Living breathing space
For most people, the relationship they have with their home, their office — places where one spends inordinate amounts of hours in a day — is a very special one.
World- renowned retailers and distributors know this and it comes as no surprise then that so many known home accessories brands have decided to set up Manila representation and stores.
Global Views is a Dallas, Texas outfit that has steadily gained an enviable worldwide reputation since 1997 for being design-forward in both the home accessory and furniture niche. So when Global Views opened its first Manila retail space at Shangri-La at the Fort, a lot of those in the know when it comes to Interior Design were happy that one more distinctive option had become available in the local market. Of special interest to me, though, was how Global Views is represented by a new player in the arena, and not some big, wellestablished retail conglomerate.
Josephine Lim, a Davaoeña, is the surprise package when you “break bread” with Global Views Manila. A Business Management graduate who majored in Banking and Finance, Josephine “arrived” as Global Views representative here in the Philippines via a career in banking and then real estate. As head of the luxury residences of one of the premier real estate concerns, it was already second nature to Josephine to be well-versed in the world of quality furniture and interiors as she handled the model units and showrooms of the companies she was involved in. Spurred by husband Franklin Lim, whose family is in the automotive distribution business ( Toyota Quezon Avenue), they approached Global Views in Dallas, which is better known as a wholesale business — supplying over 10,000 retail stores, and convinced them that the day had come for a Global Views store in Manila.
Since the doors of the store opened in April of this year, Josephine has been overjoyed by the reception they have received from those in the real estate sector, from professional architects and interior designers, and by the end users — homeowners and those whose offices they have supplied.
In just five months, all cabinets (with the exception of one) have been sold, and others have been more than understanding about the three-month lead time for indent orders. The range, quality and diversity of the lines and collections found in the Global Views catalog has been one of the cornerstones of their success. The Barbara Barry collection is streamlined and elegant, while the Dwell Studios range is design- centric and modern. For those seeking a classic colonial look, where trend meets tradition, there is the Williamsburg line. In the case of Julia Buckingham, the vintage and the new mix up in a look she dubbed as Modernique. Another ready seller is the Roger Thomas collection found in the Studio A Home line, where organic design drives the accent pieces Thomas is known all over the world for — Thomas is the EVP for design at Wynn Design & Development, responsible for the look of the high- end luxury casinos and resorts carrying the Wynn brand.
If you visit the website of Global Views, you will find Grassland currently highlighted — a look that is interpreted in furniture, seating, art glass, sculpture, textiles and accessories. Josephine is proud to say that their store here is fully updated, with several Grassland items on display. I especially loved the Diving Man wall decor — a Korean-designed cast iron pieces of sculpture. They make for great conversation pieces, as do so many items on display. Each ready to tell its own story, and help accessorize your living space. True to its name, Global Views is about scouring the globe to find craftsmanship in design and making it available under one proverbial roof.
Josephine may have her three children that she dotes over, but Global Views is the new “baby” of the family. And following the very successful “delivery,” it’s one she’s more than ready to share with a discerning public.
Of great men & cities
The three novels today explore, via fiction, the lives of the great that have walked this earth. In the case of Hijuelos, he creates a novel out of the known friendship between two greats of the 19th century, Mark Twain and Henry Stanley. Shapiro conjures up a story that has the likes of artists Rothko, De Kooning and Pollock as “characters.” And Rushdie turns modern-day NYC into a playground of jinns and mythical beings.
Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie (available at National Book Store) Starting with an 11th- century romance between a princess jinn and a mortal, Rushdie turns this fantastical novel into a critique of our days and time. In some alternate present- day, the descendants of the aforementioned union live their lives with weirdness becoming a byword — one floats a few inches above the ground making a mockery of gravity. If in his earlier novels, Rushdie would inject his own form of Indian magical realism into his hard historical fiction, this time out, the starting point is the world of gods and jinns, and it is how they influence, impact and wantonly wreak havoc on our world that is the by product of his pen. What remains vividly true is Rushdie’s control of language and his seemingly freeform, stream of consciousness style.
The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro (available on Amazon.com) As a novelist who has one foot firmly planted in the art world, Shapiro has set her sights on the school of Abstract Expressionism with her latest. In 1939, Alizee Benoit is a young NY artist who has her whole family in war-torn Europe, facing the Nazi persecution of Jews. In her art circle are the likes of such future luminaries as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and lover Mark Rothko. Together, they work for the WPA, a New Deal project of Eleanor Roosevelt. What follows is a tense tale about the thin line between genius and insanity, Alizee trying to help and extract her family from Europe, and the great cost of what America’s isolationist stance meant in the early days of Hitler’s rise. A second narrative follows grand-niece Danielle in the present day, searching for answers.
Twain & Stanley Enter Paradise by Oscar Hijuelos (available on Amazon.com) A novel Hijuelos was working on for 12 years up to his untimely death, this is one fascinating piece of speculative history. While the friendship between author Samuel Clemens and explorer Henry Morton Stanley was a fact, Hijuelos weaves an intricate tapestry of letters, speeches and episodes that relay the solidity and depth of said friendship including Stanley’s wife, portraitist Dolly Tennant, into the fabric. This results in an insightful portrait of the middle 19th century, up to the early years of the 20th. The Civil War and slavery, life on a steamboat, Cuba, King Leopold of Belgium and his violent form of African colonization, the imperialist yoke of the USA in the Philippines — these all share the spotlight. And at the center, these two great, very different individuals.