Hollywood Glam Meets High Street Living

by Philippine Daily Inquirer

Revolution has teamed up with some of Hollywood’s best to design one-of-a-kind structures .

The movers and shakers of the real estate industry over the past couple of decades have predominantly been architects and designers, whose wealth of experience has borne iconic structures.

Recently design and art has begun to intersect with other disciplines. Art, design, architecture, and fashion are all means for self-expression, fashion being the closest and most personal of them all.

It does not come as a surprise that celebrities, musicians, style and fashion icons, gravitate towards expressing their craft through different mediums—from furniture to product design, interior design, as well as architecture.

These people are among those whom Revolution Precrafted is collaborating with.

Founded by Robbie Antonio, Revolution Precrafted plays a role in the emergence of this new breed of designers and starchitects, by acting as a platform for artistic collaboration.

“We are very particular about choosing the brands that we work with, and this has been one of the most exciting aspects of the business. Searching for, collaborating with, and producing structures designed by the best minds in the world, is what drives us at the company,” Antonio said.

To date, Revolution has gathered over 61 of the world’s leading architects and designers to design one-of-a-kind structures exclusively for Revolution. Belonging to this formidable lineup of industry thought leaders are creatives from Hollywood’s glitterati and fashion icons.

Kravitz Design

Kravitz Design Inc. was founded by legendary music icon Lenny Kravitz. Focusing on residential, commercial, and product design, the firm touts a portfolio of noteworthy ventures.

Working with Revolution allowed him to channel his vibe into a house that is sensual and tough at the same time.

The Instrumental Home, a collaboration between his firm and Marmol Radziner, carries a smooth and masculine design. The dark grey finish and modern cabin-esque walls of the facade continues into the interiors creating a sinewy silhouette, while the overall monolith shape of the single-storey structure evokes a muscular allure.

STÆRK&CHRISTENSEN

Design duo Camilla Stærk and Helena Christensen are the brains behind STÆRK&CHRISTENSEN, a New York-based studio with a reputation for holistic work across the fields of fashion, interior design, furniture, photography, and film.

The marriage of Stærk and Christensen’s individual styles and interests gave birth to an aesthetic rooted in a Danish design heritage and mid-century modern sensibility, mixed with gothic, mythical themes as well as the haunting glamour of old Hollywood.

Soon, Revolution will be launching a home, a spa pavilion, and fitness structure crafted by the veritable design duo.

Daphne Guinness

The British heiress is possibly one of the fashion and style world’s most inventive characters. She has been thought of as unique, enigmatic, and a true maverick. But Daphne’s unique perception of beauty and her skill for creatively expressing it is seen second to none.

Daphne dabbles in various artistic pursuits such as fashion, music, film, and even perfumery. Her curiosity and eye for beauty eventually led her to venture into architecture.

The Skin House is a “fashion” house that reflects the style of Daphne Guinness. The façade is composed of a series of fixed and collapsible metal panels. When the panels are closed, the house assumes the form of a metal box. When opened, the “sculpture” transforms into a house: doors and windows are revealed behind the panels.

Daphne’s house reflects her style: modern and classic. The polished concrete floor, red elements, and golden spiral staircase create vibrant interiors that match neoclassical design and modern finishes.

 

Innovators, Rebels, and Rogues Among The Youngest Forbes Billionaires

by Esquire Philippines

The release of the Forbes Philippines’ 50 Richest list always makes the headlines, even if there are few surprises. This year, for example, SM mogul Henry Sy tops the list for the tenth time in a row, followed—again—by John Gokongwei and Enrique Razon.

It’s a different story when you look at the younger billionaires on the list. This is where you find new names and a few interesting stories. With more or less self-made fortunes, the under-45 tycoons here have earned their places on the list through lots of hard work, some smarts, luck—and sometimes a little bit of cunning.

IMAGE Rennell Salumbre

EDGAR SIA, 40 (Double Dragon Properties), ranked #21 with US$840M

At 40, Injap Sia is both the youngest on the Forbes list and also the highest-ranking among the under-45 set. More importantly, his fortune is entirely self-made: the young entrepreneur was only 26 when he opened the first Mang Inasal store, which he sold to Jollibee Foods Corp. for a total of Php5 Billion. Though he no longer qualifies as a dollar billionaire as of this year (he was listed at #17 with US$1.2B in 2016), it’s still a big improvement from the #34 spot he held in 2015. The surge was attributed to the rapid growth and expansion of Double Dragon Properties, a real estate development company that he owns alongside partners like Jollibee founder Tony Tan Caktiong.

IMAGE Edric Chen

ROBBIE ANTONIO, 40 (Century Properties), ranked #28 with US$400M (together with his father, Jose Antonio)

After landing on the cover of our July 2017 issue, Robbie Antonio joins his father, Jose Antonio, on the Forbes list, coming in at #28. It’s the family-owned Century Properties that earns them their position on the list, but Robbie’s own startup, Revolution Precrafted Ltd., gets special mention. The maker of prefabricated luxury homes is currently valued at US$256M, after launching in 2015.

IMAGE Forbes

MICHAEL COSIQUIEN, 43, and EDGAR SAAVEDRA, 42 (Megawide Construction), ranked #29 with US$385M and #31 with US$375M, respectively

Michael Cosiquien and Edgar Saavedra were only in their early 20s, just out of college, when the pair founded their own company in 1997. It was tantamount to “on-the-job training for us,” Cosiquien told Inside Business with Coco Alcuaz in 2014. Both civil engineers, it took courage to have put up Megawide Construction then, since the economy was in the depths of the Asian financial crisis. It wasn’t until around 2007 that the company began to really take off, after having bagged major projects from SMDC. Today, Megawide has expanded from their core business, and now has interests in the Mactan Cebu International Airport and even in power generation—the company owns three solar power projects that together supply about 100 megawatts to the national power grid.

IMAGE Congressman Mikee Romero Facebook

MICHAEL ROMERO, 44 (GlobalPort 900), ranked #47 with US$135M

One of the most colorful characters on the list, Michael Romero has certainly had his ups and downs over the past year. Romero was elected to Congress as the 1-Pacman Party List representative in May 2016; months later, a court ordered his arrest over charges of embezzlement from the family-owned company Harbour Centre Port Terminal, Inc. Even before that, Forbes reports that Romero’s holding company, GlobalPort 900, “was delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange and trading suspended in May 2014 in what he described then as a temporary software mix-up.” Romero is currently in hiding, with his whereabouts unknown since the warrant for his arrest was issued in January 2017.

Pre Crafted Designer Homes Make Living In Works Of Art A Reality

by Bianca Salonga, Forbes

Three bedroom pre-crafted home by Tom Dixon
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED

Robbie Antonio, founder and CEO of Revolution Precrafted, speaks the language of art and design. As a real estate mogul, he has spearheaded projects all over the country in collaboration with design greats like Philippe Starck, Versace, Missoni and Armani, just to name a few.

His home, which also happens to be the first to be build by Priztker prized architect Koolhaas in the Philippines, served as a take off point for the founding of his passion project Revolution Precrafted. Like any other work of art, his residence is referred to as Stealth. The dark structure resembling boxes stacked one over the other houses an impressive collection of commissioned artworks ranging from Damien Hirst to Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami. Curiosity about his home inspired him to come up with a new proposition to building homes–one that would disrupt the industry. “I thought, what if I did this for a lot of people? Why not channel this curiosity for people to obtain but in a more expeditious way?”

Interiors of a Tom Dixon designed pre crafted home
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED

The idea was ambitious to say the least: collaborate with the world’s greatest architects, designers and style icons to design homes. Getting these design icons on-board was just the tip of the iceberg. Finding the technology to make this possible and affordable to a larger market was another story. It was at this juncture that that concept of producing prefabrication homes came into play. “The technology was a means to an end,” the art enthusiast said.

A one bedroom pavilion by Kravitz Design
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
A modular glass house by Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED

It was in 2015 when Revolution Precrafted was launched and the company has since then enlisted the world’s top design names and collectives to create prefabricated homes. One of the challenges, Robbie admits, is finding middle ground where function and aesthetic meet. It is one thing to create a home that is beautiful and another to produce and sell one that is practical, functional and reasonably priced. “Fabrication of mockups is the longest and hardest. There are technicalities and a lot of adjustments.” One model can take up to six months to create to make consideration and compromises for a comfortably, liveable home.

Eden by Marcel Wanders
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
An artistic render of a pre crafted home by Ronald Ventura
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
Exteriors of a home designed by Daphne Guinness
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
Interiors of a Daphne Guinness designed home
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
A fashionphile’s dream bedroom turned into reality by Daphne Guinness
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
Daphne Guinness breathes her own brand of style into the design of her homes for Revolution… [+] 
PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED

The homes and pavilions now included in the collection of Revolution Prefabricated is a clear indication of how Robbie has turned vision into reality. He offers insight on this new approach to building homes. “It’s also creating desire. When someone desires something so much, there is no price limit. You will go for it. What is art? It is a piece of canvas that one is willing to pay a fortune for. It’s the same concept. I want to create a desire so palatable that you need to have it.”

A pre-crafted home by award winning architect Ed Calma
 PHOTOS COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
Minimalist design by Ed Calma for the living space
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
A fully functional kitchen for an Ed Calma designed home
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
Sweet dreams inside in the private chambers designed by Ed Calma
 PHOTO COURTESY OF REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED

Building Boom Leads To Soaring Net Worths For Some In Philippines

by Grace Chung, Forbes

This story is part of Forbes’ reporting on the Philippines’ 50 Richest 2017. See full coverage here.

Filipino tycoons with interests in construction and property development saw their net worths increase this year. (Photo credit: NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)

The fortunes of 17 tycoons rose this year and accounted for nearly half of the cumulative $74 billion total of the country’s 50 richest. The gainers hailed from a wide range of sectors, from finance and media to food & beverage and logistics. But most represented were those whose interests relied heavily in property development and construction.

Below we’ve spotlighted three gainers from those sectors, as well as a debut listee, who enjoyed a particularly robust year. 

The mega builders: Michael Cosiquien and Edgar Saavedra

The cofounders of the $342 million (2016 sales) infrastructure company Megawide saw their fortunes rise by more than 45%, buoyed by a 30% uptick in the stock. This makes Cosiquien and Saavedra the 29th and 31st richest people in the Philippines, respectively.

Megawide Construction cofounders
 FORBES

The 20-year-old company, which is handling construction of schools, the Mactan Cebu International Airport and the country’s first intermodal transportation hub, reported a rise in construction and airport revenues over the past year.

Megawide is the largest private airport operator in the Philippines. In 2014, it won a 25-year contract for Mactan Cebu in partnership with Indian infrastructure giant GMR. It’s building a second terminal there and readying a bid for its first overseas project, in western India.

The company also operates three solar power projects, supplying 100 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.

The dynamic duo: Jose and Robbie Antonio

Robbie and Jose Antonio
 COURTESY OF THE ANTONIO FAMILY

Robbie joins his father on the ranking this year at No. 28 thanks to his Revolution Prefabricated, a maker of factory-built luxury homes in Asia and the West that cost an average of $70,000 and $120,000, respectively.

In its first funding round in March the company raised $15.4 million from Silicon Valley VC firm 500 Startups and other angel investors, putting Revo’s valuation north of $250 million. To cater to the regional Southeast Asian market, Robbie says he’s working on affordable homes that would run $25,000 to $30,000 per unit.

The family’s flagship Century Properties, founded by Jose 30 years ago, is a developer of high-end real estate and has licensing deals with Forbes Media, Donald Trump, Giorgio Armani and Paris Hilton. It saw $130 million in revenue last year.

Last November, President Duterte named Jose as special envoy of trade to the U.S.

The newcomer: Eusebio Tanco

STI Education founder Eusebio Tanco
 INQUIRER

Shares in Eusebio Tanco’s key asset, STI Education Systems, soared 136% over the past year thanks to an expanding demand for courses in fields such as information and communication technology, and business and management. He lands on our list of the Philippines’ 50 Richest for the first time at No. 45.

The company, now with 77 schools spanning the Philippines, is breaking ground on a 10-acre property for a new campus in Davao, which is slated to open during the summer of 2018. Holding company Tanco Group also has interests in shipping, property, energy and financial services.

The debut listee studied economics at Ateneo de Manila University and got a master’s degree at London School of Economics. He started as a stockbroker.

With Sean Kilachand and Anu Raghunathan

FIAC Brings Back Design

by Katrina Kufrer, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia

The French Modern and contemporary art fair put its design showcase on hold in 2009, but fair director Jennifer Flay tells us how the time has come to bring design back into the fold

The 44th edition of FIAC (19-22 October) is featuring a return to programming it initiated in 2004 and put on hold in 2009: design. While only halted due to spatial constraints of the historic Grand Palais building on the Champs Elysees – due to undergo renovations from 2020-24 to update the useable amount of space – Flay indicates that the public has long been ready to see design alongside contemporary art.

Five Paris-based design galleries – Jousse Entreprise, kreo, Laffanour Galerie Downtown Paris, Eric Philippe and Patrick Seguin – are set to rub shoulders with 192 art galleries. “There is a shared sense of looking for beauty, for new ideas, a new way to look at the world and live in it,” says Flay. “Eventually when looking at art, you will also think about the table you sit on, the lamp you light… there are many people who start with objects and move to art. It’s a very natural dialogue.”

Flay elaborates on the continuous discussions she has had with numerous design dealers since 2009, when pressures on both sides caused a temporary exhibition halt. “In 2004 design blossomed, from few events there were at least five a year that these dealers were participating in that put them under pressure to produce material for each,” she explains. For FIAC, “There was already a lot of pressure on the art galleries in terms of the limited space, and for design, you need space to properly show the forms.”

In an effort to continue collaborating with the field until another solution could be found, FIAC launched an architectural satellite project in 2010 in Esplanade de Feuillants at the Jardin des Tuileries where architectural design and innovation were showcased. While not a full fledged design programme, Flay does remark that this helped compensate for the lack of design booths at the main fair grounds and helped continue to nurture a non-art related line of programming. However, following the design scene’s evolution, “It became urgent to bring it back,” Flay asserts.

While initial ideas involved a separate, additional venue, many of the design dealers preferred to return to the original Grand Palais location. “I am very happy to be back at FIAC this year,” says François Laffanour. “Jennifer Flay was the first to gather design and contemporary art in an international fair a few years ago and we were part of the adventure.” Laffanour confirms that contemporary art and design are closely linked, and that the two fields share many collectors. The public will have to wait and see the face-lifted space in which the design dealers will exhibit, but Laffanour shares that they will be bringing pieces by the “Masters of Modernity: Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, Pierre Jeanneret, and more recent works by Ron Arad, Vassilakis Takis and Ettore Sottsass.”

In the meanwhile, Flay says FIAC will continue its architectural project, highlighting that this year will see six special designs including an early Jean Prouvé pavilion from 1944, a mediation on dwelling by Hans-Walter Mueller, and a Jean Nouvel house. “I’m looking to the future,” Flay says. “It’s something very exciting that we can explore.”

FIAC will run 19-22 October at the Grand Palais, Paris. For more information visit fiac.com