Architect Emmanuel Miñana: Revealing stunning places at Anya

MANILA, Philippines - In 1985, when he was backpacking through Europe, architect Emmanuel Miñana found himself face to face with a building that was to become one of the seminal sources of his design motivations.

“In Scotland I went to a very large, contemporary museum with a very long floor plan. The opaque façade was of stone. Inside, the long corridor had a glazed skylight which allowed light in. At the end, there’s a series of doors that opens into a three-storey structure made of floor-to-ceiling glass. This transparent space looks out into the forest beyond. I was so amazed! How can a space reveal itself this way?” Miñana recalls with fascination.

Years later, in retrospect, he realized that the Burrell Museum was a compelling sight because it gave visitors a succession of experiences – from the curiosity aroused by an opaque veneer to relief provided by the translucence of the glazed skylight and, finally, to a feeling of release achieved through the transparent glass walls.

“The feeling of being there was like being released from the drudgery of the everyday. I realized then that as an architect, I can enliven a place by imbuing it with a sense of serendipity and discovery. Through this experience, I can actually offer a better way to live.”

In 1990, when he formed Emmanuel A. Miñana & Associates (EAMA), the architect sought to find solutions with which spaces – irrespective of their proportions – can be enjoyed to the fullest and offer experiences of discovery. This respect for spaces and dimensions, has given EAMA the chance to work on choice projects not just in the country, but in a variety of locales as such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

Thus far, its design portfolio consists of a wide-ranging array of developments such as residential, hospitality and leisure, commercial and institutional, corporate and religious projects.