Young Filipino Industrial Design students utilized palochina and plywood to build a Pinoy-inspired Christmas Village in Santa’s Workshop for Industrial Design Elves.
The project challenged the promising innovators of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) School of Environment and Design (SED) to create large-scale puzzles reminiscent of the holiday celebration without the use of adhesives, nails and screws.
Under the mentorship of Industrial Designer and educator Jay Mangussad, the budding artists were given approximately 13 weeks to equip themselves with the fundamentals, lay out their visions into sketches, budget and purchase palochina and plywood and make their prototypes. The actual carpentry was done with the assistance of professional lab technicians.
The activity was conducted under their Wood Production class, which allowed the students to explore wood and organic materials and their physical properties, process, techniques and equipment.
Vivien Daso, Deniese Pagkalinawan and Simon Bicierro captured the Christmas evenings in Manila in Sa’n ka Magpasko? Sa Quiapo, a lightbox-inspired three-dimensional composition complete with the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene.
Motivated by one of the favorite Filipino holiday memes, the interactive Jose Mari Christmas by Enrico Velasquez, Giana Sy, Riley Salvador and Ella Espeleta depicted the iconic Filipino singer-songwriter and online Christmas shopping icon Jose Mari Chan peeking through a window.
In recognition of the Western influence in the local Philippine festivities, Emilio Bunani, Hannah Cadiz, Jacey Padernal and Toby Que introduced tamadeer, a tamaraw-reindeer hybrid, in their life-sized three-dimensional piece entitled KAYOD: The Christmas Spirit.
Sleep, a portmanteau of the words “sleigh” and “jeep”, doned a reimagined version of the Christmas sled with the Filipino culture in mind. It was built by Eryn Amante, Frances Cu and Raphael Garcia.
Ralph Quintos, Juancho Reyes, and Sachi So’s Belen was an elevated version of the staple Christmas decoration. Inspired by a lightbox and a music box, the functional artwork provided a glimpse of the different ways the Filipinos celebrate the season.
Pasko-lesa by Arian Ramos, Raphael Amparo and Sherwin Malabanan was a local take on Santa Claus. A familiar picture in the streets of Manila, it pictured a classic horse-pulled kalesa (carriage) instead of a sleigh.
In the Bahay Kubo-themed Kahimanawari, Aldrick Espinosa, Sharney Rubio and Apol Aldovino shed light on the reality that Christmas is not always joyful to everyone.
Santa’s Workshop for Industrial Design Elves is currently available on view at the 5th floor of the DLS-CSB Design and Arts Campus.
For more information on Benilde Industrial Design, visit https://www.benilde.edu.ph/undergraduate-industrial-design/, id.benilde.edu.ph, or https://www.facebook.com/BenildeIndustrialDesign.
