October 2010

My parents and I always talk fondly of my grandmother’s kitchen in Bicol, which was small but no less efficient! Its key feature was the banggerahan, an open-air shelf or balcony for hanging plates and glasses to dry.

Lola Chedeng made good use of her banggerahan, which I learned is also called pinggahan (it’s meant to house plates or pinggan after all!).  In her tiny U-shaped kitchen, floor space was minimal but it also made everything within reach.  One minute you’re facing the sink; turn to your left and voila, there’s the range.  Turn once more to your left and there’s the ever reliable banggerahan, which was also used for planters for growing herbs.

From that kitchen came out many meals that made my dad, aunt and uncle what they are today– strong, healthy and well-fed with love.

I hope to integrate a simple banggerahan into my Nuvali home, so I asked my dad to make an updated drawing (shown above).  I want it to house not just my plates, glasses, cutlery and potted herbs, but also all the fresh fruits and veggies I don’t want (nor need) to store in the refrigerator.  Underneath maybe I can put my compost pit.

Was also happy to read on PinoyDreamHouseToday.com about Architect Bobby Manosa also incorporating this traditional kitchen feature into his home projects.  Author Jun Sanchez was kind enough to indulge me and share a pic of Manosa’s very sleek banggerahan (look for the link in the comments section).

Oh yet again, so exciting!  So many design ideas, have to work harder to stay true to my design thrust of keeping it simple.   For now though, kudos to the banggerahan and all the other back-to-basics lessons we can learn from our grandparents!

I love space and flow and seamlessness.

I notice it in my art (I never think a work is finished), writing (I prefer ellipses to periods), even relationships (I find it almost impossible to compartmentalize or be a different person to each of my social circles–colleagues, family, sports friends, etc.).

Always, there\’s one big flow, all-encompassing, all-embracing.

Naturally this also comes into play in designing my dream home.

One of the ideas I would love to have in my house is the open-concept living-dining-kitchen area, like in this modern home in Sao Paulo, Brazil:

The house was designed by architect Marcio Kogan, whose film making background shows in his clever use of planes:

By keeping the front and back gardens at the same elevation as the living area, Kogan created one giant living space. A large overhang means that even on a rainy day, the Cósers can live practically without walls.

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Open-concept kitchen, living and diningRead More »

My brothers told me about this new wind turbine from Windtronics that can be used for individual homes:

The Honeywell Wind Turbine from WindTronics measures just 6 feet (182 cm) in diameter and weighs 170 lbs (77kg) providing 18 % of an average household’s (DOE) energy needs.

The Honeywell Wind Turbine patented design maximizes efficiency drawing energy from the fast moving blade tips rather than a complex slow center hub. The Blade Tip Power System cuts-in with wind speeds as low as 2 MPH (3km/h), significantly more efficient than any turbine in its class and size.

Given the winds in Nuvali, this certainly is interesting!

It costs $6,495 (ouch!), plus installation which goes anywhere from $1,500 to 4,500 (double ouch ouch!), but I (want to) believe that savings on electricity charges can off-set this in the long run.

Product life is 20 years. More from the FAQ:

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Wind power for the homeRead More »

One of the first things I did for inspiration was scour Booksale for back issues of home magazines.  Was so happy to find may way to Dwell magazine, whose tagline reads \”At Home in the Modern World.\”   There are many blogs and sites out there for design inspiration, but traditional me still loves old school prints that I can carry around and actually stare at all day long.

Dwell also has an online version, though, which interestingly enough, makes available online the same content it has on print.  Check out their section on small spaces and this special one called \”houses we love\”–lots of interesting design projects!

Been thinking of ways to bring the garden indoors.

One option is the living wall (will do an in-depth post on this soon); another is to bore holes on your roof to make way for sunlight and growing tree branches… I don\’t know what it\’s called, but tree well sounds nice. 🙂

That\’s a pic from the Treveia clubhouse.

Looks nice now, but I wonder how taxing (or not) the upkeep is…

Here\’s the same concept I saw at Sonya\’s garden in Tagaytay:

It can also be flushed to the wall like this:

Oh how nice to have so much green indoors!

If I make my first floor at least 3.6m high, I can do this right?