Steve Harvey at Bangkóta?

• 2021 September 8, Wednesday
• 06:00 PM

Marahuyo Boutique

As Bangkóta’s curator Marian Roces says, even the shopping experience in the pavilion will advance the curatorial intent of our art-driven presentations. Exiting from the last exhibition area, Our Gift to the World, visitors traverse an outdoor exhibition area called Bridgeway and Vast Waters to reach Marahuyo and Go Lokal, the pavilion’s souvenir shop.

Suspended over the “vast waters” are two mythical bird-like diving creatures called Limokon and Timamanukin designed by Riel Jamarillo Hilario, who very sadly, recently passed away from COVID.

As mentioned in my previous diary entry, the Dubai authorities are very strict about safety. Here they required that we place railings on the sides of the bridge to prevent people from falling into the shallow water. I chose a glass railing so that the material wouldn’t break up the sightlines.

The mood and feel for the area are one of childlike glee, and the boutique supports the visitor’s inquisitive and acquisitive feelings by allowing them to buy memories of their Bangkóta experience.

Marahuyo is a cosmopolitan boutique offering upscale Filipino fashion designer brands. Together with the objects exclusively designed by Go Lokal! for Expo 2020, Marahuyo’s mission is to transform previous stereotypes about Philippine goods. Following BUDJI+ROYAL’s design philosophy of practical luxury, Go Lokal! products marry usefulness with artistry.

When I met with the fashion and product designers last year, I asked them to read Bangkóta’s creative brief so they would understand what we’re after. I didn’t want us selling cliché ethnic crafts and asked them to think instead of modernizing Filipino ethnic designs on products with global appeal. I also asked for shimmer and glitz because the majority of visitors would be from Dubai and the neighboring emirates and are attracted to glimmer.

Mangrove Café

Today we installed the restaurant’s accent lights. Mangrove Café is Bangkóta’s jewel. It’s the first space you see upon entering the pavilion’s plaza. At night, the space is meant to glow. I met with the operator today about training the servers, who will all be Filipinos.

Everyone compliments Filipinos for their warm hospitality. What I hope I was able to put across to the operator is that I’d like our servers to serve but not be subservient. We are not slaves. I’d like our young men and women to greet visitors exuding warmth and hospitality, yes, as well as pride, dignity, and confidence.

The restaurant takes up 210.8 square meters and a 5.5-meter-high ceiling. The mood is one of relaxation. Elegant but informal. The curatorial intent is water, mythology, archipelago, permeable surfaces, connectivity, and cultural sustainability. You can see this in the blue carpet, the filament lights that will glow at night, the glass that allows restaurant guests to see straight across the plaza and view people climbing up the ramps of the Bangkóta. Actually, Bangkóta is the second tallest structure on the Expo grounds.

Confluence of Wings

The Imaginarium is 1,473.7 square meters of an ascending outdoor ramp that wraps around the Bangkóta core. The ramp starts as one departs Marahuyo Boutique. It ascends and coils around the second level and ascends until it reaches the roof deck.

At the crest of the Imaginarium is Bangkóta’s architectural crown—seven spiky trees with a canopy of birds whose explosive bright hues make the viewer feel the feathered creatures are about to burst into flight.

The avian forms remind me of the sarimanok, a legendary bird of the Maranao people, which Abdulmari Imao, Toym’s father, often sculpted in brass.

The birds aren’t attached yet, but they will be, in the coming days—14 painted cherry red, 16 yellow, and 16 orange. We’re using Jotun again, the same paint maker that collaborated with BUDJI+ROYAL to create and patent the color Active Orange, which we used in the New Clark City Athletics Stadium.

Why did we use Jotun? Because Budji and I want to make sure the colors don’t fade or peel off while the sculpture bakes under Dubai’s scorching sun. We’re confident with Jotun. They’re famous for protecting and painting the Eiffel Tower and many other iconic structures.

Steve Harvey

Nope, it’s not the Miss Universe emcee who interviewed us today. This Steve Harvey is the host of Emirates World Interviews, who seeks out the best projects, events, and places in Dubai and features them on Emirates’ inflight entertainment. He’s been interviewing the architects of the Expo 2020 national pavilions and wanted to see where we were at.

I think he was impressed by how true we were to the Expo’s sustainability theme on several levels. We made it a point to use materials and products all sourced from local suppliers and contractors. The materials are simple, requiring rudimentary technology to construct. The materials are lightweight and permeable. This is why, despite all the challenges of constructing during a pandemic, the Philippines is done with construction, while many national pavilions are still rushing to complete, and some won’t make it to opening day.

All this shows that Filipinos are also culturally sustainable. We are resourceful. We are a tenacious people. The Bangkóta, in its design and makeup, is an expression of the Filipino as a coral reef. We are connected and our spatial and social systems are permeable. I told him that Bangkóta is an architectural avatar of the Filipino as a people. I really believe that.

Things to do tomorrow

I have a bunch of business meetings to attend on Thursday and Saturday, so I won’t be here in Bangkóta.

Friday, I have a university talk. After that, I meet with the landscape architect to finalize our plans. The DTI said the plants will be coming “soon.” It better be soon! Friday afternoon and evening, I’ll be with the lighting contractor.

All these months, the workers have been taking Fridays and Saturdays off, but I was telling our contractor, can your men please work straight through until the pavilion is officially turned over to us on September 15?

After the 15th, Angel and I should be able to take a day off. I’d like to bring him with me to see the Burj Khalifa. I’d like for us to see Abu Dhabi too. •