FILIPINO-American public artist and world-renowned landscape architect “Jefrë” Manuel-Figueras is all about creatively exploring local cultures and identities, connecting with his roots and making a difference in the landscape of his native country, the Philippines.
As a designer and public art initiator, his works originate from a deep understanding of the historical, environmental, social and contextual relationships influencing the site and the architecture, and this is what he seeks to spotlight with his latest works in the country. This year, Jefrë, together with The Net Group Corp., introduces “The Selfie Project” to Bonifacio Global City, with hopes of it becoming the commercial district’s most iconic piece with the project’s completion that is set in the first quarter of 2017.
The structure’s explicit design, which features rounded metal tubes designed to resemble a monumental head that will allow visitors to upload their “selfies” and see them projected on the sculpture, is a response to Manila’s dubious title as the “Selfie Capital of the World”.
“For now, we are doing a year-end test for my ‘Selfie Project’ with The Net Group. We are doing a prototype test on the projectors that will be used and mounted for this project. We are also planning to have a live mock on-site test this October,” Jefrë said.
Besides JEFRЁ’s projects in the Philippines, he is also working on a project with one of the youngest Michelin chefs, Tom Sellers at A Restaurant Story in London. It is a series of small neon-colored sculptures of 12-course sitting menu of the restaurant that will be placed across the City Hall, next to the Knightsbridge. He is also working for another project in Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida. A smaller piece which is 3 meters x 8 meters and is made up of all-glass which will be built by next week. And he is also doing a nine meter sitting Labrador for the Garage Project.
His most famous works also include the Talking Heads sculpture at SM Ecom 5, in which he used transparent acrylic materials so that customers can interact and talk with customer-service representatives while inside a giant hallow head. The Sculpture Contour Series at SM Aura, meanwhile, features massive and vibrantly colored sculptures of a rooster, a carabao, a tarsier and a Philippine Eagle.
Besides his accomplishments in the Philippines, Jefrë was also selected by the prestigious Marlborough Gallery in New York City as an “Up and Coming International Public Artist,” and chosen by the Lexus Corp. to be the sixth member of its ECO Hybrid Living National Design Team to design environmentally-conscious, carbon-neutral environments. Most notably, he has been widely acclaimed for his international masterpieces, such as The Beacon and The Code Wall installations in Lake Nona Town Center in Orlando, and his work in Unity Plaza, which has brought to view the largest public art project in San Antonio.