Under the leadership of Thea and Carlo Yu, Tahanan opens its first Manila showroom with a collection that places the heritage of Filipino craftsmanship and contemporary design on equal footing.
The Tagalog word tahanan refers to the feeling of home. Thea and Carlo Yu created a furniture brand from that word, and this month, they opened the doors of its first showroom. The inaugural collection of Tahanan positions furniture as a form of inheritance: pieces are sculptural, hand-joined, and built from serious hardwood, sitting in the space between heirloom and design object, as its founders describe.
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The Idea Behind The Furniture Pieces
Though Tahanan’s visual language is contemporary, the techniques behind it are far more traditional. The Yus traveled across the Philippines looking for artisans who carried the country’s furniture traditions in their hands. The takeaway was not to preserve what they saw, but to stop treating it as something that needed preserving.
Creative consultant Brian Ver, a freelance designer whose practice melds modernism and the contemporary with an emphasis on honest materiality, sketches each piece by hand before rendering it in 3D. What appears minimal tends to open up on closer inspection; according to the brand’s own description, the parts that make up every piece are plentiful, and each one serves a distinct aesthetic or functional purpose.
From Ver’s sketches, the designs go to Tahanan’s in-house production team. They suggest adjustments, flag functional issues, and Ver incorporates their input. By the time a piece reaches the showroom, dozens of hands have been involved in making it.
How Tahanan Represents The Philippine Archipelago
Materials are sourced from the Philippines, Italy, and elsewhere, and Tahanan is deliberate about not sanding out every imperfection. Surface variation, unevenness in tone, and even slight irregularities in pattern, are treated as evidence of handwork rather than quality-control failures. Past collections have incorporated abaca (Manila hemp) and solihiya (the traditional sunburst weave). The brand’s previous collaborators include Paris-based Filipino fashion designer Charina Sarte and Filipino design duo Rita Nazareno and Gabby Lichauco.
The new Manila showroom, located at YMC Building on Pasong Tamo Extension, is arranged as a series of rooms rather than a retail floor, the point being that furniture works differently when you see it in context and not on a sales floor.
For a young brand, Tahanan has a clear idea of what it is: something that looks to the future while being guided by all the best that heritage has to offer.
Photos courtesy of Blah Blah, Inc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tahanan is a contemporary Filipino furniture brand founded by Thea and Carlo Yu, Manila-based entrepreneurs who also run Dunwoody & Madison Inc., a modular cabinetry and architectural millwork company. The brand creates handcrafted pieces that draw from Filipino craft traditions while embracing contemporary design.
The Tahanan showroom is located at YMC Building, Pasong Tamo Extension, Manila.
Tahanan’s designs are led by Brian Ver, a freelance design consultant whose practice blends modernism and the contemporary with a strong emphasis on honest materiality and functionality.
Tahanan sources materials from the Philippines, Italy, and elsewhere. Past collections have incorporated traditional Filipino materials including abaca, also known as Manila hemp, and solihiya, the traditional sunburst weave.
Each piece is designed by hand, then rendered digitally in 3D before going to Tahanan’s in-house production team. Materials are assembled by experienced artisans, and every product goes through multiple rounds of inspection and sampling before reaching the showroom.
