The drama of everyday living

"To heighten the drama of everyday living."

That was the purpose of design according to Dean Honrado Fernandez, architect, father, mentor and dear friend, who died early morning of April 26. The simple act of walking in a garden, for instance, could be enriched by the gradual unfolding of carefully designed spaces and views as one turns a corner.

Friends fondly called him "Honny," but I always addressed him as "Sir," since he was my design professor in college who opened my eyes to the treasures of Philippine architecture at a time when I was still mesmerized by the spectacles of other dominant cultures. He raved about the Filipino sensibilities in the works of his colleague Lindy Locsin years before he was proclaimed National Artist for architecture.

Time has a way of letting students catch up with their mentors, and for the past few years, I have worked with Sir Honny Fernandez in the management committee of the Cultural Center of the Philipipnes (CCP), where he sat as director of the Philippine High School for the Arts. Coincidentally, he was also among my predecessors as head of the CCP Visual Arts Unit.

He was an artist in his own right, creating sculptural pieces and gestural paintings that explored the merging of architecture with the visual arts. He loved working in and for the arts, and believed with a passion that designers should be engaged in and exposed to as many art forms and artists in various fields. This passion of his was infectious, and was the source of his vibrant energy and disarming charm.

He has touched many lives, and will be remembered for living a life of heightened awareness, and for showing us how to integrate the arts into day-to-day living.

The author is the department manager for visual, literary and media arts at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He is also an artist and designer.