Editorial -- Studies on coastal dwelling islamic communities in Taluksangay, Zamboanga City, Philippines -- Batasan island: Dance of the sands on the beachhead in the season of the monsoon winds -- Make or wreck: Vegetation in heritage architectural ruins -- Characterization of ecological spatial structure of the La Mesa Sub-Watershed formation in Metropolitan Manila -- Describing the diwa ng lunan of San Juan City -- Community-based green urban design initiatives: Makati City, Metro Manila -- Kankanaey domestic architecture as manifestation of acculturative response to American mission in Sagada, Mountain Province -- A theoretical analysis of a century-old house -- Development, calibration and initial application of a prototypical tapping machine -- Solar power and historic buildings: A case study on Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) for the exterior lighting of a historic building -- Imeldific modernity: A dictatorship of style -- The walls between green architecture and high modernism is crumbling -- Casa Boholana: Vintage houses of Bohol -- Salumpuwit, Bangko, Silya atbp.: Chairs in Filipino life -- Contemporary Han-Ok: Living together in a modern city -- Revisiting modernity: Architecture and the new society -- Streamlined Sanitarium: Quezon Institute building.

[Article title: Studies on coastal dwelling: Islamic communities in Taluksangay, Zamboanga City, Philippines / David Leonides T. Yap, Francisco A. Datar and Kenichi Tanque, p. 2-13]

Abstract: In Philippine coastal Islamic communities, there are quite a number of building practices and beliefs done which are not written in the Qur'an. These indicate that most of the current beliefs and practices related to settlement and house building are more of a folk tradition rather than Islamic. What transpired in the Philippines was an absorption and adaptation of Islam into the culture rather than a replacement of longstanding practices. The study examines how Folk Islam is manifested in settlement patterns and housing forms.

[Article title: Batasan island: Dance of the sands on the beachhead in the season of the monsoon winds / Eulalio R. Guieb III, p. 14-30]

Abstract: This essay narrates some aspects of the physical environment, geography and history of Batasan Island in Tubigon, Bohol. I sketch this fishing village as a complex interaction of social and ecological arrangements, i.e., as a place that is about the social relations of people and institutions as they broker the representation, management and control of the meanings of their place. Place, in this essay, is a narrative. The design of the place is distinguished and shaped not by its physical features alone, but by multi-layered narratives about social arrangements constituted by residents and non-residents who claim varying stakes and interests over it.

[Article title: Make or wreck: Vegetation in heritage architectural ruins / Juanito M. Malaga and Zenaida C. Galingan, p. 31-40]

Abstract: The Spanish colonization of the Philippines a few centuries ago gave the country countless architectural treasures such as civic buildings, churches, visitas, cemeteries, capillas, bridges and mojones. Although some of these structures are in good condition, a number needs urgent repair and most are in a state of ruins. This paper looks into the cases of two notable Heritage Architectural Ruins (HAR) in Albay, the Cagsawa and the Sinimbahanan, to determine the context of vegetation outgrowth relative to its destructive and beneficial aspects. It attempts to formulate a framework that would aid in weighing the positive and negative effects of vegetation in ruins. The paper argues that a strategic scheme in determining these effects could help in the preservation of heritage architectural treasures, thereby highlighting their significance and making them more enduring.

[Article title: Characterization of ecological spatial structure of the La Mesa Sub-Watershed formation in Metropolitan Manila / Nappy L. Navarra and Mikiko Ishikawa, p. 41-50]

Abstract: Like other megacities, Metropolitan Manila has a high population density, is heavily-built-up and produces and consumes most of the resources of the country. Given these characteristics, there is a need to analyze its eco-spatial spaces using a framework that is sustainable and viable for its growth and development. The research proposes a watershed-based framework that integrates ecological concepts to analyze its eco-spatial spaces that can be used in the management of the region. The framework utilizes the Geographic Information System (GIS) to generate watershed features and as a system in processing information of the different units in landscape scale. The paper focuses on the La Mesa Sub-watershed formation that forms the head water and is critical in the environmental processes. The La Mesa sub-watershed formation is highly built-up with some sub-watershed units exhibiting significant semi-natural eco-spatial units. The sub-watershed cluster is analyzed in terms of its distribution and eco-spatial units and translated into an environmental management map.

[Article title: Describing the diwa ng lunan of San Juan City / Emilio U. Ozaeta, p. 51-58].

Abstract: This article describes the phenomenological research undertaken to describe the architectural Spirit of Place of an urban locale with a unique 6 rural demeanor. Using a methodology of informal interviews and photo documentation, data consisting of the community's impressions on
its identity and the mirroring expressions of its designed environment were documented. The data was then subjected to a discursive analysis through a method developed by the author from earlier parallel research studies. A resultant detailed description embodied in the metaphor of Water was later affirmed by the community.

[Article title: Community-based green urban design initiatives: Makati City, Metro Manila / Michael V. Tomeldan, Jocelyn M. Arcenas and Marie Stephanie N. Gilles, p. 59-69]

Abstract: Climate change and sea level rise are important global issues that have resulted in many international agreements and protocols to improve the planet's future. The Philippines is a signatory to of these agreements and has adopted these many environmental agenda as national policies. Makati City is one of the richest cities in the Philippines and has substantial resources to pursue city programs that would improve its environment. Makati City has 33 barangays with diverse characteristics faced with varied urban development challenges (e.g. lack of open spaces, vehicular traffic congestion, limited economic opportunities, poor environmental quality). From 2011-2012, the city government worked with its barangay leaders to identify pressing urban design problems and to formulate projects to address them. Part of this initiative was the conduct of workshops for four batches of barangays that brought together the city administration, barangay leaders and the academe (i.e., University of Makati, University of the Philippines) with the aim of analyzing city problems in the local context. The paper looks into how barangays in Makati City dealt with environmental issues at the community level and how these issues somehow relate to the global environmental agenda.

[Article title: Kankanaey domestic architecture as manifestation of acculturative response to American mission in Sagada, Mountain Province / Anna Christina Ealdama, p. 70-78]

Abstract: This paper highlights on the evolution of houses in Sagada, Mountain Province since the turn of the 20th century: from the oldest extant pre-colonial houses to the most dominant but overlooked Gl- clad wooden house. Other identified house types are presented as part of understanding the evolution of its built forms. The objective of the study is to present the significance of cultural response in vernacular house-building and to recognize the importance of the distinct practice of such modern vernacular tradition in the Mountain Province.

[Article title: A theoretical analysis of a century-old house / Haydee JM Quintana Malubay, p.79-87]

Abstract: As time takes a physical toll on century-old houses, many faint-hearted individuals left with the responsibility of rehabilitating one's family legacy from blight to light-to shine through once more as a historical asset of a community, its municipality, pa or perhaps, in the larger scheme of things, given cultural significance, the country-may quickly or eventually give up thereby losing a facet of one's place in time and space. Recapturing the character of an ancestral house and the integrity of being true to its unique nature entails a firm decision and a bold belief in the value of preserving a symbol.
This analysis serves as a synthesis of the discourse on the theory of interior design. It first tells the story of the house. It continues by comparing and contrasting some Philippine ancestral houses.. Then, the analysis focuses on the theories of proxemics, semiotics and space syntax the adjacency matrices, the symbolism of items in and of this particular house and the logical or pragmatic sequences or arrangements of rooms and places. It connects with the story of the builders of the house from humble beginnings to its grandiose existence back to its diffident insecurity due to its disfigurement brought by the ravages of time and disrepair. It eventually winds up and highlights the bravado and valor in the decision to bring the house back to its former grandeur and dignity, and currently to the more plausible sustainability initiative by endeavoring to be part of heritage conservation efforts. This study shows that the process of studying an old house not only enlightens, it also empowers. The course of looking back, of looking inwards, sharpens the image, intensifies one’s understanding of the past to fortify the future. Lessons learned are not merely confined to details of the structure but holistically to the circle of life itself.

[Article title: Development, calibration and initial application of a prototypical tapping machine / Simeon Formoso III, Luis Ma. Bo-ot, and C-M Chiang, p. 88-96]

Abstract: Structural-borne sound (SBS) is sound transmitted through structural systems of buildings like walls, columns and beams. SBS plays a role in considering comfort and privacy in multi-storey buildings. SBS in buildings is usually characterized using commercial tapping machines which are recommended by ISO standards. In this study, we present a fabricated tapping machine and demonstrate its initial use. Our machine is made from bottom up using available local materials. The hammer system used in the commercial tapping machines is adapted as manually operated. We develop machines with three, five and seven- hammer configurations and compare with actual activities and common equipment to establish the corresponding sound intensities in decibels which a configuration can be used for.
Although prototypically crude, our machines are hardy and robust and can be used to elucidate fundamental SBS principles and measurements.

[Article title: Solar power and historic buildings: A case study on Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) for the exterior lighting of a historic building / Rosalie G. Flores-Bernardo, p. 97-111]

Abstract: The research aims to discover the effectiveness of modern technology in the local setting by integrating photovoltaic (PV) cells into an existing historical structure.
The Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel (MBSMA) in Tayabas, Quezon province is one of the country's national cultural treasures (NCT) and a protected structure since 2001. Like most old churches, the Basilica's exterior contains intricate details and architectural elements that deserve to be highlighted. Applying exterior lighting principles, particularly that of the PV system, can help emphasize the structure's façade even beyond daylight hours. The PV system design and set up are based on foreign solar power design principles modified to fit the local setting. The effects of the installation of this new technology in an existing heritage building are discussed based on the actual technical results such as the comparison of the charge values, load values, duration of use and weather conditions for technical performance.

[Commentary: Imeldific modernity: A dictatorship of style / Gerard Lico, p. 113-115]

[Commentary: The walls between green architecture and high modernism is crumbling / Rommel Alanis, p. 116-117]

[Book review: Casa Boholana: Vintage houses of Bohol / Maureen Anne L. Araneta, p. 118-119]

[Book review: Salumpuwit, Bangko, Silya atbp.: Chairs in Filipino life / Hannah Acab-Faustino, p. 119-120]

[Exhibition review: Contemporary Han-Ok: Living together in a modern city / Reuben Ramas Cañete, p. 121-122]

[Exhibition review: Revisiting modernity: Architecture and the new society / Reuben Ramas Cañete, p. 123-124]

[Building/ heritage review: Streamlined Sanitarium: Quezon Institute building / Gerard Lico, p. 125-128]