Five Filipino Projects Shine at the 2022 [d]arc awards Shortlist

Rays of Light, Tayap, Rombohan, Café Bobs, and Rockwell Balmor by Christine Sicangco Lighting Design represent the Philippines at the 2022 [d]arc awards

Words Gabrielle de la Cruz and [d]arc awards
Images Christine Sicangco Lighting Design

Five projects, six entries. Christine Sicangco Lighting Design Inc. (CSLDI) may be the sole Filipino lighting design firm that made it to the 2022 [d]arc awards shortlist, but their representation shows strength in numbers. Their submissions are spread across three categories, Structures (exterior lighting), Places (indoor lighting), and Spaces (urban or rural landscape lighting scheme). All five projects belong to the Low Budget subcategory, meaning that the total of each of their luminaires is less than £30,000.00 (around ₱1,900,000.00). 

First on the list is Rays of Light, a “family-owned Columbarium that houses approximately 200 vaults of funerary urns.” This project is located in Taguig City and is shortlisted under two categories, Structures: Low Budget and Places: Low Budget. For both the project’s exterior and interior lighting, Christine Sicangco Lighting Design followed a soft and elegant lighting theme to reflect the family’s values such as integrity, stability, and restraint. 

Tayap in Negros Occidental is shortlisted under the Structures: Low Budget category. This is a private mountain receiving area in Patag, Negros Occidental that consists of temporary installations built out of old hardwood, antique doors, and windows. The idea behind this project is for the structures to be movable across the vast land, so Christine Sicangco Lighting Design did not cut any of the wood from the installations and worked with the natural morning-to-afternoon lighting and dark night sky contrast of the location. 

Rombohan, a private gathering place owned by a family in Bacolod City, is recognized for its straightforward interior lighting design. This Places: Low Budget entry by Christine Sicangco Lighting Design only placed light “where it is needed” to essentially highlight the architectural features of the space. The lighting scheme of this gathering place was designed to be “inclusive, homey, and cozy.” 

Another shortlisted project under the Places: Low Budget category is Café Bobs Flagship Store, which is also located in Bacolod City. CSLDI says that the lighting design for this café is “cohesive yet particular,” with each light setting and configuration meeting the individual needs of every area. The café caters to different age groups, so the lighting design complements the openness and seamlessness of the space.  

The only Christine Sicangco Lighting Design project under the Spaces: Low Budget category is Rockwell Balmori in Makati City. This multi-events place is surrounded by landscape “actually a nursery for the entire Rockwell Powerplant Development.” The lighting scheme was designed to blur the indoor and outdoor spaces, illuminating a tropical garden in the midst of concrete buildings and skyscrapers.

In 2021, the lighting schemes of Filipino lighting design firm Light Plan for Saint Jude College in Sampaloc, Manila, and Jordan Manila in Bonifacio Global City were also shortlisted under the Structures: Low Budget category of [d]arc awards.

Voting for the 2022 [d]arc awards ends on February 27. Following their peer-to-peer voting system, [d]arc invites all independent lighting designers, architects, interior designers, and product designers to vote for their favorite projects and products. Winners will be announced on March 30, 2023, at Fabric in London. 

Best of luck, Christine Sicangco Lighting Design team! •

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