Photos: Abandoned Architecture

I got a good deal on negative scanning from the local film processing shop that's been my favorite of the late. I discontinued having my films processed at the other shop (the one that gives free pro-image for every processing and contact printing job ordered) upon my discovery of another kodak shop that sells kodak pro-image in boxes of fives (at PhP 80.00 each roll--roughly $1.50).

With the option of cheap scanning i had my 20 rolls of negatives digitally scanned. I was charged PhP70.00 for burning fee of everything, and i think some PHP10.00 for scanning of each roll of negative.

With my 19-month worth of pictures digitally converted i was able to make a sort of collection of my small projects, one of them is the collection of pictures on abandoned architecture all over Iloilo City. They're not much as i'm still a little apprehensive about trespassing in these abandoned spaces.

Keith discovered a blog of an urban ex named bradley garret who built his post-grad academic life around this terrific project:
http://www.bradleygarrett.com/blog/

and the link to the blog he dedicated to place hacking: http://www.placehacking.co.uk/

(given my inexperience, i'll still admit urban exploration will be very difficult with film cameras but who knows.)
someday, i'll do this, too.


and to the pictures:

FIN.

house

August 2012 marked our 6th year in the rented apartment.

Living in rental houses is not a very common set-up in a typical Filipino family. more often than not, parents who work in the City would leave their children to wherever they permanently reside and rent a bedspace (or a cheaper, smaller apartment that might not be very accommodating to little children) to save on bills. I am used to the rental set-up. I've been living in rented houses/spaces since i started high school (7th grade). My husband and I wanted to stay in the community for the convenience of everything -- it's near the farmer's/public market, near a grocery store, near a laundry shop, near a mall, near a highway going to the airport, near the studio of my art teacher, near the yoga center. It's also one ride away from my gynecologist, my kid's school, my work, my alma mater. Plus, there's a volkswagen restorer in the neighborhood (specialty: the beetle). It's also less than 500 meters to another university that has a medium-sized football field where i used to do my runs.
the location is almost perfect.
but then the house is almost run-down. it's unsafe and we've been victimized by termites several times. plus it's too small to contain my mother's goods. it will get even smaller as the kids grow bigger, and as our book collection continuously expands.                                                        

we've found a handful of subdivisions (which roughly translates to: private housing in suburban areas, no , not projects) with affordable lots but we've been endlessly successful in making a purchase because of countless reasons, primary to which is the lack of (what else) a large sum of money for downpayment (although every one, including my father, if confronted by this problem, would always say that we have enough property to offset that need--but i dunno how true is that in my part).

Secondly, subdivisions here have weird rules, outdated and stuck in the 70's perspective--at the time when the Philippines was sending majority of its engineers to the middle east which resulted in so many concrete, mansionic housing constructions in all parts of the country.

houses that developers prefer to build for a typical Filipino middle class. from here.

Given that there is almost a global following on green building (if not global "policy"), it is a wonder why developers still choose to have this kinds of houses in their properties. this is one energy hoarder of a house, and clearly is not adherent to the Filipino culture. So, one would think that if you by ONLY lots in subdivisions you would, at least be freer to decide on the kind of house you'd build.

WRONG.

We've been disappointed too many times once we're handed the subdivision rules and regulations. the picture of a house above remains to be the "ideal, recommended, suggested, preferred" house that subdivision developers want on their property. it makes my face hurt. it makes me want to cry. (The fact that i've been working on projects related to sustainable urban development does not help at all, it makes it the more frustrating to know that all the "advocacy" on green building  and sustainable living we've been screaming resulted to nothing but an epic failure, exemplified by the picture above.)

but there might be hope. i found a feature in archdaily that COULD make our wants and needs possible, albeit with a little compromise here and there. Presenting, another picture of a building:

isn't that lookin really nice? ain't too radical for middle class taste and the tasteless developers?
this was designed by UMWELT; site is somewhere in Chile, and can be read through archdaily, here.

This isn't just a house. it's a meditation area (dojo) and some other things. I would have wanted an umbrella house, or something similar to what Mori makes (especially the House on Gulf of Mexico, a refurbishment of a space designed by Paul Rudolph in 1957) but those are the things that we cannot afford. Also, we have yet to find very skilled builders to bring these kinds of things to life, and that again, the skills and expertise, require tons of money.

But this one, this one might be it.

Incidentally, when i mentioned this to Keith, he told me he has thought of similar design weeks earlier, actually sketched it somewhere. that might be a good sign--that we're similar birds in this aspect--err, "birds of the same feather"--and the dojo building above looks simple enough to be built by my artists friends, myself and Keith. Maybe the kid could help paint the screen or the louver so he'd know how to build a house by the time we enforce on him the COMPULSORY moving out.

(besides, don't they look like they complement, built side by side. certainly, if ever we do end up in the "modern house" kind of suburban neighborhood, we won't come with names like: "that weird family living in the dojo house.")

FIN.

The case of the confused louvers.

"That louver seems to be suffering from some sort of an identity crisis," Keith muttered under his breath. We just came from walking under the afternoon sun. 

I snapped a picture of the louver. and the building where it's attached to. and including the highway across it. plus some jalousies of the roadside Chinese restaurant where we sat to cool down.


Two weekends ago, Keith and I went to visit his associate's (it is not as glamorous as it sounds) (will be referred here as KA) project in the city suburbs.


Keith, as part of my lifetime apprenticeship, has recently turned me into his weekend assistant. I glorified my errand jobs; he still does not know such contract existed between us. While in transit from his out of town project to the city, he asked me to bring his dry seal along for us to bring to the site. The dry seal is made of solid metal thing, then lead and some more other things that make it heavier than it actually looks.


Although not quite a massive development, the new suburban mayhem is set to be one of the middle-high end developments in the city (Insert: This is the future site of Mcmansions). KA's client is one of the first owners to build the house in the area. KA's site turned out to be at the very end of the subdivision lot and we had to walk the 300 meters of the treeless, concrete avenue to get to the project area. It also turned out to be very near the body of water, almost surrounded by papyrus and woody mangrove species. At least they made the air cooler.


Keith and KA made sure that their design for this suburban residence is devoid of confused adornments. This, after all, may become the predictor of their as future designers of modern (for real!) houses.


The louver at the commercial building across the chinese restaurant is painted with red lead.


"'Should i shield this unit from the sun? Maybe only a little? Just a little bit? maybe shield just the side of the window here? and of the door there?' Christ, i hate these fake louvers."
Honestly, i didn't even know they were supposed to be louvers. I thought they were just railings to prevent people from falling over.


Confused railings, i should call them then? 

Don't be fooled by the jeepney sign. This is not in Jaro.

Say, what?

because i am such an information maniac i did this thing tonight:

i studied kengo kuma's work from the interview he gave in 1997 in the book that i've talked about here. some god at the forum i joined in would be interviewing him tomorrow. and i was sore for not having read the kuma interview thoroughly, especially after i learned the forum god needed more questions for his kuma interview, because i was not able to formulate interesting questions to throw to kuma-san.

Kuma in 1997 interview was an anti-hero. Tandao Andao was already popular then, too popular he could be the poster boy for Japanese architecture. He openly discussed his being a non-devotee of small houses architecture and branded architecture, both of which Tadao popularized--though maybe un-intentionally.

what i am beginning to love about this book is it encourages people like me, non-architects who are interested in architecture--beyond the practice of architecture, the pre-requisite of knowing the technicalities, the sciences and engineering behind putting up a building, and without any ability whatsoever in drawing. It was encouraging, what Kengo Kuma in this book said about the need for architecture to spread its wings. For it to see beyond the limits of civil and material engineering, because architecture of today no longer deals with just the enclosed spaces. Psychology, sociology and virtual spaces are starting to be one of the many components of architecture. Logically, it follows that programs should not be solely made by architects themselves. Meaning, dude, comments that i make, my opinion and thoughts that i shared in PF's studies are so legit (although not necessarily correct, ahe ahe) they matter after all!

i felt vindicated in my want to study this ever evolving field, although i'm still unsure if the RLAs i know feel the same, because usually when they talk architecture they only want to discuss the details of construction. It makes my brain bleed. I'm sorry.

what is probably more important, and where us, Filipinos can learn a lot from is that traditional, village architecture aren't amateur and unremarkable. Ultimately, it is harmonious marriage of space and its intended use (activities in the space) that prevails, not the style, not the brand of style or the state of the art materials used. It will be good if we try to view things in this perspective, sans the theatrics of exoticized nationalism (that the malls sell).

and last advice from kuma master himself: "...it is [not] necessary for architecture to beat every other field." (a lot of moonlighting CEs can also learn from this) every type of media and other fields can certainly be used to work with architectural to achieve a purpose. isn't that humbling?





(now, i move aside and pray i made a correct interpretation/analysis of the interview.)

Points of Clarification

The weather here is still crazy. It should have been hot and dry already. i've been here the past for 2 weeks and i've seen the sun for only about a couple of days. the rest were just clouds and chilly drizzle and freezing breeze--at least to me, because i have very low tolerance for cold. i was born of the tropics. i can only survive in the 24-26 degrees centigrade temperature. my insides freeze by the time it gets to 20 degrees and by 18 degrees, my brain automatically stops working.


Today, we ate lunch at the cyclone-wired-glazing cafeteria and it was cold. our steaming rice has turned to cold lunch in a few short minutes. i did not expect too much from our lunch. just usual brain dead conversations because my brain is practically close to shutting down. but it turned out magical in such a way that i became animated and my normal brain functions were restored. suddenly i felt warm. energized, in fact.


It began with a question on signatories. somebody asked on the required signatories to building a house (getting permits and all). I remember getting asked the same thing by my sister last week. it's best i explain now what i know about this.


without even thinking i said, "Architects." Pause. "And civil engineers for your structural...then plumbers and electrical engineers..."


my voice trailed as lunchmate 1 promptly cut me: "No. You don't really need architects to sign for your architectural plans. Civil Engineers can. They're allowed to do that."


(Oh excuse me while i kiss the sky...)
exactly when was it that civil engineers were endowed with the power to become architects?


"No they're not," I said. Curtly.
why would they be?


But i will confess here that i do not have an extensive knowledge of the National Building Code of the Philippines (PD 1096), the Architectural Law (RA 9266) nor the CE Law (RA 544 of 1956). I applied the very uncommon common sense to it.


"Oh yes, [they] can. It does not take much to design, we can actually do simple building designs and all."


and i thought, "Oh no you can't. You can't even draft because you're not trained for it."


Lunchmate 2, the question poser, although silent but using apparently his common sense, said: "Oh that's understandable. Partitioned responsibilities. like architects do architectural plans and interiors are done by interior designers. stuffs like that."


What came out of my mouth was: "Well architects are the ones that design so shouldn't the liberty on how the design be executed be given them?"


"But CEs can sign. They really are allowed. and what simple task is it to design, CEs can also do that."


(my eyes bulged. yes, like that: BULGED.)


"Well, all i know is that it is the CE's job to make sure that the building is safe and built in the way architects designed it. And as far as i know, in building a building, the architect has the final say to whatever stuff is to be put there. I mean, engineers are necessary because architects consult with them but at the end of the day, it is still the architect that decides the whole building design. He designed in the first place."


(ever noticed my non-gender sensitive use of the word "he" to mean architect and engineer?)


"No, really. In like big constructions, engineers head the whole project. they even get their own design team to oversee the design of the building. but it is usually the engineers that spearhead the project."


my head replied: "A design team composed of civil engineers? Just what the fuck is that?


"I saw this tv program before, in national geographic. It's a feature on Norman Foster. Norman Foster went as far as designing the hinges and the hubs and the connections of the roof --sorry i can't technically describe it--of his building. Of course he consulted the engineers along the way but really, as far as i know, architects spearhead the project along with his design team and there's usually a project management team composed of engineers, apart from the contractors, who are also engineers, who are in charge of getting the building up."


I'm not architecturally nor civil engineering-educated, and may be stupid. I only rely on books for most of my architecture education. and national geographic. and DW-TV and Charlie Rose (via Bloomberg). and pushpullbar (yeah! the best architecture and design forum in the universe!). and documentaries, if i find one. 


I can't remember what she said but i went to explain further.


"I mean, really, if civil engineers can practice the profession that is for the architects, why have architects in the first place? it would be better to have the profession of architecture abolished than make these two professions fight over a piece of paper. and if the philippine government wants to make architecture in the country competitive, she should protect her architects. it's the only way to go, really."


(i stopped there for fear of divulging personal details---that  i am married to an architect-- because that would make my statements, bias, subjective and therefore, not credible.)


I don't know why these civil engineers keep on wanting to SIGN architectural plans. Dude, you already get a lot of money being contractors (because, yeah, that's probably the only thing you're good at), why don't you leave the signing of architectural documents to these poorly paid architects? I feel that sooner or later these civil engineers would even want to declare themselves urban planners because (social) ENGINEERING is part of city planning anyway.

Talking to PF some time after lunch, after i've come upon a decision that i will not comment if discussions like these ever come my way again (because dude, it's like a total waste of my time), he said:

"...It's like a house painter claiming he can do a Picasso..." (No offense to house painters who REALLY can do a Picasso.)

But then, most of them CEs probably don't know Picasso. So i rest my case.

Useful links for the dazed and confused


(whoa! the issue is more complicated that i thought! as i read through articles and memos, i realized that this whole shebang did not only involve warring professions but a newly authored ERRONEOUS National Building Code book and possible corruption on the side of the DPWH--which issued the memo. AMAZING!)


Filipino Architect's Forum link
RA 9266 IRR link
Another site discussing the issue (Philippine Building Online Industry Forum, Oct 2009)--this one i found very useful. there's an additional comment at the same forum thread about an article at PICE's site (as of that time of posting, PICE remained stubborn and urged all building officials to stick to what former DPWH Secretary Ebdane issued--that CEs can sign Architectural Plans).
and the PRC architecture board discussing the issue (forgive the "may the lord bless us all" closing--for the religion sensitive)




DO EDUCATE ME, IF YOU HAVE BETTER THINGS TO ADD.








FIN.

metareview

because i was not feeling inspired to write a follow up on that book review and other thoughts (which you can read here) (PF came home for the weekend, i had a lunch date and some more other dates) i decided to remain lazy instead by posting a series of reviews of the book here:

"Shaking the Foundations reveals the passions hidden behind the cool, abstract exterior of the Japanese design scene. Through a series of in-depth interviews renowned architects such as Tadao Ando, Arata Isozaki, and Kazuo Shinohara speak out on issues ranging from the philosophies of Japanese Modernism to the politics of urban planning in Japanese cities. Often contradictory, but never dull, these interviews offer compelling insights into contemporary Japanese culture." (this one did not have the name of the reviewer...)


and

When the inevitable backlash comes against the cult of Koolhaas, one of the charges against him will be that his polemic about Asian architecture and urbanism is based on a shaky understanding of the countries involved. Koolhaas will no doubt be accused of creating a modern form of what Edward Said termed 'Orientalism'; that is, the tendency to impose a Western construct on Eastern cultures (Murray Fraser, November 1999). (An abstract of the longer article which can only be rad if you are a paid subscriber. Though short, this might be the best comment I've read so far because it reminds me of how Filipinos tend to view Filipino history and culture (yes, including architecture): with western eyes. I will not even begin to tell you how a licensed Filipino female architect called me un-nationalistic after saying that i do not expect Filipinos to really win in international competition. I am digressing, yes. Just because i was not all praises for Filipino works does not mean i do not like being a Filipino nor am i not nationalistic, because for one, I STAYED. HERE. I work here, in the Philippines.) (And also because when i first watched a Koolhaas interview (or documentary--was it?) about his China exploits he looked very haughty. And also because PF said he's really that. a snob.)

Third and last, the omnipresent Amazon Review:

Questioning the spirit of Japanese architecture today, this book tries to identify the mind-set and philosophy driving some of the world's foremost eastern designers. It reveals the personalities and passions behind the cool, abtract exterior of the Japanese design scene in the form of a collection of interviews. Renowned architects speak out on issues ranging from the rebirth of Japanese design after World War II to progressive technologies, while newcomers disclose the trials and tribulation of "making it" in today's competitive market. If past and present are any indication of the future, then this volume predicts that Japanese architecture will gain a stronger foothold and following in global design theory in the decades to come.

that's all folks!

Interviewing Japanese.

Husband recently bought a used book entitled Shaking the Foundations: Japanese Architects in Dialogue. It features interviews conducted in 1997 by Christopher Knabe and Joerg Rainier Noennig (editors) of 15 Japanese architects. What's interesting about this book, as my husband also mentioned to me gushing about this, is that each of these architects were made to comment on the philosophy and/or works of other architects featured in the book. Some were not intentionally asked to comment but in the course of the conversation eventually did.

Japanese are by and large, not very confrontational. When they comment, it's usually so meticulously edited of any form of negativity that if not read or heard well sometimes sounded like praises. In my experience working with a handful of them, they do not comment, especially if they have nothing better to say.

I've finished reading interview with Kisho Kurokawa, Riken Yamamoto and Kengo Kuma -- all very varied in their philosophy. I especially enjoyed Yamamoto's interview because he talked mostly about city planning, of how architecture directly affects the social structures in the community, and how the government failed . He told of how the mere widening of the street disrupted the social activities of his community, virtually erasing all of what he's known his community for. It probably was the same feeling when the flyover along General Luna was built. it created a virtual wall that created a permanent demarcation between Melly's and UP. Now, very few university students go to Melly's and Melly's has stopped being an influential shady shanty to the high school kids. The UP High are starting to miss a lot of high school now that the flyover is there.

Yamamoto discussed a little about architectural education in Japan. Yamamoto said that Japanese architecture education is engineering and not design oriented which is surprising considering that a handful of them have been well-praised for their designs.

Meanwhile, Filipino architects are now mostly in Singapore or in the middle-east, working as CAD monkeys so they can afford iphones and macbooks. That is the kind of architecture education that you get from Iloilo universities.

Apparently, Architect/Architecture is just some high-falluting title for a profession that could render one virtually penniless. And if one would really choose to become an architect, a lot of sacrifices are made. I understand PF's choice of wanting to practice his profession in the city because if i were in his shoes, i would certainly make the same decision.

as to why, i will discuss tomorrow.


UPDATE:
Somebody from pushpullbar is actually interviewing Kuma-san tomorrow (February 4)! The real interviewing Japanese. Wow, if that forum is not the best forum in the world, i don't know what is. 

Exhibit A

Keith and I attended the opening of exhibit for the National Artists for Architecture at Museo Iloilo last May 28.

I was quite excited to see the exhibit as i have been diligently digging the goldmine that is pushpullbar (pushpullbar.com) for more than a couple of months now. The thought of this exhibit set off the excite button in my head: Filipino architect hero post. In pushpullbar. Which I'll coerce Keith to do because I don't think I'll manage (meaning I lack credibility?).

I have always admired the Museo Iloilo. It is probably one of the first (and true) modern buildings in Iloilo City. The architect, I heard was a big fan of Neimeyer, and named his son Oscar. Designed to conform and use nature to its advantage its door opened to a mini amphitheater, landscaped with mini-rolling hills and mini-rinks that both board and inline skaters loved. Large canopied fire trees provided shade to the grounds and cooled the air that enters the Museo. When the firetrees bloom in summer, the Museo looks like a building on fire, postcard perfect. Few years back, that amphitheater was demolished to give way to a parking space. The landscape drastically changed following the construction of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol. During the construction of the Capitol, rumors about the Museo being on the list of structures to be demolished circulated and we could only hope the people concerned reconsidered their decisions. One firetree after another also gave way to disease and eventual deterioration, the last, fallen by a tropical storm.

The Museo still stands today though multi-colored (it used to be just white), dwarfed by the 8-storey Iloilo Capitol. It used to look so proud and inviting with the firetrees abound. The former site of the amphitheater was not as bad, good thing they planted trees but it could be better.

Urbanists would have loved the Museo grounds since it was not gated and it was blanketed in grass. Open-air concerts used to be held there sans the very cumbersome set up of monobloc chairs, now a pre-requisite in the concrete Capitol parking lot. There's a new but very inferior stage (also in a rather awkward orientation) to replace the old amphitheater. I have never attended any concert there for more than 5 years now.

The exhibit opened late but it is not something I don't expect. After all, it is a tradition, if not an SOP, for dignitaries and special guests to arrive late. The program was however, forced to start when it started to drizzle.

I imagined the exhibit to be like browsing through the Architecture Travel forum in pushpullbar where you learn about architecture/buildings textbook-wise and, at the same time, get the feel of it from the point of view of the poster. The pushpullbar forum requires all posters to provide background about the building/architecture featured so readers won't be lost as to what is being featured in the post. Some posters would quote a page off wikipedia (properly acknowledged of course) but because people from this site are so good, they would, more often than not, add a trivia or two, a stock knowledge here and there and the background information becomes a very interesting read. Posters are also required to provide other details such as the address, opening hours, contact details, a KMZ file of the building (and if the poster isn't able to do so, pushpullbar has its own "specialist" to do that, how convenient!). The most interesting chapters in the posts are the photos. They don't even need to be Architectural Digest material type of photos. Posters here make it a point that the photo documentation would be close, if not equivalent, to their own personal experience while visiting the building. Alongside the photos which the poster took, s/he would oftentimes discuss his/her own impression of the architecture and compare what the books said and what his own senses now tell him, standing in front of this...thing. Reading through the posts is like being inside a gallery.

I'm not saying that this should be done by everyone who wants to document a building but believe me, reading about architects being chased by bouncer type security is enough to debunk the black-turtle-neck-le-corbusier-glasses-wearing-scholarly-looking myth on architects. And these things, these pieces of trivia (but not trivial information), these field notes, made the building more "human" to me, a non-architect. And I suppose this is what the exhibit wanted to do, also. Only that it failed.

What made it fail, really? Well, let us see.

First is that we didn't get to see architecture travel type of posts. But I should be entirely blamed for that – for the very high expectations. What we found were blown-up pages from what seemed to be an annual report/national artists brochure: black and white posters with low-res photographs of an angle/corner of the building, watermarked with things I can't recall.

Second, some printed posters were described using the same captions. Yes, poster #1 or Featured Architect A had the same caption as the three other succeeding posters and this to me made it a total FAIL. Imagine a Davies brochure given out during product presentation. That's how the whole thing looked to me.

I am disappointed by the exhibit. I don't think the exhibit was inspiring enough to make architecture enthusiasts want to grab a book and read about the architects featured in the exhibit. Most of them would probably forget about it the moment they step out of the museum and I don't think that is a good sign. After all, they have had their pictures taken beside those posters, in the very small museum gallery that for a good minute or so suddenly turned into one humid photo studio.

I cringed.

It doesn't really make me wonder now why so many people think the houses in Savannah are good architecture. But you architects should. You should.