BUDJI PROFILE The third of eight children in a Filipino furniture manufacturing family, international designer of furniture and interiors Antonio “Budji” Layug studied at the New York School of Interior Design.Budji then spent seven years traveling the world, expanding his understanding of foreign “Green designs do culture, not have art and design. to involve green technologies,
space orientation and natural lights
Upon his return to the Philippines, Budji began to explore his native country’s landscape as vigorously as can already provide sustainable he had explored the European and American continents. One day on a beach in the mid-seventies, while solutions,” he maintains. watching two men build a traditional bamboo outrigger canoe, the seeds for a new venture were sown. Fascinated by their skill and their use of native materials, Budji began to design furniture that Known to draw inspiration incorporated traditional techniques and indigenous organic materials such as pandan, bamboo from natural materials, Layugand adds Philippine hardwoods to create sleek, elegant and thoroughly post-colonial pieces. Budji’s extensive that while there are equally good travel in the Philippines and abroad gave him an unusually wide range of aesthetics and experiences to materials other than bamboo, select from and soon his overriding passion would become clear: the harmony of nature brought indoors the same would be increasingly to create beautiful, peaceful living spaces.
preferred because it is the most the sense same ofwould Budji’s background as space planner/interior designer has given him aeco-friendly. highly developed interiorbe preferredfrom because it is and exterior space, and he insists that each design fit into both. … “A increasingly total design approach exterior the most eco-friendly. to interior is essential to creating a style that will endure the passage of time,” This includes home The two however feel that the furnishings and furniture designs that complement the space. local industry still has to mature, with Budji’s reputation as an extraordinary international interior designer stems holistic approach Layug from citinghisthat interior designto in design. In the homes that he has designed in recent years he combines of the art technologies and thestate country is confined to just interior his own contemporary furniture designs with an eclectic mix of art and antiques from all over the world. decoration. Not surprisingly, we Each of his spaces speaks volumes about the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces; under have buildings where the interior is his direction the +garden and the home become one. “I like to live with what is outside by bringing it into out of sync with the structure of the the living space.” building and the landscaping, because interior designers are engaged only and His fame as a furniture designer has largely resulted from his commitment to organic forms and when a building of hasthose beenforms completed, materials, especially those found in his native Philippines, and his fresh interpretation into explains. uniquely modern designs. In designing furniture, Budji is as devoted tohecraftsmanship and detailing as he
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household name in interior design both locally and internationally, Budji Layug with his partner Architect Royal Pineda have produced avant garde creations that highlight what is essential, organic, tropical, and modern – a trademark from their vast global exposure and passion to create things that are distinctively and conveniently Pinoy. “It is by understanding your experiences that you get inspiration and find solutions in creating avant garde designs,” notes Pineda. “We not follow trends; we set standards that eventually become trends because they have been proven to work and make our clients feel good,” says Pineda. Pineda adds that standards should not be static but should respond to what is happening around us. One major development has been the growing awareness of the people about climate change and the environment.
But while going green is the trend, Pineda says that theirs is an organic design that remains distinctively and suitably Filipino. 140 | Real Estate World