Neo - Classic Architecture(Hong Kong) Almost two weeks ago, our ever hard-working president Arch. Willie Chua encouraged me to write an article for the president’s newsletter. Upon my inquiry on what ten tips would this be about, he said it would be about anything. Anything? Yes, anything I wanted to write about. Architecture, I would suppose. I, naturally got excited as it is not everyday that you get to write about ten tips on anything about architecture.

I am now at the Airport Express train of the Hong Kong International Airport, tapping away on my laptop. I just arrived from Manila. My deadline for this article, you see, was last night. And in the event that I bump into Willie at down town Hong Kong, I would have at least something to give him. I heard he was on this side of town this long week end too.

Ten tips. Let’s see. It’s quite difficult to narrow down on something when you are given a direction as wide as the Amazon River, but I will try just the same.

Let me now talk to you about my ten tips to becoming a successful, therefor, happy architect. Architecture is a craft driven by virtues and gifts, I believe – positives ones. Success can be predicted just by looking at the virtues and gifts held by that individual. I teach at an architecture school and this are what I always drone to my poor students who don’t seem to get enough of my nuggets of wisdom.

There is truly no point in being an architect if you don’t have the gift of talent. There are various kinds, some common, some as elusive as the project of that next architect that you have been dying to have. Let me give you five.

First. Design. This is the talent that all of us architects are presumed to must have. In scholarly terms, design is the process or activity undertaken to provide organizational solutions to a particular generated problem. Good design, we’ll all find out, is that one right solution that the particular problem is looking for. This law is universal from the tiniest micro-chip to the biggest political government. A successful career in architecture is largely hinged on this talent to organize. It is what we are primarily expected to do, and do good.

Second. Style. Style is the soul of design. Organization, or the intentional lack of it, acquires the flair, the drama and the enigma through style. Style needs to be embedded in intelligence and thought. It is not random and empty. It is not, God forbid, by whim nor by chance. Style is what made Falling Waters memorable and the Guggenhiem at Bilbao atrociously famous. It is what told Frank Lloyd Wright to precariously extend his cantilevers to dangerous lengths when other cowardly no-name architects would otherwise not.

Where does style come from? It is innate. It is the product of the conspiracy of events that contributed to what is now called your life. Many of us have this sad misconception that style is learned. You either have it or you don’t. The fortunate part is, you’ll immediately know if you don’t. The unfortunate part is, when you find out you don’t, you can’t learn it.

Third. Communication. Architecture is a language. The conveyance of the two former talents to your clients rely on your talent to communicate. Successful architects know when to talk and when to talk some more. Don’t just wither and wilt in one corner when you are asked to engage and to share. A brilliant idea only acquires its brilliance when it is judged by others to be so. As they say, if a tree fell in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did it actually make any sound?

Fourth. Business savviness. Read: savvy, not hungry. Architecture is not the business of making money. Architecture is the business of transforming people’s lives through your art. The universe will reward you with wealth if you deserve it, architecture or not. If you find yourself in architecture with the agenda of abundance, you do not belong in this industry. Be a trader, a merchant, or a politician even. But by God, if you pepper the landscape with ugly and stupid creations on your way to the bank, then shame on you.

Savviness is enlightened and stylish shrewdness. You know what is just enough and just right, both for you and your clients. You need this talent to put your practise in a sustainable position so you can propagate the vocation of architecture. Business savviness means you know that perfection comes before profit. It also means knowing when to stop being a doormat.

Lor Calma demonstrated it perfectly when he recounted how he instantly sold his own house to an eager client who was ready to buy it. He was still living in it and it was not for sale! But, the artistic value of the house was just so much that it practically screams “Buy me!”. It promoted how good he is as an architect, and it gave him the opportunity to create another master piece for himself. Along the way, he earned money from something that wasn’t meant to do so.

Fifth. Leadership. I have not met any successful person who is not a leader. It is a prime requirement. Leadership is a talent that will inspire your apprentices to perfection. It is what will drive you to make decisions in spite and despite. Architects are commissioned by clients to provide not only form to their dream, but direction to their aspirations. The absence of leadership will result in the demise of a firm or an organization. It will also result in the loss of clients and projects. Ultimately, opportunities will go the way of others and avoid your direction because you are unreliable. Leadership begets trust, and trust begets opportunities. When you see that opportunity come your way, grab it and lead.

Virtues form the next five tips. Virtues are personal characteristics that end in the goodness of that person and everyone around him. Architects, I feel, need certain virtues that, if complied, will certainly lead to a successful architectural career.

Sixth. Vision. How would one know where to start if he doesn’t know where he wants to go? Have a dream, and continue dreaming. Your dream is what will fuel your desire to succeed. Your dream is what will fuel your courage to say yes, when everyone says no. Your vision will wrap around your practise, your staff, your colleagues like a mantle that will hold it together. Everyone will look to it as their own and concert their energies to go where that vision leads them.

You remember that lonely, middle aged CAD encoder at the office who always grumble on how unfair life is? He is sorry, bent and tired. He never had a dream. He thought he did, but he never really did. Had he a vision, he would not have settled for a job that will make him stare at the monitor for ten years straight.

Vision should creep into the architect’s design in the same way it soaks everyone that works with and around him. Francisco Manosa had a clear vision of what Philippine Architecture should be. Talk to him once and his over zealousness will infect you. We may not completely agree on everything that he says. I certainly don’t. But, we like a man with a dream, a winner. We rally behind him in his cause of promoting our architecture. We hoisted him on this place of reverence precisely because of his vision.

Seventh. Innovation. “Innovation is the whim of an elite before it becomes a need of the public.” said the Austrian philosopher Ludwig von Mises. Needless to say, Architecture is an elite profession where few are called, and even fewer are chosen. By this virtue alone, you have the responsibility to contribute to the growth of your culture and society. Growth will not happen without innovation. Innovation is simply a new and better way of doing something. As architects, we trail blaze on innovation. We do it first, as the rest of the world watches. When we innovate, we are not settled on how things were done before. We hunger for how things could be done better, faster and cheaper. Relics who thrive on the doctrine of “This is how things are done here, so let’s just do that…” wallow in the safety of their universe. That universe, however, is stale and bland. I suspect, it is also musty and crumbling.

A perfect example of an architect who refuses to innovate are those types who are stuck up with reinforced concrete. Nothing in this planet will convince them that there is any better material. It is already the twenty first century and still, their buildings proudly show off this 80s look. When pressed to innovate and try on new materials and methods, he passes of an excuse that it is too expensive, too complicated and too inaccessible. The fact of the matter is, he is just too lazy to immerse himself into something new. Innovating will hoist him out of his comfort zone made of the same reinforced concrete where he has the formulas, the details and the suppliers ready at his beck and call. Now this very same lazy architect has the loudest voice in protest against clients who award their projects to foreign consultants. It can be a twisted world.

When innovation happens, fresh ideas are born and cultivated. Where we would cower in the safety of our conventional methods, we now bravely explore new materials, and newer ways of using old materials. Frank Gehry’s buildings would not have been possible without his innovation on the use of titanium as a cladding material. Neither would he have been successful if he insisted on using reinforced concrete.

Eighth. Excellence. Filipinos are deep in this muck called the “Pwede Na Yan” syndrome. We have never gotten out of it. This conveniently follows one’s apathy for innovation. When you are lazy to innovate, you would naturally convince yourself to settle for less. When you are too tired to walk the extra mile because it would mean a slight cut in your profit margin, you throw away excellence out the window. As an architect, you need this culture of excellence. Excellence is what brought fame and fortune to Manny Pacquiao. His discipline for excellence is legendary. Never mind his misguided ambition to enter politics. Never mind that his silly mother offends us with her atrocious accent and outfits. He is Filipino excellence personified. No Filipino architect has reached even a quarter of Pacquiao’s fame and recognition. Try removing “pwede na yan” from your vocabulary. It will do wonders for your practise.

Ninth. Foresight. Architects are basically planners of the lives of their clients. We anticipate and dictate through our architecture where and how they will behave in a particular situation in space. Given this, we need an extraordinary amount of foresight. Foresight is the ability to see events forward. Having it enables one to anticipate provisions to address possible aberrations to these events.

We, for instance, should have the foresight to understand that painting a building situated along EDSA paper white will mean the owner calling you up after six months. He will surely demand for an explanation why he woke up one day with a deep grey facade. On a smaller scale, having the foresight to advise your client thirty minutes early that you will be late will give him a chance to adjust his time and not wait for you. This is way better instead of appearing to your irate client thirty minutes delayed with no advice at all because you were just such a sissy to call earlier. Big things and small things, size don’t matter.

Tenth. There is no tenth. You fill this up as mortal participants in your own destiny as a co-creator of the universe. I have my own tenth, but of course, I won’t tell you. It’s what sets me apart from all of you. Your tenth will set you apart from all of us. When we’re all winners of the Pritzker, let’s share our tenth. It should be fun.

enggfrontWhile doing my annual house cleaning, (no, mother, I do clean my apartment MORE than once a year) I chanced upon this printed document which, upon examination, flooded my mind with visions of Melchor Hall on a rainy afternoon. In 1994, during my pre-thesis year, Prof. Dytoc (I now just call him Bronne, his first name) held an esquisse for our class. An esquisse is, strictly speaking, the French translation for “sketch” or “outline”; but in Architecture university, it is loosely used to describe an exam, drawn or written. This was for a design class where after asking us to read piles and piles of fatally boring readings, he made us write a “pre-manifesto” of what we think Architecture is and should be. This is in preparation for our final “Manifesto of Architecture” that we are supposed to make before graduation. The following was what my 20 year old mind could muster. I enclose in parentheses Bronne’s notational comments for you to get a judgement of how this great man thinks. I got 1.35. Not bad.

 

The reason for Architecture is this: That when man sees the need to live, he rationalizes the massive factories, supermarkets, restaurants and hospitals. When he began to see the need for protection, he rationalizes houses, palaces, fortresses and towering condominiums; after which he transcends to see the need to belong and to be loved, he justifies his sprawling parks, magnificent cathedrals, and humongous megamalls and convention halls. That when a man sees the need to be respected – by himself and by others, he shall justify his universities, his mile high offices, imposing Eiffel Towers and his Pompidous. And when man sees the interwoven nature of these needs, he takes a closer look and rationalizes the chairs and tables, the columns, windows and walls, the rebars, trusses and cables, the pipes, vents and wires and all the jungle that make whole his structure. These are all artifacts to perform a function or satisfy a need.

The more important part of it comes when man must find a way to express this function to become that one final artifact or creation. Architecture, therefore, is there for man for him to express all these diverse functions in a manner which shall satisfy that highest level of needs which is self actualization and fulfillment. (Maslow’s 7 Levels Pyramid, no?) Expression – I mean not only the satisfaction of the ladder of needs, but more importantly, the imparting of a small aspect of one’s self to that solution to satisfy the need. That part of one’s self should contain everything that is creative and innovative, history and heritage; everything that shall put forth a world forward, and if need be, everything that is shocking.

Technology is the function that attempts to free man from the said needs. Architecture rises to be the expression of this technology. If one will probe deeper though, one will find that Architecture can also be that technology that seeks to satisfy the need, and in fact – it is. Architecture, being both an art and a science should perform as such. But let me go further than dictionaries and worn out old-school thinking for the sake of my own school of thought which presupposes my being an architect; and more – to answer the question: “Why (functional) Architecture?”, which I did above.

Maslow defined the last of the needs as the highest in its order. Self actualization. That when man sees the need for self fulfillment, he ends rationalizing and starts questioning – the reason for all that he rationalized. This is the moment for seeking and searching the ultimate reason. This, I believe, Western Architecture has reached, (don’t believe it) for they can spare time for arguments on what lies beyond the identity of the column and the wall and other nitty gritties that Filipino architects would, for the life of them, can never, ever conceive in their minds. What we talk about are the superficial and skin deep topics on how to keep foreign architects out, when we are virtually inviting them in, and all that stuff.

Philippine Architecture, or the practice of it, unfortunately, hasn’t reached the self actualization stage. We are still lost between the needs for safety and belongingness. Our economy makes this. As Alan Colquhoun says in his essays:

“…society needs an Architecture which expresses its ideals and which provides for human spirit, [but] there is a danger that its economic mechanisms may make such an Architecture impossible.” (HOW DAMN TRUE)

I cannot contain myself to express my horror over the creations of the Yu Brothers(don’t blame them, they don’t have [the] benefit of our readings and slides) that clearly shout the defeat of art and expression over economics. What they created is “sterile functionalism”. Man, in his duty as an architect, should posses the skill to see space problems not only under the light of day but most especially under the “scrutinizing beam of a flash light in the dead of night.” In his capacity as creator, he should create ideas, ways and artifacts to satisfy the problem to the most creative and “economical” end. Being a technician, man should apply or even create the best technology needed to realize the solution. He therefore, should not be allowed to confine himself within his own professions, but must live in full view of the entire scene of life.” I don’t want to be too critical about any architecture but I believe that form should never be made to follow function but rather, both be made to walk astride each other. (Agreed!)

To end, the reader might construe that the idea that I presented here does not pose anything new – to European and American thinking – yes, but in the context of Philippine Architecture practice, I think it says a lot. (OK!)

 

I pretty much still think in similar lines now, albeit, write more informally, and think more intensely. I swear I nearly nose-bled from the seriousness of what I wrote fourteen years ago. It makes me smile too, while bleeding. I won’t apologize to the Yu brothers. These were comments for back then. They are one of the pillars of the local design industry now. They just happen to be from the Mapua, an equally rabid and vicious rival of our Architecture school. 

 

  I found myself driving at past midnight through the SCTex with friends Ianne Borillo and Nicky Sering, listening to mono-aural versions of Sting. Nicky’s iPod, we discovered only dispensed mono sound, which actually ate him up for a few minutes. The trip through the plains of Pampanga was almost like cruising through the German autobahn.  After the opening of the newest freeway from Pampanga to Zambales, travel time to Subic from Alabang was cut in half- no, make that a third, after we decided to run at 130 kilometers an hour. Destination was the Lighthouse Marina Resort Hotel. Ianne managed to drag me into this crazy idea of driving to Subic on the fly on the promise that I could do my work there. There is lightning speed wifi internet, she claimed. We went on the invitation of Zed Avecilla, who did promise us fast internet, and more.

 

The  shipping clan of the Avecillas found inspiration in sailing for their latest business venture. The family, after all, is a lot of self-made businessmen-sailors. As you may have already smartly inferred, the family decided to use the lighthouse as their reference icon for the hotel. The Lighthouse was established about four years ago to provide transient residence to executives of business locators of the Subic free port zone; and for tourists who frequent the port more for its sailing and eco-tourism than its business. Zed Avecilla, current Marketing Manager and default head honcho of the hotel admits that their market profile slowly included young and mobile business people who needed a break from Manila, but yet needed to still remain in touch with the office, albeit, physically insulated from the stress. And it is on this premise that I went there – to work. But, knowing Ianne and Nicky, I had strong doubts it would happen.

 

Well, I did my assignment bit and found out that one of the original Seven Wonders of the World was a lighthouse, the Alexandrian Lighthouse in Egypt. Having meant to assist mariners through the port of the still existing ancient city of Alexandria, it stood as the tallest man-made structure on the planet for nearly 1,200 years. You won’t find it standing anymore, though. All that remains are the slab foundations resembling more like rubble than building. Although Zed’s Lighthouse may yet be classified as heritage in a few hundred years, it did rise to prominence in the Subic area as the most photographed landmark in the port. So popular it became as a photo-op site, I could’ve very well be likened it to Rockport’s Motif No. 1. 

 

We arrived at 1:30AM and slept through most part of the morning. Sleeping in the best room in the house was not at all a bad, bad idea so I indulged myself and slept in. 

 

Architecturally, the building has quite a stunning composition against the severe grey sand and dark green mountain silhouette background. Done in almost austere Italianate architecture, the hotel main building provided a perfect compliment to the 20 meter light tower done in surprising detail very faithful to naval architecture specifications. The elegantly simplistic hotel façade betrays the edgy Asian Modern interiors which truly reflect Hong Kong and Shanghai high interior design sensibilities. The designer, I gathered, hailed his professional credentials from the two cities.

 

Done in a field of beige and bi-polar accents of deep reddish brown oil stain and acquamarine rear coated glass, the Grand Lobby welcomes guests with an ensemble of Citterio inspired cubic lounge furniture. An interesting play of contrasting volumes progress as you proceed to The Sands, the hotel’s restaurant. More generous applications of acquamarine accents, but this time, against a stark white field provide this fresh and bright feel. This is only punctuated by dark wooden chairs in local fabric covering. This cold–warm dichotomy of materials promote this inviting ambiance yet cold enough to “leave you alone” to do your own business. The snob factor is strong but does provide a good balance to the warm service given by the waiting staff. They seem to magically know what I would want next.

 

The designer smartly placed this huge high table, almost four meters long and a third as wide, right at the side of the restaurant. Done in crystal white granite, this “special” counter serves as the conference table of the Avecilla’s whenever they hold breakfast or lunch meetings. This table too, I claimed for myself for the next three days as my personal executive desk. So Ianne was not lying after all when she said I could do a ton of work. I did tap away on my Mac when I slowly noticed Ianne and Nicky claiming the other half of the special table for themselves to work on their respective errands. With fast wireless internet indeed, and over flowing food courtesy of Zed, I managed to forget the hours run by and finished twice the amount of work I wouldn’t have normally done so if I were in Manila.

 

And the food – Zed brags about their barbecued ribs. I don’t know about him, but I surely would not let a chance pass by for another bowl of Clam Chowder and their huge plate of Pockets of Mahi-Mahi. I’ve tasted chowder in Boston, which they say is the best, but I will swear on this one this time. I will let the crab fat cream sauce that smothers the Mahi-Mahi and risotto speak for themselves when you get to try it. Remember to top this meal with a towering Frozen Margarita, which the restaurant is originally known for. Chef Booj Supe did a rather fine job at the kitchen with these.

 

The suites, which they call Aqua, are more warmly appointed with generous work table space, strong wifi signal, a 42 inch LCD television and a super king sized bed; all a traveling businessman would ever need. The piece de resistance, though, would be the glass walled bath with a freestanding tub, reminiscent of old world bathrooms were muses ladle you with milk for hours on end as you gorge on over grown grapes. Minus the muses, milk and the grapes, the amenity still surely whips the imagination up to whoever uses – or watches it. But do ask Zed if milk and grapes can go with it. The muses, I suspect are totally a different story.

 

The lighthouse tower itself holds the 720 Bar, where a bar counter by the shape of a ship’s bow cuts across the floor conveniently to serve around 15 patrons at the same time. Doors all around open up to a stunning view of the harbor. On the opposite side of the bar is the pool and deck where you are afforded a majestic view of the lighthouse tower. It’s the best place to watch it through the sunset.


Zed informs me that apart from their existing facilities, new additions will be introduced like a day spa and gym. Currently, the hotel has a 100 seat Ballroom, perfect for out-of-town seminars and team building holidays. They also have a full service Business Center and a 20 seat Board Room to compliment the Ballroom.

 

After  working myself dry, feeding myself silly and partying myself hoarse; the three days went by quickly. The drive back to Alabang was as fast but not as fun. When you know you’ll be three hours away from the best Mahi-Mahi in the island, it really wouldn’t be. I did tell Nicky to get himself a new iPod.

“UP made you in such a way that when the world is sitting, you would be standing; when the world is standing, you would stand out; and when the world stands out, you would be outstanding; and when the world tries to be outstanding, you would be the standard.”up-oblation

I don’t know from whom this quotation came from but it’s one of those circulating around UP campuses to boost our collective pride and ego. For sure, it would also be one of those drilled into the heads of freshmen during their honeymoon semesters, sort of brain washing them that only it would be UP and the rest would be chopped liver.
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The UP micro-culture teaches independence and national pride, I guess, in every campus you go. I attended the Diliman campus slightly more than a decade ago and it’s the same mantra droned over and over again, back then, and now. Back then of course, wearing flip-flops to class would be an insult to then trendy fashion sensibilities. I dread the day when we can wear flip-flops to job interviews.
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No one really does anything for you at the UP. You do everything by your own. You make things happen by your creative devices. Learning is “learning centered”, without any homage to mentor nor pupil. In fact the system is so absent of any reference to it’s educators it forgot to compensate them properly. Let us reserve this angstsy topic for another blog, shall we?
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Going back, yes – UP students are not spoiled by the system either. I remember my freshman year when class enlistment would require you to stake out at Palma Hall at 3:00AM just for you to secure your slot in a class you would regret taking anyway. Back then, when DLSU and ADMU were already highly automated, we were swimming in this sea of humanity that was the lobby of Palma Hall hoping to land a slot in a class that would otherwise have been just a keyboard stroke away had they discovered the wonderful invention called the computer. I heard the UP kids now have it better.
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But I am not complaining. It is this very atmosphere of toil that we probably were able to produce the Ninoys and Ferdinands that govern us. I almost forgot that Gloria waddled her way out of a doctorate class at the UP too. By infamy or otherwise, there is still this nagging weight that bears on the shoulders of every student that wears the “sablay” to end up in greatness short of the legendary kind.
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I teach in another rival university. Let me be defensive by saying that it is by circumstance that I am not teaching at the UP and not by choice. Let me say one thing too. On a pound-per-pound, brain-cell-per-brain-cell, flip-flop-per-flip-flip comparison, the UP kid wins. And that is not by a slim margin.
Audaciousness is one virtue the Filipino architect has mastered as a fish would walking. We are just too safe, too cautious. A few feeble attempts at boldness sadly even ends up as crass, largely due to the lack of understanding of the science of space, form and movement. Our training infrastructure makes us masters of hollow plagiarism. Very few designs walk out of our studios that captivate the imagination of the public. No engagement, no conversation between the habitat and the inhabitants.
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We have even mutated into dullness by safely declaring that Filipino architecture is just but a spirit, and not of form. Worse, some even succumb into the darkness of just believing that it is non-existent. So now, we plant Buddha heads into our walls, grow acanthus leaves onto our columns, and dig the entire city of Venice into our sorry landscape. But wait, is that not audacity at work… I deviate. 
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I came across this building by Frank O. Gehry, a mighty controversial “star-chitect”, called The Fish. It is in Barcelona, Spain, standing as the portal or gateway to the 1992 summer Olympiad from the port area. Gehry is the same architect who planted the Guggenheim in the middle of sleepy and poor Bilbao. Had it not for this “monster”, you would never know this city more than the chorizos they make. It is now one of the jewels of the Vizcayan tourism program. Just bring an umbrella inside the museum to keep you dry on a rainy night. Hey, let them brilliant engineers think about where to bring the water to. Let us for the meantime float on our lofty artsy-fartsy architectural world.
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“It was by accident that I got into the fish image. My colleagues were starting to replay Greek temples. Y’know in the post-modern thing, I don’t know, when was that… the 80s. That was hot, everybody was re-doing the past. I said, y’know, Greek temples are anthropomorphic. And three hundred million years before man was fish. If you wanna, if you gotta go back, if you’re insecure about going forward, dammit, go back three hundred million years. Why are you stopping at the Greeks? So I started drawing fish in my sketchbook. and then I started to realize that there was something in it.” - F. O. Gehry
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The audacity.

The Juicy SalifWhen you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it. – P. Coelho

This is true. I believe in it. In fact, I saw almost all the world and touched my dream because of it, not to mention a Philippe Starck juicer and an iPod Shuffle in a local raffle. I think you need to want something so badly that it will hurt and make you cry for it to come true. Everything does come with a price. It’s the grand balance of this universe.