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Designing Women. Divine Women.
My Home Collector's Edition
2003, 3rd Anniversary Issue, Vol.5
by Imee Balandra
I was motivated to become
an architect because I like to draw since I was a kid. I like art and it led to applying for a course in Architecture in college.
A good design is not imposing the architect’s design style but successfully implementing the client’s vision and making her dream house come true.
I had my formal training at University of the Philippines College of Architecture. I worked for prominent interior designer Waldo Fernandez who is based in Los Angeles.
I admire Frank Lloyd Wright and the way he designed the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The exterior deceives the eye making it look like a six-story building yet inside it’s just one floor. The building itself is a work of art.
My favorite place in the home is the bathroom. It says so much about the owner’s personality.
I love designing furniture and accessories. I am inspired by what I can created with the use of locally accessed materials.
My fashion style is to wear jeans and a simple shirt. I want my clients to feel comfortable with me.
I get my mind stimulated by doing meditation. Architecture is a stressful job and the mind needs calmness so creativity can set in.
I source my home accessories from different shops depending on my client’s choice. I enjoy shopping with my client and finding the right items that they like for their house.
I am grateful to my fellow workers – from the carpenters to the draftsmen. Architecture and design is not a product of one person but people collaborating and making a project possible.
My advice is to make sure that you want to be a part of the Architecture field. When you love what you do, you will be inspired with so much good design ideas. You have to solve design problems impeccably because these solutions affect the people who will be living in that house.
