A home of foliage and glass in San Pablo

He breathes simplicity but is not devoid of sophistication, depth and generosity. A descendant of Maria Orosa, the chemist-pharmacist who played an important role during the Second World War and the inventor of banana ketchup with a street named after her in Malate, Manila, Joel Orosa Paraiso is a medical doctor and a self-taught visual artist whom this writer met in his home in San Pablo, Laguna.

His abode, called the Glass House, is not situated in a forest but inside an old subdivision where he nurtured a forest around and even in his house.

“I want to go home to a forest,” he said, explaining the idea behind the house he designed.

He wakes up each morning with the rays of sunrise. The entire house mostly has glass walls and doors that span from floor-to-ceiling. Nothing divides his bedroom from the receiving area and the kitchen. One won’t get lost in the series of rooms with such an interesting open-space concept.

The house is designed to eliminate the mechanical sounds from the outside, like the three-wheeled rover, called tricycles, plying the streets, and the videoke sessions of his neighbors. The doctor in neurology and psychiatry, who practices mostly in the United States, is not fond of the sights and sounds of urban life anymore. Being in his own space in a forest-like setting gives him enormous peace but this may not appeal to the younger generations who thrive on lively urban settings.

Paraiso’s metal artworks, appropriately displayed and mounted, give accent to the overall ambience. The plants that thrive in this glasshouse are carefully selected to suit the preference of the doctor-artist who knows very well the types of flora he wants to be surrounded with. The place reminds one of Singapore’s Cloud Forest, full of “spoiled” floras in an air-conditioned and contained environment, a more compact one. The trickle of water that falls on a curtain of plants on one wall from ceiling to floor is music to the ears, while tall and short potted plants are beautifully laid out around its interiors. From the inside, one can see the lush greens outside, a man-made forest.

Following the paths will bring one to more admirable plants and leads to his shop and garage where he works on his art pieces. Few more steps going down is a fully furnished guest room with its own sala, kitchen area, and a comfort room hidden behind an artwork of a door. The visitor is treated with the serene, forest-like surroundings. Along the way are more of his sculptures and other works of art unassumingly displayed.

Truly, the home of Joel Paraiso is a haven of tranquility, a paradise where one wishes to retire to at the end of each day undisturbed. It can also be considered as an important modern house in Philippine architecture in terms of design and philosophy.