2014 National Architectural Thesis Competition - Entry No. 13

The concept of governance is not new and has already been practiced since the inception of the human civilization. The term governance simply means the processes for making and implementing decisions. Good governance does not necessarily mean making the correct decisions, but about how one can make these
decisions through the best possible process.

Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. One of the easily identified agents of governance is the government. The government defines our society in the same manner that architecture shapes the society through the design of the built environment. As this research paper is not a public administration thesis but an architectural, the proponent will focus on the architectural strategies in attaining the city’s vision.

City government complexes and city governance are correlated in a way that the design and planning of complex relatively affects the goverment’s efficiency. The degree of conduciveness of the workplace is very important on the proficiency of work the users produce. If not designed to be responsive on the needs of its users, the quality of service of the city government will be deficient which will result to poor governance, thus failing to attain its purpose.

Being one of the highly urbanized cities located in south-eastern portion of Metro Manila,Taguig city is already among the top cities of the Philippines. The city aims to be a world class city. The city’s vision is

to become one of the premiere cities in Asia over the next quarter-century. It aims to focus on international businesses, offer superior residential environment and become a national recreational attraction. Withpolitical will and cooperation of the citizens, the proponent believes that the city’s vision

could be achieved.

Taguig City’s remarkable growth and continuing progress shows that their vision to become the Philippine’s Premier City in the year 2020 is not far from reality. Midst the advancement of the city, the need for the government to step forward arises  to serve the current needs of their people. This project aims to provide Taguigeños a design of a city government complex that will strengthen the bond between the  community and the government as well as enhance the efficiency of city government related activities and civic facilities which in turn would result to good governance.

The design is guided by this philosophy:  “Unity can be achieved by giving importance to the domain as a whole and the interdependence of its parts”. By design translation, this philosophy means that by uniting the government offices and connecting the lowest to highest sectors of the government to the community , unity could be attained. And in this case, the proponent’s concept is centralization,a strategy to unify community and government sectors such as the sports and recreation, education, health, recreation and law enforcement sectors by assembling into one place thus making the community and government interactive and cooperative with one another.

The concept implies the importance of the complex as a whole and the interdependence of its parts. Like the one-stop-shop concept, it offers user’s needs in one place, which in this case is thatmost of the government offices could be found in the complex. Along with centralization, the government complex will also incorporate Electronic Government (e-Government) System where in information and communications technology (ICT) and other web-based technologies is usedto enhance access of information and improve delivery, efficiency and effectiveness ofservice to the public. An ICT-enabled government allows the citizens to easily access information and services anytime and anywhere as well as creates transparency and accountability in government operations. E-Government also enables anyone visiting a city website to communicate and interact with city employees via the Internet with graphical user interfaces (GUI), instant-messaging (IM), audio/video presentations, and in any way more sophisticated than a simple email letter to the address providedat the site” and “the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and employees”.

The Taguig City Hall had gone through series of facelifts for the improvement of their service and even had several revisions in order to attain the needs of the users. But as the proponent researched and observed, the government of Taguig can still improve through the use of the strategies mentioned above. Also by the results of the survey conducted which showed 86% of the sample are computer literate, centralization of the government through the use of e-government system is possible to be realized. Other possible solution includes the allocation of more space for other activities such as areas for sports, wellness, education, socialization, recreation and environmental awareness, rescue and evacuation center, and center for development (for livelihood programs), thus making the complex a holistic central for community activities.

 

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2014 National Architectural Thesis Competition - Entry No. 08

The Municipality of San Jose is in need for improvement and development of existing ecotourism complex. The City Scape Adventures project will provide social and cultural interactions between the indigenous and foreign creating a learning bridge for the guest of the culture of the local community via interactive servicing and activities.Designing and planning a sustainable community studies all aspect of development to social, economics, infrastructure, and the environment. These vital parts of the community are interconnected to each other and this has major impact in the overall development. Comprehensive planning shall be applied into every aspect the community.

This proposal will boost the economy of the province of Tarlac and it will also seek more investments. Thus, this will generate more job opportunities. This proposal in reality will create also major changes not only in the physical development of the entire community, but also in terms of financial aspect. This will make the city and the whole province in the future a progressive community.

The project site is situated in San Jose, San Jose ecotourism is located thirty-four (34) kilometres away from the city of Tarlac. And make a design for shuttle parking near in the city to easy to transport to the place especially for commuters, in coordinators of government in the city. It is a confirmed tourism site by the DOT; it is the undeveloped existing tourist attraction with existing landscape.

The following criteria for the site selection on evaluating and making a good study for the proposed project entitled City Scape Adventures, good ambiance for nature’s lover, away from the noise pollution of the city, tropical condition, climate and temperature, away from residential area and Good Mountain’s view.

The flow of the site development starts with its one way entrance and easy to drop off to the first building which is the admin building, and continuous to the parking which is one way driveway to avoid traffic flow going to exit, and having a service road going to maintenance building which catering different events, and have a separate parking area. And maintenance building and laundry building as seen in service area. Near in the entrance way the toilet building is located, it is because we considered toilet is a first place we go to make our hygiene, it is near in camping area. Next with the land adventure shop it is located also near in the entrance way to easily tour around in the place if you rent a bike. And souvenir shop located in the center part of the place for its easy access to the tourist. And the restaurant and grill located also in the center part and higher part of the place to see the beauty of nature. And the food served is all Filipino cuisine to introduced the “PanlasangPinoy” and for the different race living here in the Philippines for the time comes when the ecotourism well known it is possible to design another restaurant for its future demand, and for the outdoor activities we have zip lining people nowadays like adventurous things to do,near in the zipline we have tree top adventures consist of rope course for senior, adult, wooden bridge, tarzan net,  arm challenge, black circuit, balck circuits tarzan, blue circuit family, blue circuit, elephant steps, fox hole, kid flying fox, monkey rope, red circuit, climbing net, tibetian red circuit,tarzanjump,black circuit tarzan jump,eco youngster this course was the “little” kid 4-10 yrs old, it was off the ground but not as much as bigger one. This was good for the younger kids that wanted to give it a tryzip lining and bicycle zip lining. And the cottage at the same time view decks where tourists can see the central plains of Tarlac and its neighboring provinces, and the mountains that border Tarlac, Pangasinan, Pampanga and Zambales. And do hiking/trekking to get to the water adventures like kayaking, horseback riding, bird watching,butterfly allures also designing a  villas for the safety of the tourist come arrived late in the place, to make them stayed. walk around to the place to see how beauty the nature is and amazed with the different beauty of scenery and different buildings in the place (CITY SCAPE ADVENTURES).

 

This proposed project used natural and renewable material resources, like bamboo as wall panelling, when it comes to strength and durability bamboo has a heartier than oak and stronger than steel.And when it comes to its affordability bamboo is easily grown and harvested, making it one of the most cost effective construction materials available. Also easy to installed.And with the combination of reinforced concrete as a structural of the buildings.For the roofing materials this project used thatch, for its natural cooling. And it is easy to installcombined with the steel as structural components. And for the innovative materials used in this project proposal is automatic vent opener, with the help of solar panel, easy to install,no batteries or electricity required, same with the solatube for natural lighting of the building to lessen the electicity used. Andas we know in designing ecopark is environmentally sensitive road maintenance practices for dirt & gravel roads and it encounters flooding, muddy etc. but using underdrains helps to avoid this problems, with its advantage of separating subsurface water from road runoff to be rainwater harvesting. And it is inexpensive and easily installed.

All investments on the project will return on approximately (6) five years.

 

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2014 National Architectural Thesis Competition - Entry No. 01

The Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion Church also known as “Santa Maria Asunta Church”, “Shrine of Asuncion de Santa Maria” and” Santa Maria Church”, is one of the four baroque churches inscribed in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List in 1993 located on a top of a freestanding hill surrounded by a stone retaining wall which gives it a citadel appearance at Poblacion Sur, Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, north of Manila, Philippines. The World Heritage inscription described the church as follows: “Unlike other town churches in the Philippines, which conform to the Spanish tradition of siting them on the central plaza, the Church of Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion in Santa Maria with its convento are on a hill surrounded by a defensive wall. Also unusual are the siting of the convento parallel to the facade of the church and that of the separate bell tower (characteristic of Philippine-Hispanic architecture) at the midpoint of the nave wall. This was dictated by the hill on which it is located. The brick church follows the standard Philippine layout, with a monumental facade masking a straight roof-line covering a long rectangular building. It is alleged to be built on a solid raft as a precaution against earthquake damage. The walls are devoid of ornament but have delicately carved side entrances and strong buttresses.” (whc.unesco.org)

This baroque church was inscribed as a World Heritage Site on the basis of:

Criterion (ii): The group of churches established a style of building and design that was adapted to the physical conditions in the Philippines which had an important influence on later church architecture in the region.

Criterion (iv): The Baroque Churches of the Philippines represent the fusion of European church design and construction using local materials and decorative motifs to form a new church-building tradition.

The church has been declared as a national historical landmark in the Philippines by virtue of the provisions of the Presidential Decree No. 260, dated August 1, 1973, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 375, dated January 14, 1974 and Presidential Decree No. 1515, dated June 11, 1978.

The massive octagonal tower of decreasing diameter is crowned by a small dome and detached from the church proper. It is situated about midpoint of the lateral view of the whole church which makes it unique from the traditional church-tower arrangement in the region that is aligned with the church façade or forward of it like in the other churches in the region. The tower was constructed in 1810 by Fr. Jose Cardaño. Its bells arrived in 1811. 

In 1819, the church was initially constructed but left unfinished during the time of its parish priest Fr. Jose Cardaño. The work resumed in 1857 and lasted till 1880 during the time of its parish priest Fr. Benigno Fernandez. The Santa Maria Church has three stone stairways that were constructed during the time of parish priest Fr. Lorenzo Rodriguez. Two stairways were constructed in the western side. The main stairway consisting of 85 steps was divided into four flights that lead to the church-convento complex comfortably. The stairway’s first and second flight have 20 steps each, 22 steps on third and 21 steps on the fourth flight. Two steps were added to complete 85. A 54 steps stairway was erected in the western side. On the eastern side, a 73 steps stairway was also constructed. One can view an old cemetery with neglected century old chapel. During the time of parish priest Fr. Lorenzo Rodriguez, an 8-meter retaining wall surrounding the hill where the church, convent and tower were situated was constructed on 1859. In 1863, the church was remodeled. The construction lasted on 1871. The convent was constructed on 1880. In 1889, Fr. Juan Zallo finished the church construction.

The church–convent-atrium complex became a center of religious missionary activities in the area. The hugeness of the convent and church could explain it. The church has two side altars inside the church. The church measures 81 meters from front door to the back of the altar and 16 meters on its interior width. The church was built of brick. It has a monumental façade. It shows solidity in construction. The simplicity of its geometric forms, and its location, makes this an outstanding example of Peripheral Baroque architecture. The thick side buttresses are devoid with ornamentation, but have delicately carved side entrances which on both longitudinal side of the structure. The buttresses served as structural reinforcement for earthquake protection. A stucco of heart with a hat and tassels, an Augustinian symbol was placed at the entrance of the convent. The convent is situated in front of the church.

It is important to safeguard and restore the Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion Church because it established a style of building and design that was adapted to the physical conditions in the Philippines which had an important influence on later church architecture in the region and represent the fusion of European church design and construction using local materials and decorative motifs to form a new church-building tradition.

The Shrine of Asuncion de Sta. Maria (Sta. Maria Church) is one of the pilgrimage sites in Ilocos Sur.

At present, though the structures continue to draw attraction from tourists, local and foreign, they are already deteriorating. Its restoration will bring about increased social awareness of the structures’ historical value and likewise promote tourism in the locality.

The project deals on the documentation, restoration and introducing compatible developments to the Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion church-convento-atrium complex. The researcher intends to provide electronic recording of the most original plan of the church, convent and bell tower, restore the missing elements of the church, and introduce developments to improve the church-convento-atrium complex to respond to the anticipated needs of local and international cultural tourists and the people of the town. Moreover, it would be an instrument for further development of the locality, by promoting the Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion Church as a National Historical Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The proponent of the project is the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia through the Our Lady of the Assumption Parish represented by Rev. Fr. Jerry Avisa, the Parish Priest. The lot is owned by Roman Catholic Bishop of Nueva Segovia.

The Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion Church lot (Lot 1, Plan II-2100 A) located on top of a hill at Brgy. Poblacion Sur, Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur contains an area of 34,990 square meters. The lot has an irregular shape. The Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion Church is approximately 39 kilometers away from Vigan City and 366 kilometers away from Manila.

The project provides a comprehensive documentation of the church and convent so that in case the church-convento complex collapses or is destroyed due to a man-made or natural calamity, it can be conserved (restored, rehabilitated, and reconstructed) based from its proper documentation. Furthermore, it can retain its recognition as a World Heritage Site and National Historical Landmark.

It is assumed that if the deteriorated portions of the church structures are restored, its significance, integrity and authenticity are preserved, and compatible developments are introduced, then, there will be a very significant increase of tourist arrivals which will help uplift the economic status of the town. There will be compatible physical developments that are introduced for making the church-convento-atrium complex responsive to the demands of today’s tourists and of the present times such as candle offering area, souvenir shops, snack bar, ossuary and Stations of the Cross statues. Energy efficient church is also assumed by placing solar panels on the top of church buttresses for solar energy in place of conventional electricity source and using Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps.

The restoration of the Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion church, convent, belfry, stair, and retaining walls used environment-friendly materials such as bricks, woods and stone which are locally available in the locality and neighboring towns.

The restoration of the Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion Church National Historical Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage is a potential landmark to uplift the economic status of the municipality as well as the province.

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