THEME RESORT (A TOURISM THESIS PROJECT)

03 January 2015//:

@Eleven, Klein, here and now, signing on…

A blessed new year to everyone! Yes, I am talking about continuous blessings tonight as I would be featuring a small project entrusted to me by tourism students from STI San Fernando branches in the early quarter of 2014. This is yet a bit throwback to the opportunities to me last year.

I met this group of students commissioning me to provide them architectural services for their investigative project, somewhat a thesis wherein they have to select a resort that is let’s say, with due respect, under-rated or does not take off that much. In their study, they should dig into some dilemmas which might be the hindrances to the further success of such a resort and tourism business. The resort which the group has chosen is hypothetically has been found out to be under-patronized because of its poor marketing strategies. Looking closely to the marketing strategies, we have observed that the resort, being under a tourism bracket needs to have a strong image which would invite and entice people to come and visit the place. A remarkable experience! The resort has a theme. That is given. Yet it needs to consistently promote and express the concept through the forms and feel of the structures and buildings in the site. This is where I came in. I need to offer a design that is soothing and relaxing, (being a resort) and at the same time with a solid and whole concept for the given theme.

Take a look at these images below. We see the efforts in providing a unique concept of a resort in fantasy world. In these spots, there were some additions and improvements to be done. I have induced more playful environment through solid colors and contrast of textures.

Oops! Yah! I know this pink color with blue accent is too Bayani Fernando’s MMDA fences. But as fore-mentioned, we are in fortifying the Princess Leah concept where the base colors are pink and blue, and so we could not shift into another color palette, but instead just maximize the potentials and appreciation of this given line of colors.

In the above late images, the significant change is this: The focal point of this themed pool is a grotto where an image of the Virgin Mary is nestled. I am not against our religion but c’mon! This a recreation area. Mixing up an image of the Blessed Mother with the dolphins and penguins in a swimming pool is not a good idea. We should know when and where can we exhibit such religiosity or even speaking more frank, do we really need to expose it? I honestly don’t feel the need to, or at least specifically in this given area. So in a shorter sense, I replace it with statues of the penguins to harmonize the idea and intention of creating a pool that conceives and portrays a frozen and ice-cold experience.

For a recreational district, it is very important that a resort does not only contain swimming pools. It is very competitive business and more often than not, it all boils up to which has the most complete facilities. In support to this, we have proposed improvement and expansion of the Function Hall; addition of bar and restaurants, small convenience store, spa and relaxation hub, KTV and videoke rooms, souvenir booths: all these featured in the main building.

To end the discussion about the project itself, I will elaborate a big factor that should conclude the entire project. We need to make sure that in the approach of the people to the site, there should be a significant impact from the first flight. Just like a new rising subdivision in a city, it all starts with an elaborate and dedicated design for the gate and marketing office/model house because it epitomize the value of the development. This is the entrance building. The first building people will see upon entering the resort. Inspired from the Disneyland’s castle, the building promotes the goal of having a fantasy world. Serving as the administration building too, it is really alluring so people surveying this place for an event such as wedding and debuts, upon visiting an appointment to admin personnel would impulsively get them decided to finalize their reservations. While for those who are having swimming trips will enjoy the place having to pose for selfies with this background, yet another advertising strategy. Good investment, it is!

Now we’ve talked much about the place and the student’s analysis for their thesis. We go to the personal story behind the production of such drawings. This was given to me with a very limited time frame. Yah, considering that this is just a hypothetical study of students and this is all for the sake of submission and grade for a specific subject, it does not reduce the workload still. The project, to be worth an appreciation, just deserves a justifying presentation. Thanks to my friend, the virtual Belo: Photoshop which has been my tool in editing, enhancing and face-lifting the buildings and structures. It very easy to photo grab an image but just as I know what it undergoes to produce such an image, it is with my free-guilt and anxious conscience that though we take part and partial of an existing structure for inspiration, in full responsibility, we need to produce an original image. Anyway, that the prime reason why I was commissioned for the project. J

Klein, here and now, signing off://

For creative visualization, thesis related projects and other design services:

#theeffessignature #creative visualization #perspectives #tourism #thesis #themed resort #princess leah resort #thesis on resorts #Photoshop #psd #architecture #recreational 

THE SOUL IN MY EYE (BEHIND THE CANVASS)

13 September, 2014//:

@Ten, Klein, here and now, signing on...

For the past weeks, I have been in high emotions with everything that is happening in my life. My patience and tenacity really is being tested, and this time, I want to remain quiet for I always would remind myself that only his very words and their corresponding effect will hurt a man come soon. Then, just so to divert my attention, I decided to go back to my childhood love. PAINTING. Before designing those architecture stuffs or anything that has never been seen, I would love to do portraits of anything that I usually see. Before I get into creating, I was once a patron of many creations, divine or human it may be. But I started to realize to pursue arts and painting lately as I get even more exposed to others’ works as most of my interior projects would, more often than not, suggest piece/s to glitter my interior’s spark.

In painting, I would perhaps label my style and preference as, technically if there is such, minimalism. A single object to me would translate thousands of stories to tell. Just like an MMK title. =) So for my first object to paint about, I can’t think of any better option than this.

“The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.”

-St. Jerome

EYES. There is nothing in this world that could best define me than my eyes. As Samuel Richardson would describe it, “Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal”. In my renewal to another great love, I would like to say as much but my canvass has its dimensions, my paint has its color range, my brush has its number of stokes. Limited. I can only express as much. With this thought, I knew I could extend my expression through this EYE. This very eye. I do not claim that this portray my own. I am not sure if it looks exactly as mine, but one thing I am confident is that this eye has my soul.

Just as mentioned above, I have my stirred emotions in the moment I did this artwork. In doing this I would have spot of thought of Stanislaw Jerzy Lec’s quote: “Not because it is dark and our eyes cannot see anything, there really something that exist. You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories.” I, like anyone in this world, am hurt in one or two aspects of my life. So to deal with it, I would rather ignore this and try to look at other aspects so I can still root a trace of happiness in my coming days. Yet there is just a question with me now, do we really move forward if we just try to forget our pain without settling them? Are we really ready to move ahead when things has not been forgiven yet? Or that is just really how it is? I know I am making a deep blunt sense. But whatever it is that bothers me, I am calmed as I have poured my feelings in the artwork and surprisingly, after I finished it, I agreed to Marcel Proust in his quote of:  “The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

“Sometimes you can't see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others.”

- Ellen DeGeneres

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality. Similar to Macklemore & Lewis line, “Change the game, don’t let the game change you.” Sometimes things may not go smoothly on our way. Then we might opt to try other approach. Let us not lose a sight of our dream, of our happiness, of our success. Just as I hold on to this renewed love that is something of great colors to me. I do not lose track from believing that this first painting is in any form an art. I hope you appreciate it. J

Klein, here and now, signing off://

#thesoulinmyeye #eyes #art #artistry #artwork #abstractobject #painting #love #theeffessignature #behindthecanvass

FENG SHUI: LUCKY DIRECTIONS & COLORS

27 August 2014//:

@Nine, Klein, here and now, signing on...

Last Sunday, August 24, 2014 marks the end of the Chinese ghost month. Here's a quick brief of what ghost month is. The Chinese said the gate of the Chinese Hell will be opened on the first day of Chinese &th Lunar month at early midnight every year. The suffering spirits from the Hell are able to return to their homes  to see their descendants and enjoy grand feasts. But they have only one month vacation and have to return to the Hell on the last day of the 7th lunar month. Therefore, Chinese call 7th lunar month is the Ghost Month. In this way, this month is so much associated with bad luck and sufferings. tradition dictates several do's and dont's. So many would take higher regard for luck and better fate after the so-claimed dark period and I just find it the best time to release this blog post.

I will be sharing to you a little pie from the Numerology and Feng Shui cake. I knew this KUA thingy when we were reviewing for board exam. Yah, board exam: one of the rarest times to many when we introduce ourselves to all the saints of saints, patrons of patrons, and holy of holy. Those desperate moments. Haha! But actually, ATM, I am at a better state now yet I still appreciate and have imbibed this thingy. C’mon dude, there’s no harm in trying. It’s just a guide, not a law. And after all, it’s all about faith and trust in your hopes. It’s another matter of law of attraction. What you conceive, you practice and when it’s in your system, it no longer a biggy to deal with and be conscious about. So here it is friends…

First you have to know your KUA number so that you can translate your numerology into those compass-ish guides.

KUA NUMBER FOR A FEMALE born before year 2000:

1. Add the last two numbers of your year of birth and bring it to a single digit.

2. Add your single digit to number 5. (Bring this number to a single digit, too, if applicable.)

3. This is your KUA Number!

KUA NUMBER FOR A FEMALE  born after year 2000: (Though I actually don’t expect my readers to be this young. Anyway, this isn’t an SPG blog post tho. I am just from the 90’s and seeing someone from this decade and onwards is quiet disturbing for me. There’s a little setback from the issue of paedophile. Haha!)

1. Add the last two numbers of your year of birth and bring it to a single digit.

2. Add your single digit to number 6. (Bring this number to a single digit, too, if applicable.)

3. This is your KUA Number!

KUA NUMBER FOR A MALE born before year 2000:

1. Add the last two numbers of your year of birth and bring it to a single digit.

2. Deduct your single digit from number 10.

3. This is your KUA Number!

KUA NUMBER FOR A MALE born after year 2000: (Here it goes again. Haha!)

1. Add the last two numbers of your year of birth and bring it to a single digit.

2. Deduct your single digit from number 9.

3. This is your KUA Number!

 

Let's have some sample like those grade school Math solutions:
 

I am born in the year 1990

Given:

year = 1990

sex = male

Problem: If it is said that we should face such direction for most of our time in a day, which direction should I face if I want Money & Success?

Solution:

Add the last two digits of the year of birth: 9 + 0 = 9.

It is now on a single digit number.

Deduct your single digit number from number 10 => 10 - 9 = 1.

My Kua number is 1.
See the table for translation.

Therefore, I should orient my office desk and bed facing the Southeast direction. I chose office and bed because this is where I spent most of my days.

Very nutty right?

Here's another bonus for you, pair those directions with your lucky colors.

 Your Personal Feng Shui Birth Element Chart

How To Use this Chart: Find your year of birth in one of the 5 columns representing a specific feng shui element; be sure to check the day, too (your date and month of birth have to be after, not before the day the Chinese New Year started in that year). Note that the format used in the chart is day/month/year. After knowing your birth element, see the chart especially for you.

May we all be blessed and lucky guys! But don't forget still, prayer is the best weapon. I swaer it can move mountains. Imbibe positivity! To all architects, I hope this will be of help in planning your projects for Feng Shui and luck conscious clients. Well I think everyone is conscious of their fate. Good day!

Klein, here and now, signing off://

#feng shui #KUA number #lucky directions #birth element #lucky color #theeffessignature

RONQUILLO TWO-STOREY RESIDENTIAL PROJECT

10 August 2014//:

@Eight, Klein, here and now, signing on…

Here’s another product of my rendering services and another project commissioned to me in 2013 by Arch. Edison Mojares, one of the senior architects in my work. It’s a two-storey residential project and that’s it. That’s all I know and I think that is all I need to know. It’s an objective matter after all.

It’s another a celebration for the design and creation of such computer generated softwares and programs to produce such perspectives and accumulation of bright ideas or concepts. Really, layman to visualize the designer’s concepts into an augmented reality is possible and easy! The above image is the raw rendered perspective. Thanks to Vray. But nah ah! Photoshop still would come to picture. J Thanks to Photoshop the world would be a lot greener for the landscape and more. J

 For rendering services and other creative visualization:

#theeffessignature #rendering services #creative visualization #perspectives #two storey residence #3D model #3D rendering

MODERN TWO-STOREY MAUSOLEUM PROJECT

23 July 2014//:

@Seven, Klein, here and now signing on...

This is another product of my rendering services. This was commissioned to me by Arch. Edison Mojares, one of the senior architects in my work. This is his personal project and therefore, though we see and talk to each other everyday in the office, we cannot discuss this project in the workplace. We just converse about this matter through emails. This is often the dilemma of rendering services where the renderer is expected to produce an output that equates the design concept in the mind of the designer. The renderer stands as the translator of the designer through the output which is the perspective image. Lucky for you if the reference drawings are concise and really of great help. With this, good communication is necessary and here is where the dilemma comes in because often than seldom, there are some details any renderer may not be conscious about or may miss out, something which the designer seeks to present in his expected output. For me to avoid major revisions, I would present exported images of the 3D model to my clients for confirmation and approval before I would finalize the rendering of my perspective. In our scenario, I send it to his email and then he responds in the same mentioned medium. Something that is weird because in this time where we are collaborating for a project, Arch. Eds and I actually just share the same working area in the office. But we have to respect our work and the standards of professionalism that is why we play a so-near-yet-so-far drama. J Herewith are the exported 3D modelled, raw perspectives.

Aside from presenting raw perspectives to check the 3D model if it express the same plan and façade designed by the prime architect, I used these images too as options for the designer to choose which shot he wants the perspective to be done. I think the second image among the nine was his angle shot choice. And olah! Here is the rendered perspective dude. There had been a minor revision, such that to minimize the landscape entourage to better convey a scenery of a cemetery park. I say it as minor revision because that would only mean turning off specific layers in the Photoshop file. By the way, That is also why I don’t render my entourage in V-ray because entourage may be too subjective at times. It’s as per discretion. In the end, I got my happiness rate paid, have added another image to my portfolio and satisfied another client.

For rendering services and other creative visualization:

Klein, here and now, signing off://

TAM-AWAN VILLAGE (Garden in the Sky)

15 July 2014//:

@Six Klein, here and now, signing on...

Our Baguio trip last month is truly a breath of new fresh air, not only literally with the cuddly cold climate, but also the experience of something new. I never thought of seeing an outdoor museum. I mean, yah, experiencing nature and its wonder, itself, is like or even more than just feeding the mind with sight-seeing. But those artworks to be exposed to weather? That was a bit doubt to me. Little did I know I would have the extreme appreciation afterwards.

This is nature at its finest. Although the green backdrop is very refreshing, photographs like these are very common yet I am proud to feature this place because I, myself got surprised with how the artworks were introduced by inducing them to the natural environment. The integration was so smooth that as I swing my attention to one side, later do I realize that there is a man creation. C’mon! drag down your mouse ball and discover for yourself the wonders of nature and man’s wise integration. Experience the unique and varying forms of art.

Speaking of nature and God’s creations, herewith are some skulls of animals which naturally suits the feel. The exposure of these is not only relative and appropriate to me but also the purest presentation of the real environment.

Moreover, looking at the last images above, you would notice some pieces expressing the simple life and deep-rooted living of the locals in the area.

And above all the epitomes of their well-established, respected and rich culture, I find these very interesting and cute representations. You know as you see it. J

To end this article, let me express the thoughts behind this vital piece. This is Kanlungan of Herwin Buccat and Sariel Ancheta rightfully spotted on the place’s approach. The artists created a symbolic representation of Mother Earth’s state in the Philippines accented by a marble finish polished sculpture. The woman, seen as mother Earth is enclosed in shell sitting on three leaves symbolizing Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the three main islands in the country, with long flowing fiery hair. Stated on the brief is: “…Mother Nature is engulfed in vines fighting forces trying to weaken her, birds flying closely by her are seen as bearers of life, sustaining her in weakness as thorns continue to destroy her body. Underneath are vases carrying water from the seas of the Philippines seen to restore the weakening Mother Nature.”

“In the course of the short trekking in Tam-awan Village, I knew I am having a glimpse of Eden, so innocent and heavenly… And I do want to be another Adam nor Eve letting go of this perfect place.”

Ooops! By the mention, across the road is an art gallery. You might want to visit it too. Art overload: it is! 

Klein, here and now, signing off://

BTS:

To prove the worth of this post, here' Ms. KC Concepcion's IG post expressing her excitement to explore the place. Cool!

#tamawan village #Baguio #garden in the sky #nature #travel blog #Eden