para sa Pinakamahusay na Mananaliksik (Arts and Humanities) in the years 2002, 2004 and 2005, installing him to its Hall of Fame. He was one of the recipients of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in 2004. In 2010, was awarded the title University Artist by the University of the Philippines and Gawad Chanselor’s Natatanging Guro, attesting to his excellence as an artist-academic.  Apart from his academic and professional practice, he currently holds office as the Vice Head of the National Committee on Architecture and Allied of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Research Program Director of UP College of Architecture, the Curator of the Museum of Filipino Architecture in UP, and the Executive Director of the Professional Development Commission of the UAP. Simply put it, Gerard is a rare kind of contemporary Renaissance man.

How does a person like him keep his sanity? Apart from his natural talent for multi-tasking and pursuing several endeavors, I think having a relaxed environment in his home helps him take a break from his packed professional life and enjoy some quality time with his wife and two kids. Today, Gerard gives us a sneak peek of his 1950s-inspired home inside the UP campus. {Thank you very much Sir Lico!} signature

[The house was built in the 1950s as housing for the faculty of the University. Prior to my occupancy, the house was due for the wrecking ball given its dilapidated state. It was also a health hazard because of its asbestos roofing and tiles.]

[The house went through an overhaul to make it habitable. I retained the 1950s bungalow exterior but changed the internal configuration of the rooms to fit my 21st century lifestyle. As much as possible, the external skin is made of the original wooden material and stone works to stay true to the house’s architecture.

The idea was to recapture the mid-century nostalgia of the 1950s bungalow, somehow, staying true to the house’s history. For the interiors, our furnishings include reproductions of some of the period's popular upholstered chairs, such as Le Corbusier’s LC2 chairs and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair, together with a collections of no-nonsense ornamentation.]

[These are supplemented by framed archival clippings and photographs from the 1950s to reiterate a sense of longing for this glorious period which I became fascinated when I was child through my daily exposure to afternoon screenings of vintage Filipino movies on TV in the late 1970s. These photos and clippings are part of my personal collection which I accumulated since I was in grade school.]

Above & below: Gerard’s cozy entertainment room featuring his wide collection of CDs and DVDs.

[I have a personal affinity to the 1950s Filipino-Retro. Psychologically, Filipinos are uncomfortable to live in a modern minimalist environment that’s void of any form of history. This is because Filipinos are naturally sentimental who love to celebrate abundance. We collect objects and artifacts that attest watershed events in our lives and display these in our homes. That is why minimalism will not work with the Filipino because of the horror vacui, or the fear of empty spaces, embedded in our culture. I know this for a fact because my first house was a sterile minimalist which eventually became filled with objects I collected.]


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