The University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture hosted the Modern ASEAN Architecture (mASEANa) Philippines International Students Workshop 2020+1 held recently.
The event was part of the mASEANa Project (https://www.maseana.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/), a six-year initiative to document, study, and work toward conservation of modern architecture in the ASEAN region. Manila was the last leg of the workshop and conference series that different ASEAN cities have hosted since 2015.
Originally planned as an in-person seminar-workshop in February 2020, it was instead re-organized to be an online event due to the ongoing pandemic. As a result, the mASEANa PH 2020+1 International Students Workshop was virtually able to gather student participants and professional mentors from 20 different academic institutions from Metro Manila, Ilocos Sur, Bulacan, Tarlac, Quezon, Bicol, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, and Zamboanga.
The keynote speakers for the Opening Ceremony were: Dr. Puay Peng Ho of the National University of Singapore and Dr. Jean-Claude Girard of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne).
The workshop was designed to have both synchronous and asynchronous sessions that allowed participants to discuss, analyze, and discuss the identified modern buildings and their environments. Asynchronous lectures, by Ar. Michael Manalo and Ar. Santillan for Module 1, and Ar. Paulo Alcazaren and Ar. Adrian Yap for Module 2, were made available to the participants.
The participants also met virtually during two separate synchronous sessions in March to discuss their assigned buildings. The output of the workshop’s output includes individual presentations for each of the buildings, posters of the individual clusters, and interactive maps or StoryMaps. The preliminary output of the workshop can be viewed via their online exhibit through this link: https://exhibitmaseana.wixsite.com/maseanaph
The six-week workshop was concluded with lectures that included Keynote Presentations by Dr. Edson G. Cabalfin of Tulane University, Louisiana, USA, and Dr. Eric Zerrudo of USTGS-CCCPET. The ceremony also featured special speakers from various provinces of the Philippines who spoke about examples of modern architecture in their locality. These included Ar. Ana Lorilla of Bicol University, Ar. Mariel May Gamalinda of University of Naga, Ar. Eugenia Pinoliad of the University of Bohol, Ar. Enp. Godesil Lejarde of Bulacan State University, Ar. Ma. Theresa Austria of the University of San Agustin, Ar. Noelito Del Rosario of Western Mindanao State University.
Headed by mASEANa Workshop Overall Coordinator and UST faculty member Ar. Caryn Paredes-Santillan, Ph.D., the event was organized by the UST College of Architecture with the UST Graduate School – Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (USTGS-CCCPET), the UST Center for Continuing Professional Education & Development (UST-CCPED), and the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) Manila Atelier chapter. In addition, it was conducted in cooperation with the Institute of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo, the Toyota Foundation, and the Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites, and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement.
