Stop, stay and pause

The late Susan Calo Medina of Travel Time fame was a brilliant storyteller and a generous host to a younger me a few decades ago. My then-equally young friend Cecil Ravelas and I would be invited regularly for Sunday lunches to join her family of foodies and together discover Manila’s standout restaurants. We would be so captivated by her descriptive travel narratives on the interesting people she met, spiced up by the history and heritage, arts and culture, customs and traditions of the destinations she visited. And that is not to mention the mouthwatering regional flavors of proudly homemade dishes she has tried. We simply listened and ate — and did not do anything else but pause.

And so, as I received the can’t-miss-it-must-accept invitation for Cecil’s newest project entitled pause ., I wondered: could it be? I could be wrong, but perhaps our almost weekly gastronomic encounters were an inspiration for the title.

As an interior designer, her philosophy is “We design to improve our environment and shape a better world. Thus, it is not enough to create something pretty; it should be relevant and transformative.” Her latest endeavor seemed to be an ideal fit.

“I was creating quiet spaces long before I had a word for them. A series of chapels. A retreat center. More recently, a wellness studio. I was doing quiet spaces quietly, without a term for what I was after… only the sense that a room could either hold you or leave you slightly on edge, and that the difference was not decoration,” she wrote in her design notes.

It all began at WorldBex 2026, where Cecil built the first model — a modular dome from raw, uncomplicated materials. It was deliberately humble. Its plain purpose was targeted and specific: to create a place for all to pause.

The name: HINGA. It was “The Architecture of Pause.” Yet several years were painstakingly dedicated to reach this simplest concepts, which rests on three Filipino ideas she keeps returning to — maaliwalas, or spaciousness; hinga, or breath; and ginhawa, or ease.

“That is really the whole story of what happened next. Institutions began writing. De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde among them. And through their Center for Campus Exhibition, the work found its way to the 12/F Gallery of the Design + Arts Campus, where it stands now as pause .,” she continued.

An entirely new challenge arose: how could she transform the structure designed for a convention space into a much larger institutional gallery? The current setting certainly changed its dynamics and more!

As Cecil, a DLS-CSB Interior Design alumna, explained: “The dome, a tree, woven mats laid across the floor, light coming in from a great height. The scale of the gallery does wonders the trade fair could not. You cross a distance to experience it. By the time you arrive, you have already begun to slow down.”

“pause . is entered, not viewed. That distinction matters to me more than any other line I could write about it.”

“As I viewed from where I stood, I understood the mission: visitors must interact with the installation. They took off their shoes and sat down. The hardest part comes next. Once settled, that was it. It is but a place to stop. Full stop!”

pause . opened at DLS-CSB late last month, with president Brother Edmundo L. Fernandez, FSC, journalist and wellness brand Provenciana founder Ces Drilon, mindfulness expert Lei Santa Maria, and certified shamanic minister Malou Araneta among its distinguished guests.

Cecil’s words from an earlier interview for one of the columns came to my mind: “I think the spaces should be defined and planned according to the current lifestyle, especially in this fast-changing environment we live in. We should be able to adapt accordingly. I think interior design is not just about styling. It is about how we shape and build ourselves, our behavior, our lifestyle. I think we design to improve and develop. Designing is a way to live.” And pause . definitely delivers on that front. It is a much-needed response to the fast-paced, always-connected, perpetually-online landscape where we now all belong.

As for what comes next, the interior designer declared, “I would rather let it evolve than decide now on a shape. HINGA began as a structure. It became pause . because of how people responded to it — not because I planned a second phase. I would like to keep listening that way.”

When asked for advice for the younger generation, this is what she shared: “Continue to learn and find several mentors to shape your practice. Apprenticeship is a word that young people no longer value today. But it is truly essential to hone one’s skills and become a competent practitioner. It is not enough to have a good eye or great aesthetic sense. In order to sustain your practice, one must keep evolving. And like any skill, you need to keep practicing and learning to become the best version of yourself.”

pause . is on view at the 12/F Gallery, Design + Arts Campus, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, until 30 September. A scheduled series of programs — sound baths, meditations, and breathwork — runs alongside it as part of DLS-CSB’s campaign for students’ well-being.

¡Enhorabuena, Cecil Ravelas!