You can buy a limited-edition BenCab Swatch, ‘Sabel’ print series, and check out Gino Gonzales’ latest space creation
The new Swatch+Swatch Center on Arnaiz Avenue, Makati, opens to the public on Nov. 5.
The two-story building, with over 10,000-sq ft of space, must be the country’s first pop culture/lifestyle museum and events place.
Outside of Switzerland, this is the first Swatch Center of such scale.
Its opening celebrates the 25th year anniversary of Swatch in the Philippines.
This milestone is marked with the world launch of the limited-edition Swatch designed by National Artist
BenCab, the first Filipino artist to design a Swatch for world release.
The country’s leading production designer Gino Gonzales designed the Center, and if only for that, the public should see it.
That, and the chance to buy the limited-edition BenCab Swatch; the limited-edition print series of the chosen “Sabel” from BenCab’s museum; and another limited-edition print series of the black-and-white BenCab’s geisha-inspired “Sabel.”
The Center’s look is industrial, its clean minimalism providing the best backdrop for the BenCab “Sabel” metal sculptures on display.
The ground floor is dedicated to BenCab’s art. There are giant panels of his black-and-white geisha/“Sabel.”
A curiosity must be Ramon Orlina’s Volkswagen Beetle from his vintage car collection, which BenCab painted on.
On the second floor is the Swatch mini museum displaying the iconic Swatch watches through the decades.
Gonzales designed the building to serve as a blank canvas for whatever art/culture/lifestyle exhibits and events will take place there.
The walls are the color of concrete—what Gonzales calls “greige,” because it combines gray, beige and a little taupe.
The result is warm patina—and very clean.
The second floor leads to a roofdeck—an al fresco sprawl where one can chill amid the Makati skyline.
This Swatch+Swatch Center, no doubt, will be the hot destination this holiday season.
