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.

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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

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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