Loving the High-Rise Lifestyle

We started work on our first issue of 2010 with delight and excitement, and can hardly wait to receive your feedback on our new format, new sections and the changes, big and small. Uly, our Art Director, had been itching for months to flex his color muscles, and so this year has introduced color to our layouts, while keeping them streamlined and easy to read.

Condo Trends has always been one of our favorite sections, especially of our assistant editor, Lean, who makes the rounds of stores and suppliers to pick out and bring to you the latest in quality furnishings, accents and gadgets for your condo home. In our new format, we present our finds in vignettes created by stylists from the country’s top design schools (in this issue, students of the graduating class of UST’s College of Fine Arts and Design, Department of Interior Design), to provide you with a wide range of ideas on how to pull different elements together into tasteful tableaus.

We’ve expanded our Art section to reflect the strong demand in the market for art, a direct consequence of the growing number of condo developments, condotels and hotel resorts. Here we complement our presentation of new and established artists with two delightful art projects for you to do with your kids at home this summer.

Our main section, Condo Life, now includes floorplans, and in the case of Condo Makeover, the ‘before’ floorplan and ‘before’ photos, to help you make or make over your space into a beautiful, organized and welcoming home. Speaking of floor plans, seven interior designers and their protégés from UP Diliman’s College of Home Economics have created for our pièce de résistance, Designer Challenge, seven inspirational designs for a tropical condo home using one floor plan from Antel Spa Residences.

Living in condos comes with unique conveniences and challenges. You know the saying: You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your relatives. Well, there’s another set of people condo dwellers can’t choose, and that’s their neighbours. We’ve offered advice on dealing with difficult neighbours before, and now we’re very pleased to present the first of a series of short stories about a cranky retiree just moved into a condo, adjusting to the cast of colourful characters living in his building. Written by Palanca awardee, Twink Macaraig, I’m sure you will laugh out loud and maybe even shed a tear (I did) at the end of this heart-warming story, “The Button Pusher”.

There is so much more that is new about Condo Living, but I leave it to you to explore and find out on your own.

Finally, despite last year’s global recession and our jittery Philippine markets, Condo Living’s readership increased in 2009 by 101 % over 2008! After exulting in this good news, we began planning for 2010, poring over market trends and forecasts particularly in construction and vertical developments; consulting our circulation department for feedback from the magazine’s distributors; gathering input from advertisers and condo developers; seeking ideas from designers, and most important of all, from condo dwellers. After weeks of such consultations, our team reclused itself for three days in a hotel to finalize our blueprint for 2010.

It was not at all difficult coming up with lists of new sections and story suggestions—everyone we consulted prior had suggestions of their own and our lists were getting interminable, as wish lists tend to get. What was difficult was filtering the input so that the output would address all our stakeholders’ needs with excellence. And so what turned out to be the most challenging part of our three-day session was defining the ‘filter’—defining Condo Living. Once we defined it, the result was so simple and obvious, we all said, “Of course!” So here it is: when we research, fact-check, interview experts and designers, shoot, style, select photos, draw, write, edit and layout—everything we do—is all about enabling you, dear reader, to elevate and love your high-rise lifestyle. Thank you for your support, the wonderful suggestions and encouraging comments you have sent, which inspire us to constantly do better.

Enjoy!