DELA TORRE, GLYRAH MARIE S.

ARCH496 – R3/C2
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO

ACTIVITY 4

VISUAL DIMENSION

1. Describe the visual aspects of your chosen locality by making/sketching serial visions of
places (showing the urban aesthetic) and make a narration of your kinesthetic experience
on those places.

a. b.

The places I've sketched are those

c. I've visited and explored in my
chosen locality. These sketches
are just snapshots of my
memories, as I haven't been back
to these places since the
pandemic began. This is the
locality where I've stayed when
there hasn't been a pandemic.
These areas, like any other in the
city, are occupied by people
because the area is surrounded by
mostly commercial buildings, particularly because it is adjacent to the main road. Even
before, the area was crowded, and the buildings remained the same. People are mostly
active and busy from the afternoon until the early hours of the night, as that is when they
usually get home from work or any other businesses they have. Mostly at night, buildings
are starry to look at because of the lights they emit, and mostly during the day, buildings
are occupied with people again. Roads are busy filled with vehicles and people, and it's
an endless cycle because it's a city. As far as I remember, these places continue to serve
as landmarks, adding to the visual appeal of the area.
 d. e.

(Sketches: (a.) Natalio B. Bacalso Ave, (b.) Holy Cross Parish, (c.) Cebu South Road Properties,
(d.) Basak Pardo Barangay Hall, (e.) Road outside Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary and Art Gallery)

2. Use an aerial map/view of your chosen locality and assess the arrangement of the building
blocks.
 Buildings of various types surround Barangay Basak Pardo, including residential,
commercial, and institutional structures. These structures comprise the barangay, which
is still evolving as a place for people. As seen in the aerial map above, the majority of the
building arrangements are similar, and most are close to each other. When you zoom in
on these building blocks, you can see that the arrangement usually has no basis and just
depends on how the lot was facing, with no real specific orientation or pattern for the
arrangement of these buildings. This is somehow the result of urbanization over time.
People require areas immediately to build their homes and businesses, as well as
commercial buildings to carry out their operations.

3. Overlay and sketch the arrangement of the buildings and make an assessment if you could
recognize if there are similarity, proximity, orientation, closure & continuity as being
discussed in the patterns and aesthetic order.

These are mostly representations of the building in Barangay Basak Pardo, which
was based on an aerial map. The majority of the building arrangements share
characteristics such as similarity, proximity, orientation, and continuity. Some sitios have
similar building arrangements, such as Sitio Laguna, which is depicted in the first sketch
above. The majority of these are residential structures with similar layouts. They also
show proximity because these buildings are grouped by barangay sitios and are spatially
closer together, contributing to their proximity. Orientation can also be depicted because
they are grouped according to the same common orientation, such as how it was
arranged parallel to their respective lots. It also demonstrates continuity because these
buildings have mostly the same patterns and styles and were not designed to be built in
that manner, which shows the characteristic of being continuous.
4. Look/asses if there are positive and negative space and discuss the use of the given space.

Today, Barangay Basak Pardo is mostly occupied by buildings. Based on the aerial
map, these are the only available spaces that have not yet been occupied by buildings.
These open available spaces are near the Holy Cross Parish, as shown in the first image,
and some other spaces are near the barangay's southern part sitios. There were both
positive and negative spaces in these areas. The first image depicts positive spaces
because, as you can see, they were relatively closed and had a distinct shape that could
be used for further urban expansion. They are measurable and have defined boundaries.
They have that shape because they serve as open spaces usable in the future. The second
image appears to show positive spaces, but in my opinion, it shows negative. It produced
complicated shapes, which are left over spaces around built buildings. They lack form and
edges, and they don't indicate why the space looks the way it does.
 TEMPORAL DIMENSION

1. Assess your locality and take pictures of spaces which you think experiences a passage of
time which you think has a particular value (aesthetic. Architectural diversity, resource,
heritage, or economic & commercial value)

The images are what I think

experienced a passage of time in
Barangay Basak Pardo. The main
road, the sidewalk in Cebu South
Road Properties, and the 106-year-
old ancestral home that is still
standing in the barangay are all
spaces with special significance that
contribute to what the barangay is
today. These spaces experience the
passage of time, whether it is
rhythmic reputation or progressive or irreversible change. The main road is where most
people congregate during the day and night, and as time passes, people's daily routines
change significantly. They may be busy during the day and socially active at night, because
most people in the city are still awake at night, grabbing drinks with friends after a long
workday. The main road in the barangay has recently been altered, as a product of a
progressive and irreversible change because it is linked to the road where the Mambaling
underpass was built, contributing to numerous changes in roadways connected to it.

Most people congregate and take a

walk on the sidewalk in SRP because it is
close to the road, and these walks are
usually beneficial to their routine, such as
jogging, walking, or even riding a bicycle.
This is also where we can see how the day
changes by looking at the lights emitted
by the buildings. This road also holds a
commercial and economic value since the
Cebu South Road Properties is a project
initiated by the Cebu City government.
The project was created in order to
expand and save Cebu City's limited land resource. It covers 300 hectares and will serve
as a Cebu economic zone. Initially, it was intended to house light industries. However, it
evolved and ended up for mixed-use.
 Lastly, the 106-year-old ancestral home
in Basak holds historical relevance. It's a
wooden house that has survived World
War II, Japanese occupation, and
countless super typhoons since it was
built in 1915 as the ancestral home of
Lamberto Cabreros and Eugenia
Sabellano, and their seven children:
Demetrio, Arcadia, Nemesia, Luisa,
Alipio, Teodula, and Jovencio. A century later, amid the devastating economic impact of
Covid-19, the centennial house faces demolition or even sale to make way for a more
modern structure, according to its newest owner, Clarissa Nacorda Jabonero, Lamberto
and Eugenia's great granddaughter. These are examples of spaces that have changed over
time, whether as a result of immediate alteration, renovation, or the pandemic that
began to affect not only people's lives, but also infrastructures and urban spaces. They
cannot be stopped because these causes of change are inevitable and unforeseeable.

2. What time management plan will you make off with these public places/buildings to
control these progressive changes done due to the passage of time.

We know that time has passed not only through the repetitive rhythms of time,
but also through evidence of progressive and irreversible change. While we may desire to
return to the city we admired before or relive a surreal moment, we are unable to do so
because change is inevitable. It is something over which we have no control. However,
changes can be controlled, but only after a specific change appears. We can accomplish
this by managing the timing of activities, which is essential. People should engage in
activities such as providing solutions to environmental problems that exist in a specific
location, and some activities may be prohibited at certain times to avoid conflicts. They
may be separated in time to relieve congestion or brought together in time to allow
connections and a sufficient density of use. Rules and regulations must be developed to
at least control the progressive changes brought about by the passage of time.

Fraternities, for example, are prevalent in Barangay Basak Pardo. Clogged canals
are another issue in the barangay that must be addressed. To address these issues,
activities such as commanding barangay tanods to roam around at midnight to disrupt
the activities of these fraternities and repairing the canals to address the clogged issue
will be implemented. Another example of an activity to be implemented is the installation
of proper road signs and passageways, as the main road in Barangay Basak Pardo is
currently congested due to the Mambaling underpass plus the ongoing traffic in Cebu
City. Because these issues are the result of drastic changes over time, solutions must be
provided to mitigate the effects of these issues specifically on the affected areas. These
issues can only be mitigated through well-planned programs supervised by local leaders
who encourage people to follow rules and regulations in order to keep the community
peaceful and organized.