Architecture

All this time, I was oblivious to the fact that Architecture plays several roles in our life. I always thought that structures like buildings are constructed for the own benefit of the capitalist not until we had our activity in ARTAPRE. We were tasked to build a futuristic mall using limited resources. Our professor gave us only a spread of Manila paper, scissors, marker, tape and illustration board. Honestly, we were complaisant at first because sketching a futuristic mall is not that hard, we just have to work our imagination. But there was somewhat a catch; we had to create a 3D diagram of the mall! I said to myself , how can we create a 3D diagram with just limited resources and time? After a few minutes, I had a fantastic idea. Since we live in a tropical country, why not create a mall that would make the Filipino people experience the 4 seasons (winter, spring, summer and fall)? Eventually we were able to make a 3D diagram of a mall with this concept using limited resources. But the story doesn’t stop there. We had to take into account the lifestyle of the people, the economy and what we want the Filipinos to feel whenever they go to “our” mall. Since it is a futuristic mall, we assumed that by that time the Philippines is already a first world country. I feel that that there is nothing wrong in hoping for the best that is why we made this assumption. Also, instead of going to other countries just to experience the coldness of the snow, we created a place wherein Filipinos would feel that they are in another country. This mall that we envisioned would also benefit those who don’t have enough resources to travel out of the country.

After having a discussion based on our output, it was revealed that Architecture is a big part of our life. It reflects the people’s lifestyle, cultural heritage, economy, values, wants & needs and many more. Therefore, we can say that Architecture is holistic Art.

Our group’s creation of the futuristic mall reflects the needs and wants of the Filipino people.

Living in a 3^rd world country is sometimes a frustration to most of us. We have so many want that we could not get because of our condition. Like for instance, we only get to experience summer or rainy season. Unlike in Dubai, a desert country, they built a place called Ski Dubai that has artificial snow to keep up with the people’s want. It is sad for us because we have don’t have resources to build like the one they have.