Interview The Kanto team
Images WTA Architecture and Design Studio
Hello, WTA Architecture and Design Studio! Félicitations as you’ve brought good news. Thanks to your team, this is the first time a Philippine practice is participating in France’s Festival des Architectures Vives (FAV), an event that transforms historic spaces into experimental architectural experiences. Can you introduce readers to what this festival is about and why it’s a significant platform for architects? What does this moment mean for Philippine architecture on the world stage?
WTA Architecture and Design: Our thanks, Kanto! The festival is held annually in Montpellier, France, and is now in its 19th year. It invites visitors to explore the city’s historic center, where installations are set up in public spaces. A loose comparison in Asia would be the graffiti walk in Penang, Malaysia, where a map guides you to the locations of the artworks, and you decide how to navigate.
The festival’s core idea is the juxtaposition of old and new: historic spaces, often not open to the public, filled with contemporary installations from global artists. Some pieces are visually appealing, while others prompt deeper, more critical reflections. Ultimately, the festival’s essence is to raise awareness of architecture in all its forms.
So, this year’s festival theme, La Gourmandise, explores indulgence, desire, and consumption. How did your team interpret this theme, and what led you to focus on chocolate as the medium for discussing shifting values, trade inequalities, and consumer responsibility?
We initially wanted to relate food and indulgence to a broader, familiar context, especially in the Philippines. What food item is considered a luxury? That led us from candy to chocolate. The brainstorming sessions also brought to mind Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the work of Bompus & Parr, British architects known for their approach to taste.
As we dug deeper into chocolate’s history, we found its complex relationship with people and the global demand for it. Yet many of the farmers who grow cocoa live in poverty, disconnected from the luxury end of the chocolate trade. Our concept evolved to address this imbalance, asking the consumer to reflect on how chocolate’s consumption links to sustainability and equitable trade.
Lots to unwrap in that regard. And speaking of wrappers, your installation relies on suspended chocolate wrappers, reflections, and optical illusions to shift visitor perception. How do these elements work together spatially to tell the story of chocolate’s transformation from luxury to mass commodity? Why was this approach more effective than a more literal or traditional architectural response?
We wanted to keep the piece playful. The chocolate wrappers form a French two-Euro coin, a nostalgic symbol of chocolate money often given to children. This immediately draws the viewer in. But as they approach, they discover the installation’s layers. The wrappers, which seemed shiny at first, reflect a dull, unexpected image. This shift in perception mirrors the journey from chocolate as a luxury to its status as a commodity, and the disparity between producer and consumer.
Another practical reason for this approach was the logistics of constructing and shipping the installation. We created a mock-up in a local Manila community to reflect the social contrasts between producers and consumers. This required us to use simple, lightweight construction methods to ensure everything fit when disassembled and shipped to France.
Your installation will be set within the courtyard of the Hôtel de Griffy, a historic landmark in Montpellier. How does The Value of Chocolate (La Valeur du Chocolat) interact with this space? Does it create intentional contrasts or dialogues between past and present, French and Filipino contexts, or historical and contemporary themes of consumption and trade?
At the time of submission, we didn’t know which specific sites we’d be assigned. When the finalists were selected, we were allocated the Hôtel de Griffy, which turned out to be ideal. The former hotel, owned by Italian merchants in the 15th century, was part of Montpellier’s medieval trading hub. While we couldn’t confirm what goods they traded, commodities like silk, sugar, and spices were common.
The site’s entrance, framed by Tuscan order columns, creates a striking visual as you enter the courtyard. It’s a fitting backdrop for exploring historical trade and highlighting the contrasts between old and new, past and present.
WTA is known for its ‘social architecture’ philosophy. How does The Value of Chocolate extend this approach beyond built environments and into public consciousness? Do you believe architecture can be an effective tool for making economic and environmental injustices more tangible to the public?
Absolutely. Social architecture emphasizes activating public spaces through architecture that’s accessible to everyone. Art and architecture are powerful ways to provoke thought, engage people, and tell stories. We wanted our installation to be visually striking but also to surface important issues that encourage critical thinking.
Last year, the festival saw over 13,000 visitors. We aimed to create something that would resonate with the public, something inviting interaction. We even considered suspending real chocolate alongside the wrappers so visitors could take pieces home, as part of highlighting sustainability. But we realized chocolate wouldn’t survive hanging out in the sun for five days!
Haha! It would have been quite a treat though.
Architectural festivals like FAV allow architects to experiment with space, but they also serve as platforms for public discourse. How do you see events like this shaping conversations about sustainability, ethics, and cultural identity? What is the value of showcasing architecture in an event like FAV as opposed to a conventional exhibition or gallery setting?
Festivals like FAV make architecture accessible to a wider public. It’s about bringing architecture out of galleries and into the streets, where anyone can encounter it. We’ve done similar projects, like the Bookstop, where architecture engages directly with communities and opens discussions on sustainability, public space, and cultural identity.
Events like this lower the barriers that traditional exhibitions often create, making it possible for a broader audience to engage with architectural ideas.
Having represented the Philippines on this platform (and hardly WTA’s first time too, with previous shows in the Venice Biennale among others), what do you take away from this experience? How do you see efforts like this influencing WTA’s future projects, and what should Filipino architects take from participating in global-facing engagements like this?
Our goal is to cement WTA’s role in global architectural discourse and to showcase Filipino design. Competitions like FAV 2025 give us a chance to demonstrate Filipino ingenuity while connecting with international audiences. They also allow us to refine our design language by learning from the broader architectural field.
The materials for the installation were sourced from Filipino companies: Auro Chocolate provided the wrappers, and Fasclad Inc. supplied the aluminum frame. We wanted the piece to be as Filipino as possible while still addressing global issues. The experience has been a reminder of the importance of representing where we come from as we step into bigger conversations. •
The 19th edition of Festival des Architectures Vives runs from June 10-15, 2025, in Montpellier, France
