Manila, Welcome to the Gates of Hell!
Dan Brown’s new book, Inferno has caused a lot of outrage here in the Philippines for referring to Manila as The gates of hell. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair, Atty Francis Tolentino, sent an email, in tagalog i might add, personally to Mr. Dan Brown voicing out his outrage about the unfair description of the Manila in the book. And here’s Dan Brown’s reply.
and he ended with….
“Mahirap ba intindihin yun?”
O Gosh. Atty. Tolentino, What’s the word again? Uhmmm, BURN!
Seriously, Filipinos, RELAX.
Photo by: Claudette M. Llarena via Facebook
Sanctuary
05.20.2013
Site visit and Inspection for Dummies:
1. Before you go on a site visit, check if you have all the things that you need. Here are some suggestions of what you might need to bring:
- If you have revisions to the original plan, Bring at least 3 copies of the revised plan; one for you, one for the engineer / contractor, one for the site.
- Transmittal Forms. Transmittal forms are proof that a certain document (new blue prints, permit documents, etc.) was transmitted from the architect. The form contains the date, a detailed information of the document to be transmitted, the name of the recipient with signature.
- A bottle of water. Especially if you’re visiting around 11:00 am - 2:00 pm, you may want to bring a bottle of water.
- An extra shirt. ‘Cause like it or not, you are going to sweat.
-A face towel or wet wipes
- A metric tape
- A pen / pencil
- A Notebook or some scratch papers
- A camera or just your phone will do.
2. Wear comfortable shoes and clothing.
For god’s sake this is not the time to be fancy.
3. Come on time. If the engineer or the contractor asked you to meet him at the site by 9 am, be at the site by 8:50.
If he’s late, slap the bitch in the face. LOL kidding.
4. Never act like you don’t know what you are doing.
Otherwise, the construction workers are not going to take you seriously. If you don’t know what the hell you are doing; go ask for the copy of the construction sheets, study the drawings, look at what they’re working at, and act all-authoritative. That way they’ll perform better because they’ll think that you are watching them like a hawk.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
But do it in such a way that you’ll still look that you’re in full control of the site.
6. Check the schedules and inventories regularly.
7. Be polite and nice to everyone.
Yes, you need to keep an authoritative façade but you don’t have to be a douchebag. Be nice not only to the engineers but also to the construction workers.
8. Observe
Observe how everything is done. Since architecture school only taught you like close to nothing, this is your chance to really learn the “real stuff”.
9. Take Pictures
No, do not focus on that dramatic skyline in the background, take photos of the connections of reinforcements, how the formworks were assembled, important stuff people. It doesn’t have to be properly composed and in accordance to the rule of thirds, as long as you can see the details properly, it’s good. No #selfie ‘s and #ootd ‘s please, dear god.
10. Be safe
No horse playing, like seriously, what are you like 5? Also don’t forget to wear protective gear. Wear a hard hat if needed.
Emerald Penthouse
50 Shades of Green
Design By: Yours truly for M. arc + M. int
Our client requested for a green kitchen. So now I’m sorting through like 50 different shades of green. Green is actually a very nice color, it projects freshness, life, nature, and heath which sounds perfect for a kitchen. For this kitchen, I am looking for like a mint-y grayish shade of green. A bit light since the space is quite small, something soothing and relaxing.
Also the client requested for a very modern style; simple clean lines with a lot of hidden storage
will show you the development of the design soon! :)
architectureland:
Optical Glass House designed by Hiroshi Nakamura & Nap in Hiroshima,Japan
The less glamorous side of Architecture
Most people think of architects as a bunch of overpaid, fancy, suit-wearing individuals who just make things pretty. Well, firstly, we don’t earn that much. Secondly, We barely wear suits, I in fact have worn shorts to work before. And lastly, there’s more to this profession that what you think; yes, our main concern is how the building would look, the “design”, but the designing the building is just the tip of the iceberg; regular site inspections, site management, endless computations, schedules, impossible additional client requests, revisions, dust, tons and tons of dust, and a whole lot more.
Hi. This is what I do for a living.
*Project: 2 storey Mediterranean Style House, Hillsborough Village, Alabang
Design: JMPA + MarcMint
Brooklyn Clock Tower Penthouse Suite
DUMBO District, Brooklyn, New York
Dubbed as the priciest condo in Brooklyn, this well designed space can be yours for 19 Million U.S. Dollars. The Condo has a 360 view of the city and is 6, 813 square feet in size. The clean and slick finishes and furniture, creates a magnificent contrast against the four 14 feet glass steel clocks.
Source
Buddah Tooth-Relic Temple
Chinatown, Singapore
Thank you! Thank you very much!
One of my friends from the online course that I took recently made this for me. He photoshopped my Elvis’ hair on my head. The Elvis do surprisingly looks good on me. LOL.
Homies forever.
Swatches for a Master’s Bedroom
Prepared by yours truly for M.arc + M.int
My boss is also an Interior designer, and as her apprentice she’s also training me to be one. As a design challenge she asked me to put up a swatch board for the Master’s bedroom of the house that we are working on.
I opted for really neutral colors for the bedroom and just a spike of lime green as per request of the client. It’s really important to see how the patterns, colors and textures of the materials work side by side and looking at swatches altogether gives you a clearer vision and the feel of the space you are designing.
For the furniture, since the house is already so boxy, I tried to balance it out with accents of round furniture like the lounge chair, the arm chair, and the accent table. All the furniture by the way are still from Padua International.
archatlas:
Cityscapes Elena Romanova
Another year conquered. :)