April 28, 2020
IFI President’s Message: Remembering Belen Morey FoIFI (PIID)
IN MEMORIUM
Fellow of IFI Belen Morey (1933-2020)
IFI and our world community celebrate the life of Fellow of IFI (FoIFI) and Filipino Interiors icon, Belen Morey. After obtaining an Interior Design education from the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) in the mid-’50s, Belen returned home to become one of the founders of the Interior Design discipline in the Philippines. With this delineation, she went on to advance its education, practice, culture and legitimacy by establishing the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID). Her life’s work revolved around the depth and breadth of the reach of Interior Design in her beloved country.
In 2011, Belen returned to New York City to support and ratify the historic IFI Interiors Declaration, which was founded by IFI with input from 88 countries including the Philippines, at an event hosted by our sponsor, Steelcase, at their Columbus Circle showroom.
Our thoughts are with Belen’s family, friends, and colleagues at PIID. She has left an indelible mark on our discipline and is missed by us all.
Top L-R: Iria Degen (Switzerland), Belen Morey (Philippines), Jooyun Kim (South Korea), Constance Ann (Singapore), Sylvia Leydecker (Germany), Ronnie Choong (Malaysia), Horace Pan (Hong Kong, China) and Leslie Lu (Hong Kong, China) at Steelcase showroom in 2011 for delineation and formal signing of IFI Interiors Declaration Bottom L-R: Then President of PIID Lilia De Jesus with Madam Belen Morey at the opening ceremony in 2018; named Fellow of IFI (FoIFI) with then-President of IFI Shashi Caan (2014); with Interiors community in the Philippines celebrating IFI World Interiors Day (IFI WID) in 2016
CELEBRATE
BELEN MOREY & OTHER INTERIORS ICONS
As we celebrate the life of Belen Morey, we recognize other Interior Architecture/ Design icons past and present who have helped to build, develop, and shaped today’s discipline, its practitioners, and educators.
We invite you to share your memories, images, or words of appreciation for those individuals in the Interiors community who have impacted you professionally and/or personally. Please post your mentors to:
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Originally shared via IFI’s newsletter on June 1st, 2020, accessible here.
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For more information or to ask a question, please contact IFI Headquarters at staff@ifiworld.org