UST - College of Science and Faculty of Pharmacy Building - Bachelor's Thesis 2005

Congratulations! and the push for Local Design

Congrats to the 4 Board Topnochers from UST! Sana tuloy-tuloy na yung
streak natin of number 1s. I really do hope that this signals a
renaissance for Architecture in UST, and in the Philippines in general.
Although most people would dismiss the board exam as an exercise in
pure memory work and bara-bara drafting skills, it still counts for
bragging rights among the school design studios, mas lalo sa
workforce... where its been said that people from UST are the
artists/designers, while people from UP are the researchers,
managers... despite the higher passing percentage for UP (mainly
because only a handful take the course there) UST is still considered a
design powerhouse, dishing out the likes of Lindy Locsin and Bobby
Manosa, along with the current crop of professionals.



I hope that foreign-trained/schooled grads and experienced alumni go
back and whip the studios back in shape and get us back on the cutting
edge, and finally reclaim Filipino Architecture and Design for
Filipinos by Filipinos... and not by some snotty, over-charging,
racist, red-neck foreign consultant.



Its about time we also acknowledge our mistakes too as designers...
particularly with this crop of current practitioners... the cheezy
post-modernism/classicism, the harsh brutalism, the commercialist
"jollibee"-wings and colors... and the big-box mall, along with the
suburbanization and high-end re-urbanization of our CBDs are all
brought about by our blind following of foreign trends and styles.



Let us learn to be humanist designers, solving problems, working with
our climate, CONTEXT, culture, technology, budget and people. Let us
learn to sift what we see in the mags and abroad. Its time we reclaim
the professionalism and design excellence spearheaded by the first
waves of Pinoy Modernists.



More than anything... let's prove this to the clients... to our
customers and to the general public. This is about enhancing their
comfort levels, whether or not they feel good about going into and
using your building, and whether or not its worth investing on you to
design it. We've let the clients down by shoving shitty adaptations
down their throats. Its been years of shit and suffering for the
industry as a whole, and everyone's complaining about it... but at the
end of the day, more than the quality of the service we render as
professionals, its about the quality, excellence and adaptability of
our finished product... our designs, that will enable local builders
and developers to trust us again.

ASEAN - Apec Practice for Local Architects

I visited UST the other day to take a break
from work and to have some paperwork and certifications done. I dropped by the
college to check the Best Thesis exhibit, I saw some of the works of my
batchmates last year, most of which, curiously, had Sir Noche as their adviser,
hmmm… anyway, hindi ko naisama yung trabaho ko, kasi hindi ako nainform na
kailangan pala dalhin dun. So… maiba… I went upstairs para makibalita kay Dean
Ponce, so here is the basic list of issues discussed:

 

1.      Congrats to Roy Mendoza, for winning the
NUS-Asean scholarship, nice work bro, sana
magqualify ako sa November.

2.      Congrats to Mac Ong a.k.a Nakanamamboogie,
for graduating from the NUS Urban Design Program – top of his batch ah!
Luhfeht! Actually matagal ko na to alam… pero inaanounce ko narin.

3.      Congrats to my batchmate… si Gops… este
Gopuansuy for winning the scholarship to Milan… talaga naman ah… tindi talaga
ng batch namin.

4.      I found out that a lot of professors are
starting to become antagonistic against Dean Ponce, I think that’s the case
naman talaga, kahit former faculty member din yung Dean.

5.      And the most important and promising piece
of news… The 2 year post-date requirement for us to take the board exams,
instituted in the new Architecture Law Implementing Rules and Regulations, is
being implemented not just to make life difficult for kids or relatives of
architects, but also to prepare the succeeding batch of graduates to be able to
take the ASEAN Architecture Registration Examinations. Hopefully daw, by 2007
we can take the board, pass it, and be registered professionally not just here
in the Philippines, but also in all ASEAN nations. Plus… we also get to have the
opportunity to take the Architecture Registration exams in other APEC countries
like the USA,
even if we haven’t taken Arki units in that country. Astig! Kaya pala the Board
of Architecture has been phasing in new subjects into the exam syllabus. The
APEC din is also trying to implement a universal building code, para unified na
lahat ng building standards among its member nations. This is really great
news. I’ve been a bit dejected kasi I couldn’t take the board, samantalang I’ve
completed more than the required apprenticeship hours. This gives me something
to look forward to and plan for. Galeng talaga ni Lord, yung akala mong
problema, opportunity and positional advantage pala.