The downfall and rise of Manila Metropolitan Theater

Manila Metropolitan Theater, one of the oldest structures in Manila, in 1862 the building was first named as Teatro del Principe Alfonso XII built within the plaza of Arroceros. This stood until 1876 until it was burned down. Then it was inaugurated in December 10, 1931 and once again restored in 1978.
The Metropolitan Theater façade resembles a stage being framed by a proscenium-like central window of stained glass which carries the name “Metropolitan” with flora and fauna motif surrounding the label. There are also moldings of zigzag and wavy lines that go with the sponged and painted multi-colored massive walls. The Manila Metropolitan theater did not stand the test of time, it has experienced a lot of restoration and renovation due to negligence and lack of responsibility. 
The government somehow took it as less of a priority since no buildings will be restored a number of times unless taken care of. Architecture creates beautiful structures, it gives the facility a meaning and purpose, any buildings plain or extravagant are reduced to nothing if it is not taken care of, no matter how stylish or modern it looks if negligence plays a hand it will encounter the same fate as the Manila Metropolitan Theater. Structures must always be taken care of, buildings are a part of our own since it represents the community and the city. 

References: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Metropolitan_Theater

Bonifacio Global City, the home of wonders

Bonifacio Global City, one of the most high end district in the Philippines, it is located in Taguig nearby SM Aura and Market Market Taguig. BGC is known for its high rise, modern and international buildings, the districts also has lots of hotels, commercial buildings, restaurants, parks and retail stores, BGC is one of the busiest districts in Taguig for it accommodates lots of business stores and gets a lot of attention from the consumers.
When you come to BGC it is impossible to miss the popular Bonifacio Highstreet, Highstreet is a district where retail buildings are placed along in long row side-by-side and at the middle is an open area with a walkway at the sides, the open area are sometimes used as an event place for other business companies to promote their products.
As you walk past the Highstreet, crossing across one street will het you to the main BGC district where business buildings are found, one of the many buildings that caught my attention is this red building that seems to be a mere employee’s parking, unfortunately it seems to be a private building, looking at its exterior facade, the bright red color gives a sense of hunger like you are looking to your favorite fast food restaurant, this bright red color makes it feels like you are looking in a KFC Headquarters that is placed BGC.

Turning right will get you to a street where in a Hotel can be found, this Hotel has an extravagant exterior making you feel embarrassed and conscious without having to enter yet and just looking from the outside. This building is so classy that it makes you wonder how much would it cost you to stay there just for one night. Walking past this Hotel you will see from a far a rubix cubed themed building only it has a color shade of blue and black. This building gives you a sense of playful and curiosity, thus said curiosity made me want to find out the name of the building and its name is the W Tower.

Buildings in BGC gives you different types of architectural feelings, some makes you excited, some are neutral, some are astonishing. These types of buildings are what architecture should aspire for, other cities must use this as an ideal district for it makes you forget that you are in a third-world country, Architecture in this class has it league of their own thus making them unique and feasible.

Community layout and its prisoners

Choosing a community to become a part of is one of the important things when building a house, one of the many jobs of an architect, when they are asked by their client to help them find a lot, is to find one with a good social status and has good community, ideally no one wants to own a house that is somewhat located inside a compound or has a neighboring slums or illegal squatters, even I would be lying if id say I am willing to be a part of that kind of community. If you think about it carefully, having this kind of perception among bad community layout areas kind of feels bad, it’s like somehow we are discriminating those who are below than us that can’t afford to find a better place to live.

going further, bad community layouts isn’t the only problem that is shown, it may not be visible but community problems create a ripple of bad effects on its surroundings, the environment, and security of the citizen. these ripples are violence and drug related problems. a bad community is the home of many drug related problems, and now that the current administration’s number one agenda is the war on drugs, the pile of bodies increases each day, so drug the sole problem? maybe but a peoples environment is also at fault, to explain clearly, for example, a normal person is a blank canvass, its environment will dictate what is going to be written or drawn, having a good company will help you do good things, love, help respect others, on the other hand, while having a bad company could give you bad influences and bad habits. it is the same in the community a person is living in, a person with a bad community will make that person become part of that bad community. Accept it or not, squatters and slums tend to be the home of drug related crimes, they are the most vulnerable to it, what could be the cause of it? lack of jobs, poverty, bad family planning, not having a good home.

so think, what or who is at fault behind these bad community layouts, could it be the city planners? the illegal squatters? or even the average citizens? my answer is everyone. everyone who is irresponsible, everyone who chooses to make the wrong choice even tho a right one is present, every one of us is guilty, every one of us is affected for we only live in one country, maybe a different city, area or street but we represent as one, as per City planners, Architects, Engineers, Urban planners, their sin are construction of infrastructures without thinking for the long term. a structure cannot be called Architecture even if it has luxurious aesthetics unless it is placed in a right way, a good community, and responsible then it can be called right Architecture. right now we are known for having the worst Human rights among countries and I think that is self-explanatory. we need to change ourselves, we need to choose better, Duterte’s slogan of “change is coming” is nothing but bull- unless we change ourselves.

Double-edged Mall, The ugly truth

Shopping centers or shopping malls is a business powerhouse as of today, and as of 2015, business tycoon Henry Sy is declared as the Philippines richest man, Henry Sy is the owner SM Mall and founder of SM group and placing before him is John Gokongwei Jr. the founder of Robinsons Malls, the second richest man in the Philippines.

shopping centers spreads vastly in the Philippines, it helps an area become highly urbanized, in a perspective of a person, a thought of having a shopping mall in their location makes them think that they live in a big city and who can blame them, shopping centers are made luxurious and grand at all cost to attract local consumers, people from other places might even visit the area specifically for their shopping centers. We all know that the most famous shopping mall here in the Philippines is the SM mall, its a common knowledge, I mean everywhere you go there is an SM mall whispering at you to come in and waste precious money. SM has 208 stores nationwide, not including the other shopping malls founded by the other tycoons, imagine that many Shopping centers in our small country, no wonder the Philippines is becoming more and more urban.
But whatever a shopping mall is, regardless of its Architectural elements that is displayed, big or small, beautiful or plain, luxurious or not, these mall will take up large space of land, it is always a threat to the environment as it may cause sorts of pollution, we call it inevitable but businessmen call it “business”. commercial spaces endangers the environment especially without a good urban planning. Highly urbanized areas don’t need any more of these malls as it may cause more pollution and risk to the environment, what urban areas need right now are soft areas, open areas, greeneries like parks, outdoor recreational areas to combat air pollution that is cramped in an area. 
We cannot stop residential spaces for spreading, it is a type of need for every family living in a country but what can we minimize or stop if we are lucky is the spread of these commercial spaces, Philippines is known for its majestic nature beauty, its what tourists from highly urbanized countries come for, they do not need to visit another highly urbanized country to relax and unwind if thats the case then they do not need to visit this country as they can relax at theirs. 
This country needs a good urban planning, I am not against construction of malls, even if I do there is nothing I can do about it as long as business tycoons are around and business is needed for a country to run. But my recommendations are place commercial buildings at where it is needed, minimize urbanization, and build more greeneries in cities.

References: 

https://www.forbes.com/profile/henry-sy/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_Investments_Corporation

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Sy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gokongwei