update on bukidnon design workshop

Email from Paolo Aguila, UP TFA Chairperson, sent last March 30:

Hi!
Wow, I'm really glad to hear from you (all 4 of you, I think, from "arkiboks", namely: Ate Pon, Camille Reyes, Malaya Fabros, Kons Koh) [ligs - di ata niya nabasa sa tfa egroups yung email mo- hindi kasi siya member - email him directly for inquiries-pon],thank you so much for expressing your support..although this is a really late reply. Unfortunately, it's been quite a hectic schedule for me and the rest of the UP student population..(finals week namin ngayon), that's why I wasn't able to reply ASAP. Anyway, last exam is on friday. So, I'm guessing we'll be free to really get things going by then. As of now, we're still gonna have to meet with the other volunteer who introduced us to this project.

As for the budget, we've talked it over with Ms. Easter Canoy (the student-volunteer from Ateneo), and here's the rough estimate of total expenses per person:

P7,000 - air fare
P300 - bus fare
P500 - cab fare
P500 - accomodation for 1 night
(the rest of the nights will be spent in the community)
___________
P8,300 - per person

Two of us from TFA, me and Jhun Fabrero (Projects Committee head) will be joining Ms. Anna Gonzales (a UP-ARKI- alumnus) and Ms. Easter in what is deemed to be a 5-day mission. (half the time of which we'll be spending just travelling, I think!)

Anyway, here are our bank account details, for anyone who's intrested to help out. we REALLY APPRECIATE IT. :)

Account name: UP TASK FORCE ARKI
Account #: (PNB) 275-574806-7

Some of the details that Mr. Kons asked me (which might shed light for everyone else) I'm gonna try to answer:
1. Expected output/s of the said workshop
Basically, it's the ability to participate in the design process that we're after. We want to teach them how to visualize space and how to communicate that vision in a way that is translatable. So that even if they don't actually get to that level where they can actually draft plans and stuff, at least, they will learn how to provide inputs (if someone like UP-TFA or other people who are capable designs for them) in the process of crafting their own space.

2. How many people are going to attend, with breakdown
To be really honest, I have no idea yet how many of them we'll be administering the lecture to..but Ms. Easter suggests we do as John Ong did; divide the community into three groups (elders, women,
youth)..I don't know why, actually. But we'll probably look into it, if there's a better way..but as of now, there's just the class and the volunteers (that means us). They understand tagalog. :)

3. Venue of the workshop
Right there in their community up in the mountains. That's why it'll take us half the time we need to just get there and back.

4. Resources available
Hmm...I don't think there's any money at all available. Materials for the workshop, we're gonna improvise for that..we're thinking letting them work with cardboards, clay, sticks, glue, etc..things that are readily available. So far, it's just us, me and Jhun together with Arch. Anna and Ms. Easter. Unless someone volunteers to join, we'll also have to consult how many we can bring with us.

5. Sanction/approval/recommendation from concerned agencies
Hmm..I don't think there's any recommendation necessary, other than the approval of the tribe. And since Ms. Easter will be the one who'll bring us there, she'll be the one to mediate and explain to the tribe our intention, which is really to help out. She feels very strongly for the development of the tribe which is very close to her heart.

So there. I hope this somehow helps everyone understand our project better. As for the formal proposal, I'm gonna draft one soon as everything's clear (right now, everything's quite a blur). We're bent towards re-scheduling it til after summer classes (late May).

Thank you very much for your support!

Paolo Aguila
[Please email all your feedback directly to Paolo at superpaoie@gmail.com - pon]

Myths of Studio Culture

I have come accross an interesting excerpt from page 6 of the AIAS (American Institute of Architecture Students) Studio Culture Task Force Report that lists some of the myths of studio culture. It's interesting because I can relate it to my experiences as an architecture student in the Philippines where the design studio is equally elevated - perhaps sometimes too much - in importance.

Just where do I go off saying that something might be given "too much" importance? Can that even be possible?

There is no question that the studio culture is the back bone of an architectural education. However, when you live the studio culture in a way where other areas of your life suffer, maybe then we can say that it's given too much importance.

I sort of know this first hand because I am one of those guys back in school who would rather spend the extra time making my boards just a little bit closer to perfect rather than doing the "less important stuff" like eating and sleeping.

I've also been witness to the end of a number of friendships sometimes brought about by the dynamics of some studios. Vocal and physical tussling and back stabbing are not uncommon when people are confronted with their perceived deficiencies in the time they are physically present in studio regardless of the amount of their contribution.

This is not surprising when one thinks that in architecture school, where one's reputation is oftentimes married to the number of hours he spends in the studio, that is the status quo.

If it shocks you to realize that the importance given to the studio culture may be more myth than fact - or that you actually need to eat and sleep to live and that keeping friendships might be better than a good looking board- you might want to read the excerpt I found. You might even want to add to it. Here it is:

Studio culture can (be)characterized by the myths it perpetuates. These myths influence the mentality of students and promote certain behaviors and patterns. The following prevail within many design studios, if not within every school:

- Architectural education should require personal and physical sacrifice.

- The creation of architecture should be a solo, artistic struggle.

- The best students are those who spend the most hours in studio.

- Design studio courses are more important than other architecture or liberal arts courses.

- Success in architecture school is only attained by investing all of your energy in studio.

- It is impossible to be a successful architect unless you excel in the design studio.

- Students should not have a life outside of architecture school.

- The best design ideas only come in the middle of the night.

- Creative energy only comes from the pressure of deadlines.

- Students must devote themselves to studio in order to belong to the architecture community.

- Collaboration with other students means giving up the best ideas.

- It is more important to finish a few extra drawings than sleep or mentally prepare for the design review.

- It is possible to learn about complex social and cultural issues while spending the majority of time sitting at a studio desk.

- Students do not have the power to make changes within architecture programs or the design studio.

Remote Philippine island group prepares for UNESCO heritage listing

BASCO, Philippines (AFP) - Nothing much has changed in Batanes in a hundred years or more. There are no shopping malls or luxury apartments, electricity is relatively new and telecommunications remain a novelty in this remote corner of the Philippine archipelago, separated only by the Bashi Channel from southern Taiwan.



So isolated are the islands that make up the country's smallest province that they are often left off local maps of the Philippines altogether.

But all that is about to change.

Batanes, with its mix of unique and ancient archeology and architecture, has been nominated as the sixth "world heritage" site in the Philippines by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The listing carries a certain amount of prestige and could help raise awareness about its preservation. Authorities may also receive financial assistance or expert advise from UNESCO about ways of maintaining the site.

For locals like Florentina Estrella, 79, more used to a quiet village existence, it has opened her tiny world to many visitors. Dozens of Filipinos and foreigners now call on her each year.

Her tiny, low-lying house made from lime and sea stones with its highly polished floors, has withstood the battering of typhoons and a tsunami that wiped out nearly the entire coastal hamlet more than 50 years ago.

Her house, locally called a sinandumparan, is the oldest stone structure in Batanes, and is included on the UNESCO list expected for grading by June or July, nine years after the local Batanes Heritage Foundation invited a team to visit the islands.

But Batanes' growing reputation as a new frontier tourist destination has been greeted with mixed feelings by the local government, which while partly relying on revenues from visitors is under pressure to limit the number of tourists who might overwhelm preservation sites, officials say.

As word spread about the nomination, local and foreign tourists have been braving high winds and rough seas to get to Batanes, and Estrella, with her easy smile and friendly but weather-beaten face, has become the subject of many postcards and promotional calendars.

"This is something new to me. I have been visited by a lot of people who give me donations and take my pictures. We want the world to know about how we live," Estrella says as she proudly shows a blue logbook containing the names of visitors over the past year that includes Australian and Canadian tourists with notes urging authorities to help preserve her house.

"I now have many friends," Estrella beams.

Estrella's grandfather Jose Dacay built the house in 1887, cobbling together corals washed from the shore and stones that are abundant in the coastal town of Ivana, one of six municipalities in Batanes.

Like all other sinandumparans, it is low-slung, with walls about a meter thick and a roof made from grass tightly bound and woven together to make it water proof.

The family had moved elsewhere in the country in the early years, but Estrella said they returned to the area when she was 12, and had stayed ever since.

She has never married and many of her childhood friends have died.

"I have seen time come and go, but our place has not changed much," she says.

She recalls a major tsunami in 1953 that wiped out a nearby coastal village, as well as an earthquake when she was young that caused the ground near her house to open up and spew spring water. "See, its still there. And my house is still here," she says, but adds that the roof needs repairs.

The Batanes island group is nearer to Taiwan, just 190 kilometers (118 miles) north, than to Luzon, and is 860 kilometers north of Manila, accessible by small 60-seater turboprop planes.

The group consists of three inhabited volcanic islands surrounded by picturesque white sand beaches, breath-taking limestone cliffs and virtually unexplored interior forests. Rolling hills are covered in strikingly-green patchworks of reeds and tall cogon grass that sway in the harsh winds blowing in from the sea.

The capital Basco is located on the island of Batan which lies under the shadow of the majestic 1,009-meter (3,310-feet) high Mount Iraya, an active volcano that last erupted in 325 BC triggering the creation of the two other islands -- Sabtang and Itbayan -- that now comprise the tiny provincial archipelago of 17,000 people.

Currents from the Pacific Ocean to the east, and from the South China Sea to the west clash to form rough waves that the locals have learned to conquer using wide-bottomed and bath-tub shaped boats called fallowas.

The islands are virtually untouched, and little has changed over the past century. Electricity arrived only in the 1980s while telecommunication facilities followed in the 1990s. In many parts, power is still rationed. Transportation is also difficult, with less than 10 jeeps ferrying people to and from the coastal towns.

The Batanes are home to the Ivatans, gentle fisherfolk and farmers who are believed to have descended from the first wave of people who left Taiwan as early as 3,500 years ago, according to research by the National Center for Indigenous Peoples here in Basco.

Spaniards who came to colonize the country in the 16th century inter-married with the locals, resulting in the Ivatans' almond eyes, aquiline noses and high cheekbones.

The Ivatans constantly battle the elements -- extremely hot tropical summers from March to May, and with bitterly cold winds blowing in from China from November to February.

The rest of the year are given to strong rains and stormy weathers, because historically it lies in the Philippines' typhoon belt and nearly always has to endure the estimated 19 typhoons that pass the country on average every year.

Governor Vicente Gato says he is hopeful that UNESCO will give its nod to the Batanes to be included in its list of "world heritage" sites, and by doing so open up the islands to more assistance from both the government and from other groups that could provide endowments or grants to preserve the Ivatan sites.

He says the number of tourists has been increasing every year, although provides no official figures.

"While we can't prevent those who have money from visiting us, we prefer to have the quality tourists who would appreciate our culture and those who would help us preserve our heritage," Gato tells AFP.

"We don't have an ambition for too many tourists that we can't support with our facilities because development is not as fast as the increase in arrivals. We would not be able to accommodate them all."

He agrees however that the money the tourists bring and the UNESCO nomination have helped put Batanes back on the national map.

Support needed for design workshop

This is a letter sent to me by Paolo Aguila, current chairperson of Task Force Arki, a service-oriented organization based in the University of the Philippines College of Architecture.

***

We'd like to gather support for our project which is tentatively scheduled to be
held this summer, April 9-13.

It started as a design project of the multi-purpose facility of a tribal community in Mt. Kitanglad (Malaybalay, Bukidnon). But as we went through the whole design-consultation process with the anthropology student-volunteer who's in direct contact with Kitanglad,
we found out how hard it is to design without direct observation of the site and without direct contact with the users. As we talked about it more, we thought about facilitating a workshop where the people are taught how to conceptualize their own space, to be able to provide more input into the design of their multi-purpose facility, and hopefully allow the structure to take form as the users themselves desire it to be.

Quite ambitious, maybe..but not impossible, since they have received a similar kind of lecture when they were taught by John Ong (a geologist from up) how to build a 3d map (a.k.a. site model) of Mt. Kitanglad, which has become a very useful tool for asserting their rights over the land (as opposed to the way things went before, when local authorities used to just show them maps and land titles and the tribespeople did not understand what those pieces of paper meant). We'd like to share with them the ability to define their own space, and mould their environment in a way that reflects their own way of life. We're looking at this workshop as a tool to help them do it..even though they won't probably be able to draft floor plans and architectural drawings (at least not anytime soon..), at least they get to understand and communicate better what they want and need in the spaces that they are bound to use and occupy.

I hope you can help us with this..the people we are working with are also trying to get support from outside.

Thanks so much for considering our request.

Paolo Aguila

***

I'm currently trying to get more details from Paolo. But if you're interested in this project (they need financial support), or want to volunteer, email Paolo at superpaoie@gmail.com.
- Pon

American Wins Pritzker Price

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Thomas Mayne, the bad boy of architecture for years before reaping international acclaim in his mid-50s, was named Sunday as the winner of the Pritzker Prize, the field's most prestigious honor.

Mayne, 61, is the first American to win the Pritzker in 14 years and only the eighth U.S. architect to win in the 27-year history of the contest.

The jury cited Mayne for creating a bold architectural style that reflects the "unique, somewhat rootless, culture of Southern California" through angular lines and an unfinished, open-ended feel.

"Thom Mayne is a product of the turbulent '60s who has carried that rebellious attitude and fervent desire for change into his practice, the fruits of which are only now becoming visible," the jury wrote.

For Mayne, winning the Pritzker is vindication for the years he spent struggling to maintain the purity of his unorthodox ideas. His stand earned him a reputation as an angry young man and alienated many clients.

"My whole essence was attempting to do something I believed in. I didn't understand how to negotiate that notion of the private and the public world," he said in an interview at Morphosis, his Santa Monica studio. "Your whole life you're told you're an outsider and you can't do that, and then you're honored for it."


Diamond Ranch High School
by Thomas Wayne's MORPHOSIS

Mayne will be awarded a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion on May 31 during a ceremony at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park. Past winners of the Pritzker Prize, sponsored by the family that developed the Hyatt Hotel chain, include I.M. Pei, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano and Rem Koolhaas.

A look at Pritzker Prize winner Thomas Mayne.

_ Born: Jan. 19, 1944, Waterbury, Conn.

_ Residence: Santa Monica, Calif.

_ Family: Married, three sons.

_ Career: Founder of Morphosis design studio in Santa Monica; professor at University of California, Los Angeles; co-founder and board member, Southern California Institute of Architecture.

_ Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Southern California School of Architecture, 1968; Master's of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 1978.

_ Projects (partial list): Federal Building, San Francisco (pending); Satellite Operation Control Facility, Suitland, Md. (pending); Alaska State Capitol Building (pending); Caltrans District 7 Headquarters, Los Angeles (2004); ASE Design Center, Taipei, Taiwan (1997); Sun Tower, Seoul, Korea (1997); Cedar-Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles (1988).

_ Quote: "Architecture is a long-distance sport. You put your mind to it, and stay with it for 30 years, and then you're just getting started."

Habitat for Humanity's Founder Fired

Habitat for Humanity International, a Christian home-building organization, has fired founder Millard Fuller over allegations of "inappropriate conduct" by Fuller towards a female employee.

Habitat for Humanity also terminated Fuller's wife, Linda, who co-founded the organization 28 years ago.

Fuller had already given up the title of chief executive officer.

This isn't the first time Fuller has been accused of inappropriate behavior towards women. Back in 1990, several women at Habitat's headquarters accused him of sexual harassment.

UAP CONEX 2005 and 31st National Convention

UAP Convention and Construction Expo 2005 (CONEX 2005) presents new opportunities and possibilities from more than 400 companies of new products, technology, innovations, and services that impact the entire building community. Survey the entire marketplace for products, systems, and services you need to make your business operate efficiently, effectively, and profitably... plus admission is free! Exhibits will run from March 31 to April 03, 2005 at the World Trade Center, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

Simultaneous with CONEX 2005, the 31st UAP National Convention, with the theme "Opportunities without Borders... Exciting Times for the Filipino Architect," will be held at the Philippine Plaza Hotel. Seminars on design and culture, environment and technology, practice, business and entrepreneurship, and heritage will be given by both foreign and filipino speakers. Foreign speakers include George Kunihiro of Japan, Ken Yeang of Malaysia, Javier Galvan Guijo of Spain, Christopher Foot of UK, Marco Imperadori of Italy, and Syed Zaigham Jaffrey of Pakistan. Filipino counterparts include Paulo Alcazaren, Efren Aurelio, Marcos De Guzman Jr., Jose Pedro Recio, Augusto Villalon, Francisco Mañosa, and Jorge Yulo. A 10% discount on registration fee is given for those who will register before March 4.