philippine tatler. august 2018
Ventura and Poklong Anading. Awesome
does not even begin to describe the list of
Antonio’s Revolutionaries.
It didn’t take him long. By the end of the
year, in December 2015, he launched his
company at the Design Miami fair. “I started
with the strongest names in the industry
so that others will be encouraged to be a
Revolutionary,” he says. And what a showcase
it was: a dining pavilion designed by Hadid
(who died in 2016) and Patrik Schumacher,
plus a mobile gallery by Gluckman Tang.
“I wanted to make design affordable and
accessible. And from the business point of
view, get the volume. There is nothing game
changing about doing mega mansions by Jean
Nouvel or some of these people, but to make
their designs accessible at a different price
point is something game changing, big time, in
the world point of view,” he adds.
The thought process was simple, really.
Antonio looked to his strengths: he knows real
estate; has a huge database of, he says, 35,000
significant people; has a high-profile celebrity-
studded network. Then he identified his goal:
he wanted to be a global player completely on
his own, by the time he was in his forties.
What was the missing link between
his goal and his strengths? Precrafted. By
manufacturing his own materials, he will
be able to build the iconic designs of his
Revolutionaries anywhere in the world, in a
short production time, and at a much lower
cost. His medium? Revolution Precrafted,
a prop-tech that offers technologicallyinnovative products and new business models
for the real-estate market.
“It has to be a true global company,”
Antonio elaborates. “I want to be asset-light,
no capex [capital expenditure], no inventory.
I can be anywhere. If a market is in crisis, I
go elsewhere.”
Revolution Precrafted focuses on developing
countries. Antonio has already pinpointed
85 that he wants to bring his prop-tech to by
2020—broken down into 20-25 by end of 2018,
50-55 by end of 2019, and the rest on the year
of target. “I did not choose all the 85. Some
came to us with an invitation to build in their
countries. I listened to them and I made my
decision,” he says.
Out of the 40 countries Antonio aims to
visit this year, Revolution Precrafted is already
present in 20, with a few more to be announced
by the time this feature comes out. He is
confident he will meet his target.
In the Philippines, two major developments
are already in full swing.
Flavorscapes in Mexico, Pampanga, nearly 60
kilometres north of Manila, is envisioned to be
the world’s first liveable food park, developed in
partnership with Central Country Estates Inc.
This 140-hectare project is designed to contain
15,000 homes, three museums (ice cream,
candy, and chocolate), and a microbrewery with
a beer garden. The museums were designed
by the French architect and urbanist Christian
de Portzamparc, Pritzker Prize winner in- To roll out in 2020, its total cost is
US$750 million.
STANDING
TALL
(Opposite)
Sculpture
by Daniel
Libeskind, who
designed the
Royal Ontario
Museum
in Toronto,
Canada(^155)