ARCH 161

APEVANGELISTA

Paper #1: My Neighborhood

In 1-2 pages (A4 sheets, PDF), describe the neighborhood you live in, or have lived in at one
point in time. You do not have to do any research for this activity. In fact, you are encouraged to
do this based on pure memory, as I would like to determine just how observant you are about
your urban environment.

Other than the physical set-up, you can also discuss the social, cultural, economic, and political
characteristics. Some guide questions for this activity include, but are not limited to the following:

• How big is your neighborhood, geographically and in terms of household population?

• Do you know your neighbors? Do you interact with them on a regular basis?
• What are the amenities and conveniences of your neighborhood, if any?
• Do you feel safe in your neighborhood?
• Is your neighborhood easily accessible using public transportation?
• How is your neighborhood located with respect to U.P. or where your parents go to work?

Again, these are just guide questions! You may or may not use them, and of course, you can
write about any other observations you have. There are no correct or incorrect answers to this
writing exercise – failure to submit is the only thing that will warrant a failing grade.

The following are the objectives of this activity:

• To determine how naturally observant you are of your surrounding urban environment
• To discover how distributed the class is in terms of where you live vis-à-vis the UP Diliman
campus
• To get you started into Arch 161 mode

Oh, and one more thing – please do not forget to write down exactly where your neighborhood is,
as some students have done in the past.