By Anna Koosmann | Project Leader
Pleased to share Arch't Ann Panopio's perspective on the Multipurpose Hall and humbled to know she took time out from a family holiday to travel during inclement weather. Thank you for visiting and sharing Ann!
The following is what she shared to facebook:
How's this for irony? While visiting a disaster recovery related project in Dumagete City, Negros, Philippines, my cousins and i were stranded on that island for 30 hours because of Tropical Storm Queenie. Thanks to Anna L Koosmann, who told me about Estudio Damgo, allow me to recount the lemonade glasses from this lemon of a situation.
Estudio Damgo is a design-build studio at Foundation University in Negros. From what I understand, this is the first design build, community based studio in the country. Victor Sinco and Zorich Guia were generous enough to spend sometime discussing how the studio is a break from the traditional pedagogy, which tends to be more technical. I also found it interesting the Victor mentioned that a few people with whom he has discussed this program seem bemused by why resources and intellectual capital is being spent on "the poor". This doesn't surprise me, Philippines' sociopolitical structure isn't unique but the systematic inequality is certainly more pronounced than in the US.
The most recently completed project is the Panaghuisa project, which is a multipurpose building in a settlement for Typhoon Sendong survivors. The students chose to work with this community after learning about the need for a shared common space to house meetings, classes and medical services. The structure and landscaping also will allow for an aquaponic system to help manage rainwater runoff and to grow fish and vegetables. Visiting was a great opportunity for me to see what community engagement in a disaster recovery situation can look like within a context that is both familiar and completely foreign to me.
For more information, check out http://www.akoosmann.blogspot.com
*Ann Panopio lives and works in Houston, Texas US at bcWorkshop. She was traveling through Dumaguete during an overseas family holiday visit in the Philippines, November 2014, and 7 months Multipurpose Hall post occupancy.
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