Kenneth Cobonpue: Politicians should not play architects and urban planners
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| So inspired: Kenneth Cobonpue has furniture designs inspired by a crushed Coke can, a croissant and even Yoda. |
For the set design of the Hollywood film Ocean’s 13, a few pieces of
unique, rattan weave furniture were ordered. The producers and directors
at Warner Brothers liked the pieces so much that they ordered whole
collections from him, so that everything on the set was made by just one
designer. When Brad Pitt stepped on the set, he instantly recognized
the furniture, saying he knew who designed it because he owned a few of
those, too. After filming, the group auctioned off the furniture among
themselves and even ordered more. These pieces can also be seen in some
of the most exclusive resorts in Greece, Spain, Mexico, Dubai, Maldives
and even in the home of Queen Ramia of Jordan. This world-class luxury
furniture is proudly Philippine made by Cebu-based designer Kenneth
Cobonpue, and here are 10 things you should know about the man who has
been dubbed “The Rock Star of Philippine Design.”
1.
Kenneth, along with other top Filipino designers Budji Layug and Royal
Pineda, worked on a re-design plan for NAIA I, offering all services pro
bono. A few days ago, they got a call saying that they won’t be doing
the project anymore.
Way before news broke of the
Philippines having one of the worst airports in the world, eight months
ago, Finance Secretary Purisima, Budget Secretary Abad, and DTI
Secretary Domingo asked a small, influential group of Pinoys (that
included Josie Natori and Fernando Zobel) what they could do to help the
country in terms of imaging. They went to Kenneth’s showroom, took a
look around and said, “This should be the face of the modern
Philippines.” From then on, the three designers completed a proposal to
renovate NAIA I into a “boutique airport,” specialized in terms of
design and service, and they would do everything free of charge as a way
of giving back and helping the country. “From inside, you look out and
see glass, trees, canopies, it’s very tropical and Asian-inspired,”
Kenneth shares about their vision.
Just recently, though,
they were told that their services won’t be needed anymore, and that the
original architect of NAIA I, National Artist Leandro Locsin, will be
the one to work on the project instead. People have begun to express
angry reactions, and Kenneth says, “We all just want transparency.”
2.
Brad Pitt owns a total of seven pieces by Kenneth, and the two of them
are actually collaborating on a huge design project soon.
“Brad
Pitt is a design collector, he can talk to you about every single item
in his home,” Kenneth shares. Pitt purchased items made by Kenneth
around three years prior to the Oceans movie.
Pitt owns a
green design company, and when he was planning this project promoting
sustainable materials, he told his team that he knew a designer from the
Philippines who did this kind of work. Two months ago, one of Pitt’s
people showed up in Kenneth’s Cebu showroom and said, “Brad Pitt told me
about you, and so I’m here.” They are currently working together on a
(secret) project, and though they have scheduled to meet up several
times, he says he will meet Pitt in person soon.
On the
famed Voyage bed that Brad Pitt owns, Kenneth shares: “That was the only
piece of furniture he had shipped from the US to their home in the
south of France.”
3. Kenneth Cobonpue in numbers:
27: Number of countries that his furniture is distributed in.
15,000: Amount in dollars of his most expensive furniture.
1: Number of years it takes to create a piece of furniture, from idea to actual finished product.
2:
Number of children, both boys, Julian, 14, and Andre, 11 (both showing
interest in design and “building things”) with his German wife Susanne.
4: Number of siblings, all living abroad, and none of whom (except for one sister) owns a single piece of his furniture!
4.
He has won over 20 design awards locally and internationally, but back
in school, he did not pass the exam to get into the UP College of Fine
Arts.
He attended college in UP Diliman taking up
a business degree, and after two years, he figured it wasn’t for him
and instead he wanted to take up design. Since he didn’t make the grade,
he went back to Cebu to again learn the basics of drawing, before
moving to New York’s Pratt Institute to take up industrial design. After
graduating, he wanted to stay and work abroad, but had to go home when
his father passed away to take over the family businesses. One of which
was furniture.
For Kenneth, the most prized award out of
all that he has received is the Design for Asia Award. It is usually
awarded to industrial products like Sony, Hyundai, Samsung, “But that
year, they awarded it to a rattan chair,” he shares with a smile. The
Lolah chair is so far the only Philippine winner of this award.
Ironically, a few years ago, he was invited to talk at the commencement exercises of the UP Fine Arts College.
5.
In international exhibitions, he is almost always given an obscure
space “where hardly anyone sees it,” Kenneth shares. This year, he told
organizers that he would make a car out of rattan, and they said that if
he could do it, they would give him a space front and center. And he
did it.
Being a vintage car collector, Kenneth
was inspired to make the Phoenix roadster, a biodegradable concept car
made of bamboo, rattan, steel and nylon. This first and only bamboo car
in the world was one of the most talked-about pieces in the Imagination
and Innovation exhibit in Milan, Italy in April this year. He and his
team worked on it day and night for 10 days, sharing that it doesn’t run
but “it rolls,” and an electric engine is the next step.
With
great designs seem to come many copycats. In fact, Kenneth has to go to
court once or twice a month to defend his designs from those who
blatantly copy them. Between getting flattered and getting inis, he
chooses the latter, saying “I’m not happy about it, but I try to think
that I’m contributing to the progress of Philippine design.”
On
originality, he likens the world of design to the world of music where
remakes are a constant: “What’s the point if you can’t offer a fresh
alternative or do it better?”
6. On finding inspiration: “It’s like a sport. When you do it a lot, you get better at it.”
Kenneth
is known for drawing inspiration from the most ordinary things. He has
furniture designs inspired by a crushed Coke can, a croissant, and even
Yoda. The challenge there is, “If something appeals to me, I have to
make sure it also appeals to you.” He explains that there must be a
common fascination or a universal feeling evoked for the concept to
work. “Finding inspiration in things is a discipline,” he shares, adding
that he wasn’t born with this skill, but he worked hard to develop it.
7. On the problem of bad urban planning in the country: “Politicians should not play architects and urban planners.”
He
believes it can still be fixed. He cites The Fort and Greenbelt in
Makati as ideal examples, saying, “Without the Ayalas, Manila would be a
concrete dump.” On how to solve the problem, he explains: “When a mayor
can decide in a particular province how the roads should be or where
certain buildings should go, that’s the worst. I think they should leave
it to professionals to do it.”
8. Aside from
making a mark in the field of industrial design, he believes the
Philippines can also make it globally with fashion and food.
“Definitely,”
he exclaims. “Monique (Lhuillier) is already an American brand as much
as it is Filipino,” he says, emphasizing that we should have more
designers and brands that are well known internationally, but still
Filipino. He adds that Filipino food is so underrated and that we can
market it to be cuisine that is in demand internationally like that of
the Thai or Vietnamese.
On the problem of “brain drain”
and Filipinos wanting to work abroad, Kenneth shares that he has also
been dealing with that issue. “That’s the problem of the creative
industry here, after you train them, they leave.” His wish for those who
do leave is to learn and get better wherever they are in the world,
then come back. “They do that, many have,” he shares.
9. Being well traveled all his life, Kenneth shares some of his favorite places in the world:
Most inspiring: Milan, “during the Design Week in April.”
Best food: Tokyo
Best shopping: Milan
Most
culturally-rich: Nepal. He adds: “In a lot of places like Morocco and
Bali, the display of culture has become so commercial.”
Most beautiful design-wise: Munich, Prague, and in Asia, Singapore
10.
It is his greatest advocacy to put the label “Made in the Philippines”
on all things proudly crafted by Pinoys, and in the early 2000s, he had
no orders for two years because of this mentality of his.
In
the ‘70s and ‘80s, the Philippines would export a lot of handicrafts
but it would always be labeled a generic product or under a different
brand. Kenneth changed all that 12 years ago when he insisted that his
name and logo be put on his pieces, saying “this is made in the
Philippines.” For two whole years, he didn’t get any orders and though
he did think of changing his strategy, he stuck to it, persevered, and
now, many dream of owning a piece by Kenneth Cobonpue. “I think it’s
just difficult for them to believe that luxury can come from a Third
World country,” he shares. But we can.
Around four years
ago, international luxury label Fendi carried his furniture in their
home line Fendi Casa. “It was great in the beginning. But when you put
your brand in a bigger brand, you’ll always be pushed down, and so I
learned from that and pulled out all my furniture and said, ‘No more,’”
Kenneth reveals.
He actually has gotten more offers since.
Kenzo wanted to put his Bloom chair in their collection and label it as
a Kenzo product. Kenneth said, “But wait, you have to put my name on
it,” and Kenzo refused because that’s not the way they do things, so
Kenneth declined the deal as well. He had another offer from Louis
Vuitton, asking if they could work with him on their home line, but
since they also refused to put Kenneth’s name on it, he also declined
that deal.
* * *
I strongly applaud Kenneth
for changing the way Filipinos see design, and for changing the way the
world sees Filipinos. He holds dear to him a handwritten letter and
clippings sent via snail mail by a Pinay OFW caregiver based in Israel.
She wrote: “I’m just so happy you’re doing what you’re doing because my
employer thinks that all Pinoys are good for just domestic work. Then I
saw this newspaper where you were featured and I showed it to my
employer saying, ‘Look, there’s a Pinoy featured in your national
newspaper,’ and you did good.” Kenneth believes so much in the talent of
the Filipino that when I asked him if it’s a big deal that all these
luxury labels want his work, with both humility and pride, he says, “Not
really. It’s like, I’ll get there one day, where you are. We’re no
different. You just have a hundred years ahead of me, I’ll get there
slowly.”
