Lantern Parade 2012

15 December 2012

Last night was UP Diliman's Lantern Parade, which we do every year to start off our Christmas vacation. This is (hopefully) the last lantern parade I'd be able to experience as a student, and it's also the last legit Christmas vacation for me...

I arrived very late. The Arki party was nearly finished with its route once I arrived in UP.

People were already starting to flock the ampitheater.

I eventually caught up with the parade and met some friends...

People from UP Optics cheerfully delaying the delegates to take pictures.

Let's go UP!!!

Wordlessly volunteered to take TFA's picture.

To the stage

We found out why lanterns had supposed height limits. Hello Galvanized Iron Man!

Our delegation was composed of buildings and landmarks.

Faculty Follies was cancelled this year (wtf right?) so our professors had performing withdrawals.

Of course Justin Guiab had to be Galvanized Iron Man.

Hung out with some friends at the amphitheater after our lantern passed by. It would have been better if the stage faced the larger group in the amphi instead of the ones in Quezon Hall.

Joan was late. :P

We went to the Arki party afterwards. There was free booze, pizza and brownies.

Thesis? What thesis?

Writing on the freedom floor of the National Architecture Week.

I didn't take any pictures once we left Arki. Hazel, Joan, and I went to the AS parking lot to eat. We ended up staying there, just talking. We talked about art for art's sake, street children, Philippine movies, Karl Marx, pornography... and life in general. We watched the fireworks and then stayed at the steps until about 10pm, when Joan was picked up by a male "friend" so they could go stargazing at the PAGASA observatory (hahahaha, latter not true btw). 

It was a great night. Even though I felt like a loser for getting dizzy due to San Mig Apple and a tiny cup of Red Horse, it was a night spent with friends. 

And so I leave you with Pilosopotato and friends. 

Thick-skinned

15 October 2012

Hazel and I just had our consultation with the Queen of Arki today (our awesome adviser happens to be the awesome Dean). I was so freaking nervous because Dean is always busy and we always have to rush things. Somehow, that scares me more. Important people intimidate me.

Anyway, we had a very short session, wherein she filled me in with all the things I've done wrong. She played devil's advocate and asked me questions I couldn't answer well. I should've brought my program with me, because I kept forgetting the numbers and my reasoning was very flawed. 

But I learned a lot. The things she made me realize were so important. I was having "oo nga noh" and "ugh, sobrang tanga ko talaga" moments. But afterwards, I was surprised that I felt okay with it.

My first year self would probably crack under the pressure and cry (like what I did in a certain org interview, /wrist), but now I know that the teachers are there to help us. They're not insulting us or the things we submit to them. Rather than stating the obvious, the Dean asked me a lot of questions that made me realize my mistakes. It was indeed an eye-opener. Now I know how much I should rethink, and how much work I still have to do. 

Now I know how totally unprepared I am to graduate.

I have accepted the fact that I probably won't have a relaxing sembreak anymore. I need to get back to my program and fix things (like my inefficient road system and my FAR and building heights). Sure, I will still hang out with my neglected non-arki friends and walk my dog more and paint some, but I need to rethink so many things.

I hope that going home will help me relax. I still haven't mastered how to swim in a pool of stress yet. I'm trying to emulate my father, who works crazy hours yet still manages to be the most chill person I know. I hope that seeing him and my mother can put me in the right spot.

Hell Weekly

Note: the posts about my undergrad thesis are here for documentation purposes. Someday in the future, I'd like to look back at how I do things today, and compare them to how I do things by then.

14 October 2012

I MISSED YOU, BLOG!

So as of today, I'm still in between deadlines and exams. But this blog needs attention too (and I want to procrastinate a little). I'd like to post about what has occupied my weeks lately. I haven't been able to take much photos, but I did sneak in a couple of shots.

Doing schematics while watching Wasak on Youtube. 

I was holed up in my room for a long period of time, just doing school work. They pile up so fast, it's not even funny.

I don't really use planners anymore (I have about two, which are currently discarded on my shelf). I end up forgetting about them. They just don't work for me. I have a cork board with outdated reminders and an empty calendar. I guess I should forego buying them in the future. I just waste paper.

The ONE THING I can't function without is my notebook.

Doodles and Drawings

I always bring with me a Venzi Flexy notebook, those really thin ones that they don't sell anymore on NBS (still trying to find some). I've filled up about four of them already and I'm currently on my fifth one. I like them because they survive inside my crammed bag, and they're not too bulky.

These are hard to find nowadays. :(

It's filled with doodles and scattered school notes and quotes from our witty professors. 

I also indicate what I'm listening to at the moment. Chopin is good for studies.

 By the way, my thesis is about designing an astronomical observatory and planetarium for PAGASA (because they are in need of a better one). The challenge here is to create a modern look that people can associate with astronomy as a science, yet also make people think of it as an ecotourism destination.

 

The Balatik is an animal trap used by ancient Filipinos in hunting. According to the father of Philippine Ethnoastronomy and my Kas 1 prof, the late Dr. Dante Ambrosio, the Balatik is symbolized in our version of the constellation Orion.

Very little of these doodles are actually implemented. I have a hard time trying to match everything; form follows function and all that. A prof also taught us to think in 3D, which is quite hard to do while creating plans that match the program.

I think that the worst part of the process is when my laptop crashed. I think it has a video card defect. I had to completely reformat it. Fortunately, I saved the data I needed, and the most awesome brother in the world let me use his own, much better laptop.

And he made me a chocolate sandwich

Sir Blackballs keeps me company sometimes.

I had to do some manual work too. I avoid using SketchUp as much as possible, because I suck at it and my laptop becomes a complete bitch whenever I use it. But of course I would eventually have to use it later.

Kurecolor on tracing paper. A friend laughed at the number of trees I have. No. It's actually not funny.

After a panic-inducing trip to Joli's in Manila to have the CAD files printed (Arkishop Philcoa was way too busy), we finally submitted our schematics to the faculty.

Seeing the work done by batchmates and friends is one of the things I have to get over. I wish I had pictures of their work. If you study in a place like UP where everyone has talent (chos!), it's hard not to compare your own work with everyone else's. But in the end, your work is your own, and there's nothing else to feel about it but pride.

It was a stressful week, and I still can't say if the work I submitted was complete. There is always room for improvement for these things. I already have the hunch that I will be spending my sembreak thinking about the changes I have to make. Hopefully, these changes will be for the better. I am meeting with my adviser tomorrow to discuss the schemes. I'm actually quite nervous, but I know it will be for my own good in the end.

Authentic Italian

24 September 2012

Our Housing class had a field trip around the Southern part of Metro Manila. First, we went to the New Bilibid Prison resettlement area, which is funded by the National Housing Authority. Then we went to the neighboring Portofino Residences by Brittany. Lastly, we visited the Bonifacio Global City under AyalaLand and Evergreen Holdings.

The whole day was interesting in itself, but I'm only going to discuss Portofino here because the whole "authentic Italian" schtick they have rubbed us the wrong way.

Pizza Pasta Pepperoni

Before I had Architectural Theory classes, I already felt uncomfortable with themed developments. The ads in newspapers and magazines, though pretty, had never appealed to me. It took one HTC class for me to understand why I felt iffy with these imitations.

There are reasons why Filipino architecture is different from any other architecture found in other parts of the world. A few of these reasons are climate, availability of materials, and differences in culture.

Transplanting an authentic foreign style into Manila simply won't work. It's not just a matter of nationalism. There's a reason why the basic Filipino houses don't have cupolas and chimneys and basements. It's because WE DON'T NEED THEM. Having useless and costly design details that are completely foreign is pretentious.

And they introduce their developments in first person. I find that extremely unusual.

As the trip was composed of three professors and eight vans of idealistic architecture students, we had a lot of questions, but the number one question was simply... why?

Why build all these thematic developments (they have a Switzerland-inspired  one in Tagaytay and an American... thing somewhere else)??? Why not just build high-end exclusive villages wherein people can have their own designs? WHY???

Their answer? Because there's a market for these kind of things.

Alfie asking a question.

Kurt asking a question.

Bibbokid Ice asking a question.

Kuya Don asking a question

They fed us adobo rolls..... bwahahahaha.

Their clubhouse was posh-looking, but certainly not as Italian as I expected.

Despite the artificial-looking facades, I'd have to commend them on the Interior Design. At least they did something right by commissioning the Almario Sisters to do the interiors.

Christian and Arvin on the balcony

We were taken to two of their model houses. We were greeted by classical music as we entered the houses.

Becky orgmates welcoming people in.

The house design was named Alessandro. All their designs are named after Italian artists.

Fake books

REAL Vidka???

A room named Alex

For display purposes only

Mariz, Ell, Alyssa and Gelmer

A lot of pictures were taken that day.

I forgot the name of the second house. But it has a courtyard.

A small one, but hey! At least meron.

I like the table settings, but I'm too messy to have them in real life.

I have so many photos of Donna and Liz. They actually own the house.

Gonna have a wall like this someday.

The donyas.

I don't like wallpaper in general... but these two do.

We were not allowed to sit on or touch anything... but bleh.

A lot of Chinese stuff for an Italian home.

We left Portofino with mixed feelings. Personally, I think that they are trying to mislead people by selling "authentic Italian architecture". But their definition of authentic is skewed. If you built something like that in Italy, it won't fit the context at all. It's not authentic Italian. It's a hodgepodge of styles that the designers think is Italian. It misinforms people.

The sad thing is that people actually buy these properties, and at very high prices. It's like the people's definition of luxury includes homes that can fit inside theme parks.

Then again, who can fault the buyers? This proves that colonial mentality still exists. One thing is for sure... none of us taking the field trip would want to live there.

Ell is running away from it already.