Here's A Sneak Peek At The Philippine Pavilion Designed By Budji+Royal For Expo 2020 Dubai

Metro.Style team

June 17, 2019, 11:20 PM

With the theme of nature and technology, Budji + Royal Architecture + Design is set to make the country proud with its design showcase for the Philippine Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Linking their design to the overall theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” Budji + Royal thought up a theme based on technology, but still presented something authentic to the nature of the Philippines.

The objective of the Philippines' participation at this event is to brand the Philippines as a "creative and compassionate nation." In line with this, the overarching theme centered on bangkota, the ancient Tagalog word for "coral reef" (the world's biggest organism made up of the world's smallest organisms), is symbolically used to represent the Philippines; Filipinos are like "polyps that grow into colonies, spread out all over the world, connected by travel, migration, and technology."

READ: Photographer Raul Tangco Gives New York A Sneak Peek Of Uncharted Landscapes & Waterfalls In The Philippines

Instead of just a theme, they are presenting an entire mindset—one that designers and architects, and nationalists, should easily heed. One is that Nature is Peace, and great design is organic in nature, while also presenting the idea that Man is Nature, and vice versa. We are one. It’s important to believe this so we never compromise nature again. Finally, the design is meant to send the message that we should Honor the Variety that the Philippines has to offer.

READ: PR Girl-Turned-Ocean Advocate Vanessa Vergara Will Inspire You To Protect Our Coral Reefs

Architect Royal Pineda of Budji + Royal Architecture + Design serves as the overall artistic director / theme development Philippines at Expo 2020 in Dubai

Last week, the design was unveiled by the Department of Trade and Industry, headed by Secretary Ramon M. Lopez and Undersecretary Rosvi Gaetos. Royal shared that with this design, they aim to present practical luxury, showing that luxurious designs can be achieved with local materials and without spending too much.

The challenge in executing their concept was not to bring the Bahay Kubo to Dubai, but to bring the principle of the bahay kubo and interpret it. The Juan de la Cruz who built the bahay kubo was a practical designer. Thus, this was applied to the design of the booth, which also incorporates elements that can be found in Dubai.