The Chronicles

Sparking Convergence

Written by: Klaradelle Sol Villamayor
Photos by: Klaradelle Sol Villamayor and Gel Marasigan

A town legendary for having a colourful celebration in honor of San Isidro Labrador, using leaf-shaped rice wafers called Kiping, known as Pahiyas Festival, Lucban, Quezon, is sparking the passion of the United Architects of the Philippines – Student Auxiliary (UAPSA) as it is the chosen location of the annual UAPSA Area B Assembly. Entitled ALAB: Spark the Passion, Empower the Nation, held in Batis Aramin, Lucban, Quezon from October 24 through October 26, 2011. This three-day gathering of aspiring Architects from all over Greater Manila and Southern Luzon will spark the passion in their future profession through enjoyable activities and acquaintances, and friendly competitions for the empowerment of the nation.

On the first day of the event, the delegates from different spots of Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog region arrived at the venue early in the morning. Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (MSEUF) being the first to arrive at the venue, is also the school host for this assembly, after which followed by other schools from Area B. The delegates then registered and brought to their assigned rooms before having scrumptious lunch. As the delegates are having their lunch in one of the function halls of Batis Aramin, there had a product presentation by one of the event’s sponsors, Intericad. Led by a representative, he showcased and presented the new software, Intericad, to the delegates and architects who are present. The speaker showed the functions of Intericad, the technology and advancement that this software can produce and of course the finish products that this software can cater to potential to its users. Then there has been a series of talks that occurred at the event.

The talk series was jumpstarted by Arch. Jennifer Sanchez, a faculty of MSEUF, introducing to the delegates the province of Quezon: its’ rich history, culture, traditions, the different towns and even presented famous spots in Quezon, including the heritage spots in the province. Following the introduction to Quezon Province, was the talk about a topic that placed the delegates into the other perspective of the profession in Architecture:  Architects as Leaders and Nation Builders, a talk given by Arch. Ana Mangalino-Ling, fuap, apec. She discussed architects being leaders and through that, can later become as a nation builder and showed works she has been doing for the past years, managing and documenting their projects under their firm, Jose Siao Ling and Associates. And for the last talk for the assembly, Arch. Rossete Santos discussed Tropical Design and how it affects architecture in the modern traditions. This topic exposed to the delegates the situation about the effects of climate change to the environment and how architecture can adapt and counterattack this change that is hugely affecting the world. Right after all the talks, each speaker were given certificates of appreciation for giving meaningful talks to the delegates.

Nothing makes an assembly exciting without its competitions. For this year’s assembly, it focused on the theme of Green/Sustainable Architecture. Most of the competitions focused on using sustainable materials for their designs. The competitions were tight as new competitions were added to the usual ones lined up. The competitions are: Design (Freehand), Rendering, Structural, Photography and Architectural Quiz Bee, while the added ones are Graphic Design, Interior Design, Fashion Design, and Furniture Design.

As the darkness engulfs Batis Aramin, everyone was shining brightly, well prepared for the third event for the day, the Honor Dinner. It was royalty as everyone was in their grandeur Prince and Princess attire. As everyone was taking their dinner, Mid-year Chapter Reports were being shown before the candidates for Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B were presented. The Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B had four chapter candidates: UAPSA-BatSU, UAPSA-DLSU-D, UAPSA-FEU and UAPSA-UST and they ramped their way to represent their chapter and represent the future Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B. Being a candidate for Mr. & Ms. Area B does not solely represent their chapter but also prove beauty is not truly beautiful without wits, so as the first night of Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B, their brains were tested as this was the night for the Question and Answer portion. The candidates were in composure as they battled their brains out and still showed their magnificence in their Victorian Prince and Princess attire. Yet this is their first step in coming to Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B as they would show their beauty on the next night of Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B.

On the second day of Alab, everyone was invigorated as this day was the most vigorous day of the assembly. First up was the Adventure Camp in Batis Aramin. The delegates were in their sports attire and grouped into several teams and were faced into different challenges including Obstacle courses, Wall Climbing, and the most exciting of all, the Zipline. Following the Adventure Camp was the Quezon Tour. After everyone had their lunch, the delegates went straight to their jeeps driving them to the tour, where they went into the different towns in Quezon, specifically Sariaya, Tayabas, Lucena and of course, Lucban. They had the chance to visit and study the heritage homes, churches and the hot spots in Quezon.

As they came back from the tour by evening, it was then they prepared for the amusing and exciting part of the Assembly, the Fellowship Night. The Fellowship Night is known to be the most entertaining part of an Assembly or Congress where the awarding ceremony, crowning of Mr. & Ms. UAPSA (Area B) and an after party occur.

This night once again shined Batis Aramin, now with Superhero theme, where some stand out as they proudly dressed as a superhero character while some were dressed as only the admirers of the superheroes. The superheroes that really stood out for the night were the Mr. & Ms. Area B candidates as they swagged their beauty to the audience – the second part of the Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B, the Talent portion.

 Different talents were presented where everyone was captivated: singing, playing musical instruments, theatre acting and fire dancing. The Mr. & Ms. Area B talent portion was followed by the Awarding Ceremony for the Assembly’s competitions. The different competitions truly proved competitiveness between architecture students – applying knowledge from what they have learned in the four corners of the classroom. There may have been champions in the competitions, yet everyone was still a winner. Right after the Awarding Ceremony, the Mr. & Ms. Area B candidates had their last ramp with their Superhero costume as it is the Coronation of Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B. Everyone has his/her choice of Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B, yet only one pair would be crowned as Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B. Before the crowning of Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B, there were other awards like Best in Suit/Dressed, Best in Costume, Best in Talent, Ms. Congeniality, and Mr. & Ms. Photogenic. The crowd roared at the announcement of the Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B. Mr. Julian Lee of UAPSA-UST and Ms. Catherin Fajarito of UAPSA-BatSU are crowned the Mr. & Ms. UAPSA Area B, respectively.

As the Fellowship Night ended, everyone suited up in their swimming attire as it was the after party of the assembly, having a pool party for the night.

Lucban was awaken up by a bright morning as it was the last day of sparking the passion and empowering the nation. The Assembly was officially closed by a Closing Ceremony, congratulating all the delegates for the Area B Assembly was a success. It was also free day for the delegates, giving them freedom to enjoy the assembly and having a chance to bond more with all the delegates and then later on, bidding Lucban good-bye.