Editorial -- Daniel Burnham's Philippines: The landscape dimension and its Australian import -- Learning from the Russians: Generation of creative alternatives as a didatic tool for urban design and planning conundrums -- Shaping the future metropolis: The metropolitan Subic area -- Adapting highland living: A proposed resettlement project for the displaced Indigenenous Peoples of Tanay, Rizal -- In-filling and In-city relocation: Sustainable solution for informal settlers -- Weaving and architecture: A study of women's role in the vernacular architecture -- The use of lime as mortar and render: Reviving a historical building material for contemporary use in sustainable architecture -- Chinoy-Hispanic: The Chinese influences in Filipino-Hispanic ancestral houses -- Filipino luho and Manila's Metropolitan Theatre -- Domus a la Italiana: The legacy of Italy in Philippine architecture -- A nationalist art -- Art deco in the Philippines -- La Casa de Dios: The legacy of Filipino-Hispanic churches in the Philippines -- Lungsod iskwater: The evolution of Informality as a dominant pattern in Philippine cities -- SM & QC: Visions of a city -- Arkitektura + MODA: Stylistic parallels of architecture and fashion -- Pa(ng)labas: Ciudad + Cine: Architecture and the Celluloid City -- Urban S.O.T.: Urban sustainably optimized tenements -- Peñasales house: Re-imagining the vernacular.

[Article title: Daniel Burnham's Philippines: The landscape dimension and its Australian import / Christoper Vernon, p. 3-19]

Abstract: This paper will present an overview of Daniel Hudson Burnham's urbanism in Manila and Baguio, considering these projects through the lens of Imperialism and contextualizing them within his broader American oeuvre. The essay will then shift focus to Walter Burley Griffin's prize-winning design of the Australian national capitol, Canberra, then arguing that Burnham's work - especially his plan for Baguio - profoundly informed Griffin's layout. It will conclude with a survey of the Australian architects who travellled to the Philippines specifically to experience Burnham's work there first-hand and speculate as to the influence of Burnham's Philippine work 'down under'.

[Article Title: Learning form the Russians: Generation of creative alternatives as a didactic tool for urban design and planning conundrums / Jose Edgardo A. Gomez, Jr., p. 20-31]

Abstract: Creativity literature suggests that innovation is learnable. The creative habit generates diverse alternatives, countering the tendency towards unimaginative proposals that may manifest as architectural monstrosities, or lead to harm users of space. This article reviews the creativity processes through spatial planning lenses and presents findings on how applications can become didactic tools for students. It focuses on the Russian Theory of Inventive Problem Solving which emerged in 1946. Dimensions of common urban design and site problems in the Philippines are likewise discussed. Using the author's teaching and field experience, this integrative article attempts to "cross-pollinate" by importing staples from operations management and industrial engineering, which seldom yet appear in local design discourse.

[Article Title: Shaping the future metropolis: The metropolitan Subic area / Michael V. Tomeldan, p. 32-46]

[Abstract: The Subic Bay Freeport Zone and the five municipalities and one city that surround it have been considered to constitute one metropolitan area to maximize their collective development potential. Other successful metropolitan development models and spatial patterns were examined to determine what elements may be adopted for the future Metropolitan for Subic Area (MSA). The physical framework for the future metropolis considered the potentials and functions of each city/municipality, the overall sustainability that stakeholders generally aspire for, and the envisioned role of the Metropolitan Subic Area as a catalyst for growth in Central Luzon and the Philippines.

[Article Title: Adpating Highland Living: A proposed resettlement project for the displaces indigenous peoples of Tanay, Rizal / Ma. Celina A. Sy-Changco, p. 47-58]

[Abstract: This is an ethnographic study that looks into the culture of some Indigenous Peoples particularly the Remontado in orer to understand why they refused to be relocated in order to give way to the construction of the Laiban Dam, a government project that should have been implemented many years ago but have been delayed due to this problem. The Governor, the Chieftains and the NCIP officer were the key informants. Group discussions were held with randomly selected residents where they uttered their sentiments about the Dam Project. The study showed that the Remontado are totally dependent on their ancestral domain for their survival as well as on their kin in managing these resources.

[Article Title: In-filling and In-city relocation: Sustainable solution for informal settlers / Haydee JM Quintana Malubay, p. 59-71]

[Abstract: Shelter is a primordial human need. The United Nations (UN) further declared adequate shelter as a basic human right. Through massive urbanization, huge numbers of people all over the world have been displaced into blighted informal settlements that continue to define the socio-economic fabric of most urban centers. To sustainably address this 21st century challenge, in-filling and in-city relocation are proposed as viable strategies.

Now is the time for an honest-to-goodness paradign shift in shaping policy for providing shelter to informal settlers. Medium-rise vertical developments in urban in-filled spaces are feasible responses and will be a win-win solution to this highly visible but surmountable challenge. Managed densification is now an imperative if we are to strike a balance between recognizing every individual's right to the city and addressing blight by bringing order, discipline and some degree of harmony in shared space more than fifty percent of us call our cities.

[Article title: Weaving and architecture: A study of women's role in the vernacular architecture / Krstine Ann A. Muñoz, Anna Christina G. Ealdama & Michelle P. Pernia, p. 73-80]

[Abstract: The study is focused on the weaving communities of the Northern Cordillera as case studies, as it primarily establishes women's status vis-à-vis their economic and cultural role in these indigenous societies. As weaving is an activity closely associated with women, the paper attempts to shed light on the correlation between gender roles and the spatial organization within the domestic setting, and the extent of women's participation and involvement in the decision-making process of building the home and ultimately the community.
Limited interviews of owners of existing traditional houses in the Cordilleras and literature reviews show how interior spaces in indigenous houses and community spaces in traditional settlements reflect how gender has become a factor in the appropriation of both private and public spaces. The study recommends analysis of not only the built environment but also the underlying organization and cultural roots in future studies of spaces.

[Article title: The use of lime as mortar and render: Reviving a historical building material for contemporary use in sustainable architecture / Rene Luis S. Mata, Katherine Anne Correa, Carina Dizon and Jeremy Balagat, p. 81-93]

Abstract: The wide use of lime as mortar and render disappeared with the introduction of Portland Cement in the American Colonial Period. In the process, the socio-cultural aspect of its production has been lost, together with its mode of production. A building material used for 300 years has its cultural imprint, no matter what.
Archeological research has established lime as a building material from China to Southeast Asia and the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the late Spanish Colonial Period.
This paper seeks to introduce the idea that there may be a need to explore the reuse of lime as mortar and render (finish) in contemporary construction above and beyond its perceived use only as a restoration material to built heritage. It may also be a valid alternative to existing materials within its scope of application and use, and as a viable contemporary building material that may in the future comply with proposed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) requirements as a green building material. This introductory paper does not intend to prove such claims; rather, this paper seeks to introduce the idea that heritage and indigenous materials such as lime (not to mention their socio-cultural links to culture) should be looked into if one seeks to test all alternatives. The paper will seek to establish the most recent leads into the question, then venture into possible scenarios for further inquiries for others in the future.

[Article title: Chinoy-Hispanic: The Chinese influences in Filipino-Hispanic ancestral houses / Rino D.A. Fernandez, p. 94-105]

Abstract: National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin said Filipino architecture is considered a hybrid 3- configuration, a residue of the different overlays of foreign influences left in the country over the centuries. These foreign influences include the early Malay culture, the 300-year Spanish domination, the almost 50-year American rule and the Arab and Chinese influences through commerce and trade over the centuries.
A number of studies on the Spanish and the American influences had been done; however, limited studies were made on the Arab and Chinese influences. This paper intends to determine the Chinese influences on Fil-Hispanic ancestral houses because houses in the country, particularly the traditional types, have always been a form-giver for Filipino architecture.
The analysis focuses both on spatial and exterior elements of 58 ancestral houses and typologies of the "bahay kubo" and the traditional Chinese and Spanish houses considered as inferential evidence of the topic of inquiry. To determine the Chinese influences on the architectural form of ancestral houses, various methods were such as interpretative-historical research, case studies and field survey.
Results show that building construction during the early years of Spanish colonization were entrusted to the Chinese and they had been involved in it until the last decade of the Spanish rule, resulting in the inclusion of Chiinese traditional building elements in the ancestral houses. The building elements include 3-bay spatial configurations, carved cantilevered arm, indoor furniture and facade elements such as masonry walls, tiledroof, lattice design, window treatment, volada and ornaments used in Fil-Hispanic houses.

[Article title: Filipino luho and Manila's Metropolitan Theatre / Annette Condello, p. 106-117]

Abstract: The Philippine's Metropolitan Theatre is rarely discussed through the lens of luxury. Filipino architect Juan Arellano designed Manila's Metropolitan Theatre (1931), an important Art Deco building, but no one has considered this as an important example of luxury in architecture. What constitutes Filipino luxury? This paper interprets Arellano's theatre as a luxurious building, including its original and exotic setting. What once constituted luxury in the past informed the site of the Manila's theatre and its garden and it argues that a distinctly Filipino luho design trend emerged through its ornament in advance of the preferred public taste of Art Deco.

[Commentary: Domus a la Italiana: The legacy of Italy in Philippine architecture / Gerard Lico, p. 118-126]

[Commentary: A nationalist art / Rommel R. Alanis, p. 127-128]

[Book reviews: Art deco in the Philippines, p. 129]

[Book reviews: La Casa de Dios: The legacy of Filipino-Hispanic churches in the Philippines, p. 130]

[Book reviews: Lungsod iskwater: The evolution of Informality as a dominant pattern in Philippine cities, p. 131-132]

[Exhibition reviews: SM & QC: Visions of a city / Paul Joseph Blasco, p. 133-134]

[Exhibition reviews: Arkitektura + MODA: Stylistic parallels of architecture and fashion, p. 135-136]

[Exhibition reviews: Pa(ng)labas: Ciudad + Cine: Architecture and the Celluloid City, p.137]

[Design reviews: Urban S.O.T.: Urban sustainably optimized tenements, p. 138-139]

[Design reviews: Peñasales house: Re-imagining the vernacular, p. 140]