Cebu's Iconic

 Lately I’ve been asking people around me to tell me a building that best represents Cebu City. I always get the same reply: Magellan’s Cross. Does this mean that our contemporary architects are not capable of building an iconic building? Or is it necessary to do so in the first place? 

Most buildings in the classical and medieval period can be considered iconic, especially those that were built like monuments. Heritage buildings are also iconic in the Philippines. People can easily associate a place when shown a picture of an old church or old structure. My concern, however, is the local contemporary architecture. 

What does it need for a building to be iconic anyway? First, as mentioned in my previous blog, the building has to be unique enough to catch the attention of media. Second, I think that the form should be simple enough to be drawn or described by anyone from memory. Third, the building should be situated in a place where it can easily be viewed in totality in at least two sides. Finally, the building should have a deep connection with the people in the locality. 

In Cebu, I am yet to find a building that meets all these criteria. Other than the Magellan’s Cross, the structures that would find its way to post cards are the Provincial Capitol and the Mactan Bridge. The Provincial Capitol, however, is not really contemporary and its neoclassical style is not so unique. The Mactan Bridge, on the other hand, is not a building in the first place. Because a second bridge was constructed, the Mactan Bridge started to lose its significance. 

The tallest building in the city is probably the Club Ultima. The building, however is complicated in form and is not viewable from good vantage points, especially because only one side faces the street. The Terraces in Ayala has been attracting a lot of people but a picture of this can easily be mistaken for the Greenbelt in Makati. Even the controversial Cebu International Convention Center, failed to meet the criteria of an iconic building because its form is not unique enough. 

For me, the best candidate for an iconic building in Cebu would have been the original design of the Megadome which won in the Design Competition. It enjoyed good media coverage, its form is unique yet simple enough to be retained in memory, it is also easily seen from many vantage points because of its site (it can even be seen from the Mactan Bridge), and most of all, everyone felt that it was a fitting design for Cebu. 

Unfortunately, it will never be realized for now the CICC stands on the site allotted for the Megadome. 

It is not easy to find a building that can be considered iconic. Cebu had its chance but lost it. For now, we will content ourselves with the Magellan’s Cross.

Architecture of Presence.... and Absence

My first day in the Architecture Journal class of Bro. Bela Lanyi was uneventful. Students already got wind that I will be joining them. I also tried to keep a low profile so as not to intimidate the students. What is more important is the lecture which Bro. Bela gave. I don't know if he did it on purpose but after mulling over the lecture he gave I suddenly realized that he was talking about two opposing phenomena in architecture. On one hand, there is an architecture that seems to command presence; on the other hand, there is an architecture that must emphasize what is absent.



Iconic buildings command attention. They stand out in their immediate environment. They manage to find their way into magazines and post cards. Iconic buildings, however, are very effective if they are far apart from each other. It is easy to imagine how the Sidney Opera House and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao would compete for attantion if they were constructed side by side.



There are a few exceptions, of course, as in the case of China's Water Cube and the Bird's Nest. Although each is iconic in themselves, they are also contextual.



Bro. Bela referred us to the book of Charles Jencks entitled "Iconic Buildings" for a more thorough discussion on the subject. It is interesting to know that what makes a building iconic is not its perfection but its unique character which must capture the eyes of media. The key player then is media. Even if a building is unique if it does not meet the fancy of media it will ultimately fail to gain the status of an iconic building. One great factor that contributes to a building's uniqueness is its form. A building may fail in terms of function and still become iconic.



The approved design for the World Trade Center is one example of an architecture that must emphasize what is absent. The saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" immediately comes to mind. It is a way of viewing a memorial from a different perspective. The concept, however, seems applicable only for a memorial in situ. The proposed design is envisioned for the site where the World Trade Center used to stand. The design seems to speak of "hope" amidst tragedy. This is emphasized by trees growing at random around the site, water flowing out, and a vessel containing unidentified remains waiting for science to remove their anonymity.

Personally though I find the design crowded with elements. Maya Lin succeeded with her Vietnam Veteran's Memorial with very few elements: a mere scar on the ground, made permanent by granite where the names of those who suffered were etched.



I have not studied the proposed World Trade Center design. Although the footprints of the two towers were left as a hole on the ground their absence could be further emphasized if there were pathways leading towards where the building should be but are cut short because of the building's absence... an expected door that wasn't there, or an expected stair for example.

It is facinating how architecture can express any idea. It is also facinating how new ideas continue to evolve. It is exciting to know that there are still many of this to be explored.

Architecture Journal for USC

This Wednesday, those enrolled in the Architectural Journal class of Bro. Lanyi Bella will have a pleasant (?) surprise. A new student will be added to the class.... ME!

When Bro. Bella started teaching in USC, he expressed his intention of making a journal for architecture. This desire was shared by the dean and some other faculty members so Bro. Bella got the full support from the College.

He started out by proposing an elective course on Architecture Journal (ArchJourn). From the class, Bro. Bella was able to identify students who have the talent and skills to help him with the journal project. He invited these students and true enough they showed full dedication. The maiden issue will be launched during the National Architecture Week celebtration this December.

They decided to call it "Lantawan." Personally I do not like the name. Although it is very Cebuano, I would prefer a more "sellable" title since they intend to sell the journal outside the university. Bro. Bella has no idea yet on the frequency of publication. It might come out once or twice a year, depending on the outcome of the maiden issue.

With the journal, he wants to "enhance" the intellectual environment surrounding the architecture profession. He even has a plan of putting up a website which is affiliated with the university and which will serve as a venue for intellectual discussions among architects, students and others who are interested.

The last attempt to publish an architecture journal was by Archt. Melva Rodriguez-Java. The journal, however, was a project of the United Architects of the Philippines. After three issues the publication stopped. The main reason was that their office was robbed and all the money for publication was stolen. They never managed to revive it.

For me, the reason why the UAP journal was never revived was the fact that it relies so much on the architects who are not able to devote full attention to the project. With students as a base, Bro. Bella has a more stable work force. Also, the fact that UAP has so many personalities involved makes it difficult for the journal to focus on a particular direction.

So what is my interest in all of this? I want to write... I think that much is clear. I also share Bro. Bella's desire to stir the intellectual atmosphere around me. Whether I will get involve in the architecture journal remains to be seen. For now, I'll try to learn as much as I can.

Can't wait for my first day in his class.

In Memoriam: Edison and Charade

The news about Edison and Charade really affected me. I met these two when I was still new in the university. They were consulting my friend, Ellis, regarding their thesis and I happen to be around. Ellis also asked for my opinion and we had a lively discussion about it. During their defense, I sat in their panel. I could not forget their defense because of a drawing they made of a baluster post. It was drawn in a very big scale and it naturally caught my attention. When I asked them about the significance of the drawing they candidly answered me that there was none!... that the drawing was meant to cover an empty portion of their presentation!

Ellis and I found these two quite amusing. On the surface they look like two clueless people and yet they managed to pass their thesis defense without any revisions! They left us with a memento, a black shirt with the logo of their thesis project printed at the back. I still have the shirt and I still wear it even if the logo has faded.

The two seems destined to be together. They took the board exam together and made it to the same rank in the top ten. It seems they were also together in their practice and, of course, got married eventually. They're destined to be together alright, until the very end.

We were never really close since I was new and they were graduating when we met. We also met during their consultations with Ellis. It's funny how I still remember them. Despite their simplicity, I simply find them remarkable.

P.S.: I got the picture from their Multiply. I hope the relative don't mind. I think everyone will agree that it is a very good picture. Seems to tell a lot about them for those who don't know them.

111108 - Heritage and School Mayhem

I mentioned in my other blogs how I started to gather my former classmates in grade school, high school, and college. For those I've met so far, we agreed to keep ourselves updated through blogs. Not everyone writes so we all agreed to try writing on a monthly basis. Those who know me, however, asked me to write every week! Well, I have the habit of writing my thoughts anyway so what the heck!

Well, that adventure led me to Blogger. I happen to read a blog here that talked about the benefits of blogging and even the possibility of earning. I guess I'm just too adventurous because I actually ended up creating an account here. The plan is to continue writing about my weekly activities here and just place links in my other sites to visit this one... So where were we...

After settling down I attended a three-day seminar on Heritage Conservation. It was fantastic. The speakers are very good. There was Prof. Ambeth Ocampo, the head of the National Heritage Institute, and also Prof. Fernando Zialcita, who authored the book "Philippine Ancestral Houses." I joined the workshop on Integrating Heritage in the Curriculum since I teach in the university. I ended up writing a blog about the result of the workshop. I'm also writing to our dean regarding suggestions on how to impliment workshop output in our college.

The third day was a tour to the old town of Carcar. I didn't join the tour because my friend Chris wanted me to go to Bantayan Island with him to see a site for his project. Unfortunately there was a storm so our trip was cancelled. I decided to hang out with a friend who came to Cebu for a jewelry show. She was selling all these very expensive jewelries. I bought two necklaces which I intended to give to my dad and mom.

That night, my housemate had the bright idea of a "general cleaning" for the apartment... It's a Saturday night. I should be out with my friends drinking beer! (although I've been doing that the past three nights). We managed to make the place look really neat... Cool... I plan to do general cleaning every Sunday but in different areas. One Sunday for the living areas, another for the kitchen and backyard, another for the toilet, and another for my room. This way the whole apartment is covered every month.

The following day was a Sunday but I was holed up in my room most of the day. I was finishing a textbook I was making for Descriptive Geometry. The goal is to print the materials by Wednesday. It's one of those legacies I want to leave behind in the university. I've actually done a lot for the college but I always worked in the background. I think it's time to put my name on anything that I manage to produce which benefits a lot of people.

Since it's a weekend I decided to meet up with friends. We hang out in Ayala Terraces. I've been waiting for this place to open. Unfortunately I was in Davao when they did. Anyway, I was with Chris and we talked about his project. Carlo Rodriguez also joined us and I found out he was selling these home made jewelries and accessories made of wood, glass, and other stuffs. I bought some for Christmas gifts. I also bought a necklace and bracelet which I'm now wearing everyday.

Monday is supposed to be the first day of class. I have a 7:30am class so I went. There were only three students! Apparently students are still adjusting their subjects. Because of the sudden shift to the old enrolment system a lot of subjects already enrolled disappeared in the process. Some students had to go back from square one. It was total chaos! I decided to help out in encoding and I actually enjoyed it. I'm actually free so far since the department has not finalized my teaching load and I only know of a couple of subjects so far.

I think the best thing that happened on Tuesday is that my housemate assembled his drumset in the living area. It's really, really coooollll!!! He used to be the drummer of a band that's getting national recognition but he decided to drop it and concentrate on schooling. The rest of the day was spent on the textbook and other stuffs I wanted done by Wednesday.

I really can't wait for classes to go full swing. Surprisingly a lot of students also texted me that they too are very eagier to go back to school! Anyway, I have many things to look forward to. I'm supposed to print my textbook and some drawings tomorrow. I also expect to know my final teaching load. I'm also quite excited about this blogging adventure...

Heritage in the Curriculum

I joined a three-day workshop on capacity building for the conservation of heritage structures. Well, technically the one and a half day was devoted to lectures, half day was devoted to the workshop proper, and the last day for a tour. Being in the academe I joined the workshop on integrating heritage consciousness in the academic curricula. We had some very interesting discussions.

Generally we agreed that a major factor why students and teachers no longer give importance to heritage is the idea of globalization. People train or go to school with the end of going out of the country to find work. Even on the level of CHED, the emphasis is on technical subjects rather than on sociology or history. We find that it is necessary to orient people that globalization and heritage awareness is actually compatible. The knowledge of their heritage can make Filipinos more competitive abroad. Filipino nurses, for example are preferred because of their caring ways which are borne out of their heritage. Many other examples were given on Filipinos who use their knowledge of their own heritage to become successful abroad. The group, however, was not able to pinpoint an action plan to promote awareness on this area.

There were many issues discussed in the tertiary level. We found that the architecture curriculum is already rich in subjects that deal with heritage. In USC, in fact, we offered Architectural Conservation subjects. The problem that we saw was the tendency of students to compartmentalize everything they learned. The students seem to have difficulty integrating all the subjects. Their tendency is to think that what they learn in one subject is not related to the others. There was a suggestion to hold a similar workshop in each school of architecture to all teachers handling the subjects. There was also the suggestion on how to approach the discussion on heritage: to start with issues and trace the causes through heritage. On the part of architectural history, the suggestion is to give examples in the Philippines as the development of western architecture is discussed.

We also found that there is a need for teachers to know more about Filipino heritage if they are supposed to impart and integrate this in the curriculum. There was a suggestion that teachers should go out of their way to learn. There is, however, the observation that there are very few instructional materials on heritage but we also found out that there are a lot of graduate thesis that deals on this field. The group agreed that something should be done to make the thesis works more accessible.

In relation to training teachers handling courses on heritage, there was the observation that the number of sociology students have decreased drastically because of the "makabayan" subject initiated by then Sen. Raul Roco. It seems that potential teachers of the subject are turned off by the content of the subject imposed on them. The makabayan subject for example requires the teacher to sing or to teach it. Generally the group agreed that the makabayan needs rethinking.

The group also realized that the courses other than architecture are slowly dropping sociology or history subject. This is true especially with engineering courses. We agreed that this could be an effect of the CHED's policy on globalization where the emphasis is to make the students more technically competitive. Some schools decided to merge subjects like sociology and Philippine history, literature and humanities, sociology and anthropology. There was a general consensus that the schools should be asked to review their policy on the need to provide a good foundation on heritage related subjects in all the courses they offer.

There was a consensus that ideally these subjects should have been taught in high school, but this is only possible if the educational system includes a senior high school. We noted a report that Philippines is having difficulty in gaining professional recognition abroad because the number of years spent in high school is less than all the other countries. While other countries have 12 years of preparation prior to college, Philippines only has ten.

On the micro level, the group discussed the importance of museums in heritage education, the importance of local language, and the importance of heritage in conducting research.

There was a suggestion to make museum more interactive, so as to communicate more to the students; however, the main problem found in making museum a part of heritage education is the fact that schools have started to discourage visits to the museum for safety reasons.

In teaching heritage, local language should never be substituted for English. An English translation may be provided but people should be very familiar with the local terms. The group noted that local newspapers have started using Vis-Lish and Tag-Lish. Even carpenters no longer use the local terms for parts of the house, instead they use English words which are inaccurately spelled or pronounced.

Finally there is the need to emphasize that knowledge of heritage can actually facilitate research work particularly in data gathering. The group noted the experiences of students who deal with other people for interviews or group discussions. Their lack of sensitivity to culture in general has led to many complaints thereby putting the reputation of the schools at risk.

The workshop was facilitated by no less than Prof. Fernando Zialcita, author of the book "Philippine Ancestral Houses." It was an eye-opener for most of us, including the facilitator. We hoped that the workshop output can somehow find its way to implementable plans of action.

Break's Last Leg

Ok, ok... I gained weight! Big deal! Let it be known throughout the world wide web!

I just got back from Cebu and top on my agenda was to visit USC to check my teaching load for the semester. I was perplexed to hear the same greeting from my students: "Hello sir! You gained weight!" Aaargh!... Anyway, who wouldn't? After the NCA I was recuperating from my cough so all I did was stay at home. ILater on everyone in the family started arriving for the All Souls Day so we decided to have a reunion party. In short, there is plenty of food everyday!

Just because I stayed at home most of the time doesn't mean I was idle. I managed to make a sample of a center piece for a table arrangement for my cousin's wedding in December, I got to correct the invitations they printed, I also submitted five designs for a Zen Zest stand, draw and extension of a dormitory, and complete a set of working drawings for plotting.

The reunion was quite emotional especially for my dad. Well, there's a long story behind it which is quite personal and private, but my older sister will be going to Dubai, my youngest sister will be going to Japan, and my other sister stays in Bukidnon. It will take a few more years before we gather again. The only person not present during the reunion is the husband of my youngest sister who is in Japan, and the husband of my oldest sister who is AWOL (hehe).

The night before I left for Cebu, these two sisters of mine and also the husband of my other sister decided to have beer with me in Torres Street. I brought them to the place designed by my friend. After that we had balbacua in Bulca-Chong. They updated me on the family issues. For some reason my family does not have the habit of telling me about the happenings in Davao. I've learned to accept that and, anyway, I have a way of getting information.

Back in Cebu, aside from the greetings from my students, I was also perplexed to know that the teaching load has not been finalized yet! I wanted to use this week to prepare so now I'll be idle! USC postponed the start of class because the internet based enrolment system which they launched last semester failed a week after the start of enrolment for this semester. They had to revert to the old system which was internal in USC. This means encoding all the enrolment data from one system to the other.

On the bright side, the painting works and repairs work done in the apartment has finished so I can now start arranging my things! The workers also did a miracle in cleaning the toilet! The best news... we're now wi-fi in the apartment! Yahoooooooh!!!

That's about it. The last leg of my sem break... Some things to look forward to aside from start of class on Monday is a three-day seminar on heritage starting tomorrow, and a site visit in Bantayan on Sunday.

Life and Ideas

I'll be going back to Cebu tomorrow. I'm actually both excited and anxious. Excited because of the new semester and because I also missed my friends in Cebu. Anxious because of the uncertainties ahead, especially my teaching load. Until this time I'm not really stable in this department but  that's a long story...

While in Davao, I got in touch with old friends and we spent time updating. The long and short is that we got to talk about blogs, among other things. Some of them know that I write every now and then in my multiply and friendster accounts. After a while we decided that we should all write blogs about our activities as a way of updating the rest about us. This is better than writing emails to many people only to give updates about our lives.

I told my friends that I wanted to write blogs about my life in my friendster account and write blogs about ideas in my multiply account. Apparently my friends have different preferences when it comes to these social network websites. In the end, they told me to write both types of blogs in both accounts. Ok then... I promised that we start next Sunday.

The plan is to write every Sunday about the activities during the week. Some of the guys asked to write every month since they're not really into writing. In my case, they requested it weekly. I liked the idea as well since I look at life as an adventure to the extent of viewing mundane and trivial matters with a different perspective. I also prefer writing than posting pictures since I'm not really into the latter. Aside from the fact that I don't have a camera with me all the time, I also don't find myself interesting to look at.

There are also the ideas that I want to download from my mind so I don't get crazy. Anyway, I have to accept that blogging will now be a major part of my life. I hope there's a way to earn from this. Oh well, at least I get to update my friends.