Real Living, the country’s best-selling home magazine, has partnered with Avida Land, a leading developer for the mid-market segment of the industry and a team of noted interior designers to style the magazine’s latest model unit based on the one bedroom layout of Avida Towers Vita at Vertis North, Ayala Land’s 29-hectare masterplanned estate in Quezon City, as part of a special competition for up-and-coming designers.
“Each month, Real Living readers look to the magazine for design inspiration for their own homes. In particular, they have a keen appreciation for our Real Homes section, which features spaces of exceptional design. By creating this Avida x RL Open House, our readers can now walk through the pages of Real Living to get an up close look at a space designed with the Real Living reader in mind,” says Real Living’s associate publisher Tom Castañeda. “And they’ll get to see how bright the future of design is in the Philippines after witnessing the work of our talented designers as part of our design competition.”
In June, Real Living paired three interior designers fairly new to the industry—Gino Eraña, Jane Karla Samson and Joevie Andrew Tuquib— with seasoned professionals—Kristine Neri-Magturo, Hannah Acab Faustino and John Vigilia—who served as their official mentors throughout the design process. Each designer was assigned a section in the Avida Towers Vita at Vertis North showroom and given a Php 100,000 budget, as well as access to the large selection of coating solutions from Nippon Paint Philippines and appliances from Electrolux.

“Pairing them off with seasoned design professionals—some of them friends, some employers—in the RL-Avida Open House project gave the young designers the chance to work with a high-profile developer, as well as marry their own styles with that of their mentors, resulting in a truly interesting and multifaceted project,” says Real Living editor in chief Rachelle Medina.
A panel of judges from Real Living and Avida evaluated each designer’s work based on their originality and resourcefulness, as well as overall “wow” factor of their space. The winning designer, Gino Eraña, was named to the magazine’s “Real Living Next Gen: 25 Creatives to Watch” list, which appears in Real Living’s July 2015 issue.
“Choosing the winner of the Avida Open House contest as this list’s 25th Creative only shows that even as a newbie in the design industry, young designers have the opportunity to showcase their inherent talents to the appreciative public,” says Medina.

The Avida x Real Living RL Open House model unit at the Avida Towers Vita at Vertis North showroom, which will be open to the public from July to September, allows visitors the opportunity to see the potential of a space like the one-bedroom unit styled by Real Living’s design team.
“It was important for us to collaborate with Real Living to create a dream home that will inspire our future homeowners to envision their own space and take a leap towards upgrading their living experience,” says Avida Corporate Marketing Manager, Anne Baylon. “And as Avida celebrates its 25th anniversary of making dream homes a reality, this project allows us to communicate the benefits of living in an Avida unit – thoughtfully designed spaces that are functional, stylish and sensible. Avida Towers Vita is the perfect canvas for this project. The design of the space is aligned with the lifestyle of young professionals and starting families who are looking to start their very first home at Avida Towers Vita.”