‘Architecture has always been a balance of the two. And in design, unlike art, it has a purposeful and quantitative goal. Function, efficiency, and buildability shall be the technical considerations.’
The artist climbs Mount Ulap in Benguet, 2023.
Photographs courtesy of Robin Ravago
‘Naichayu,’ one of Robin’s early formational pieces.
In Operation Series exhibited at the collective’s group show at The Grey Space last July 2024.
Robin’s set of paintings exhibited at Art Camp Greenbelt in 2024 as part of the collective’s group show.
Constructional 04, one of five pieces exhibited at the Machine of Thoughts exhibit.
Discussing with friends about the exhibition pieces of ‘The Otherness.’
Posing in front of art pieces displayed at the Art Fair 2024 incubator space.
Preparation for the opening of the group exhibit at Conrad Manila titled ‘Machine of Thoughts.’
For Robin Ravago, architecture and art are inseparable — each are two parts of a whole in structure and expression. As an artist-architect, or some would argue architect-artist, he finds meaning between grids and fluidity, and structure and abstraction.
Equipped with a degree in architecture from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Robin’s creative journey was shaped long before he stepped into higher education and started a career. Growing up in a family deeply entrenched in the construction industry, he was surrounded by blueprints and floor plans, tools and equipment, and the language of design through his engineer-dad and beautician-mom. In fact, discarded architectural plans became his first canvases.
His professional path followed the conventional route — two years of internship with a real estate developer, followed by a successful architectural licensure obtainment. But his artistic path took a turn for the best when he joined the MetaArch program under the renowned Brown Bauhaus Alternative School. The experience was transformative, to say the least!
In this unconventional learning space, he curiously engaged in material exploration and spatial experimentation, culminating in his first group exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2015.
Since then, Robin has continuously explored the intersection — the crossroads of architecture and art. He co-founded The Authenticity Zero Collective (TAZC), a group of like-minded creatives who all push the boundaries of artistic expression. His obras — whether drawings, paintings, or sculptural objects — are guided by a system of grids, proportions and relational elements. He embraces and lives by the word nuance — the smallest details can shift meaning and perception.
While the familiar wood has long been his material of choice, owing to his background in construction, he now finds himself drawn to metal. “I can still achieve my forms through it, but thinner and more durable. Although I still must study further on how to work with it!”
His artistic practice continues to evolve, recently showcased in Machine of Thoughts, an exhibition with the TAZC at Gallery C in Conrad Manila.
Today, Robin mentors future architects at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and Asia Pacific College.
Looking forward to the future, he hopes for a solo show in 2026 — one which promises to be a culmination of years spent refining his craft and bridging the worlds of art and architecture, or architecture and art.
Let’s listen to his musings:
“I see this as a three-dimensional translation of my ideas. I used ordinary plywood offcuts, cut specifically with proportion in mind. I wanted it to become an intersection between painting and sculpture, which I composed architecturally. I applied several thin layers of different shades of red until I achieved the desired outcome.”
On the balance between technical and artistic sides
“Architecture has always been a balance of the two. And in design, unlike art, it has a purposeful and quantitative goal. Function, efficiency and buildability shall be the technical considerations.”
“I have a side project called tarasaanba. You may look it up on Instagram. It explores the day-to-day, highlighting the peculiarity of usual scenes and conversations that often go unseen or forgotten. It poses in stills the mundane environment, forcing you to create a new perspective on what has always existed. Right now, I am the only one who creates its content and publishes it digitally and physically. But my goal for this project is for it to be collaborative and community-initiated.”
“Engage in conversations with different people from different fields, not just those within the same industry. Talk to your neighbor, your history teacher, your nephew, talk to a security guard, a vendor, a barangay chairman, a dentist, or a bank manager. By doing so, it will widen your perspective and deepen your understanding.”
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