October 21, 2015, 9:36p.m. – THREE THOMASIANS bagged major awards in a design competition, including two being named as the country’s representatives to the regional finals in Bangkok next year.
Architecture student Jose Agustine Ricarte placed first in the architecture category of the 2015 Nippon Paint Young Designer Award (NPYDA). Marko Alab Adviento, also from the College of Architecture, placed second.
Meanwhile, Martha Joyce Tomas, a third year interior Design student from the College of Fine Arts and Design, notched the top spot in the interior design category.
Ricarte and Tomas will represent the Philippines in the regional finals of the competition in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2016, and will face fellow designers from Southeast Asia.
Ricarte’s entry, the “Marikina Link: River + Park + People,” proposes to rehabilitate the Marikina riverbanks, adhering to NPYDA’s challenge of creating an “Ideal Community Interactive Space.”
“I wanted to bring back the past state of the riverbanks na lively at connected `yung people. [Ngayon] kasi medyo nag die down `yung community interaction,” Ricarte told the Varsitarian.
Tomas’ entry called the “Biojet” is a jet-inspired structure of an ideal working space and office design.
“Biojet also means ‘living jet’ [dahil] yung structure kasi, inspired from the jet. Then the function of the design is like a plant cell. Nagfocus po talaga ko sa nature and green design,” Tomas said in an interview.
The competition brought together third- and fourth-year college students affiliated with the United Architects of the Philippines and the Philippine Institute for Interior Designers.
The entries were evaluated and judged by professionals based on “green design elements,” color elements, planning and design, and “design statements.”
More than 450 students from different schools nationwide participated in the NPYDA, which is now on its second year in the Philippines.
Six Thomasians made it to list of 10 finalists in the architecture category. Ricarte and Adviento were joined by Mary Nicole Ligan, Justine Salvador, Kae Ann Aguila and Andrew Kerwin Tiu.
Thomasians Lynelle Delmo, Rosalie Ann Perez, Ella Monica Monteroso, Justin Esternon, Patricia Ella, Krizia Mesusa Tejada and Martjha Joyce Tomas made it to the top 10 in the interior design category.
The NPYDA is a project of Japan’s Nippon Paint, the largest paint manufacturer in Asia.
First introduced in Malaysia in 2008, the NPYDA has become one of Asia’s most formidable design competitions. It covers 12 countries, namely Singapore, Philippines, Bangladesh, Thailand, Pakistan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Alhex Adrea M. Peralta
