Amid the rise of online content creators during the novel coronavirus pandemic, a Filipino architect became popular for his “react videos” to the sanctuaries of celebrities, which his fans viewed as informative and witty.
Due to the tough lockdowns in the past months, some Filipinos, particularly social media personalities, have joined in many hobbies shared by other people in quarantine across the world such as making dalgona coffee, dancing to TikTok videos, and even growing their own mini garden.
As the country shifts to a more eased quarantine phase, there’s a new trend of videos where some local stars, YouTubers and influencers gave their fans virtual tours of their new or renovated homes.
READ: Virtual house tour: Celebrities offer inside look at their private sanctuaries during lockdown
Architect Oliver Austria, meanwhile, gained traction for reacting to these videos and also sharing his insights to the designs in a humorous manner.
Austria’s YouTube channel with handle bearing his namesake was just created last October 2019 and has already over 1.59 million subscribers as of writing.
He had reached his 1 million subscribers milestone last August 16.
Who is Oliver Austria?
His full name is Llyan Oliver Austria and he earned his degree from Saint Louis University in Baguio.
Austria ranked fifth in the 2016 Architect Licensure Exam with a grade of 81.5%.
The channel “Oliver Austria” where he uploads his react videos is his second channel.
His first channel with the handle “Llyan Austria” which he launched in 2012 contains his vlogging content with 151 videos.
It also has less subscribers than the second one with 584,000.
His most-viewed videos on the first channel were reactions to a series of videos of construction workers with remarkable skills.
In the second channel, Austria’s most-viewed work was his reaction to late comedian Lloyd Cadena’s new home.
What makes his reaction videos so special?
Most of Austria’s content were reactions to homes of other YouTubers such as Mimiyuuuh, the JaMill, Ivana Alawi, Cong TV and Cadena.
The architect’s commentaries to their residences are often mixed with “dad” or “tito” jokes and architectural trivia or lessons, which viewers appreciate and learn from.
Moreover, Austria also calls his viewers “mah dudes” and applauds the hard work of the people behind the stars’ beautiful houses.
It’s only recently when the architect uploaded reactions to homes of celebrities.
So far, Austria had commented on the house tours of Bea Alonzo, Ivana Alawi, Kramer family and Derek Ramsey, Andrea Torres, among many others.
