Writings on the Wall

Using a blue ballpen, I marked the location of the new openings on the bathroom wall so natural light can enter the otherwise claustrophobic dungeon stuck in the middle of a condo unit.  In this photo, I just superimposed light blue squares to indicate the position because you can't see the marks this far.

I toyed around with the idea of a vertical slit but then found it impractical for most people who may feel uncomfortable if there was such a window to the bathroom even if it was protected with non-transparent, non-body-baring, sandblasted glass. 

Up close, the scribbling looks like this.  Writing on walls is such fun harking back to the days when parents would chase you for desecrating the house with pencil and crayon marks. 

For instance, my one year eight month old baby just desecrated our bedroom wall with his innocent, energetic, Picasso-in-the-making artwork.  But I'm not upset at all because I'd like to join him in the graffitti joy much like joining him run around the grass, screaming with glee, getting wet dancing into the water sprinkler, jumping naked in what seems like the hottest summer days.  

Eye Candy Eye Sore

Chipping off the tiles started two Mondays ago and then there was Holy Week in between so working days were shortened.   Now the second bathroom is practically tile-free and ready for the re-plumbing works to begin. 

It would have been ideal to enlarge the small windows of the kitchen but that would be too dangerous and difficult to do being on the seventh floor overlooking a busy street. 

So the next best thing to do would be to knock down a portion of the wall to let the light from the balcony window seep through. . . . . . 

. . . . shine, making one continuous space and allowing better access from the service to the served areas.  

Originally, I wanted these vertical openings to bring natural light into the bathroom but then I thought not too many people may be comfortable with this sort of arrangement even if sandblasted glass is used to conceal any activity inside.

So I changed the design to these series of squares . . . .

. . . . that echo themselves in other walls.

For the seventies babies out there, this is a close-up of the groovy wallpaper -- eye candy for the home decades ago and eyesore today (or not).

Sampaguita with the Right Lens

The other day I posted pictures of No. 16 Sampaguita using the camera that was difficult to manipulate with super narrow lens.  Here are the pictures using the camera with wide angle lens.  I truly enjoyed photographing this house from a biased and proud arki schoolmate's point of view.  The designer doesn't want his name mentioned, though.

More info about the house is found here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/16sampaguita

Light Please

Removing the ceilings, false walls, exposing the beams all made a difference in letting more light into the previously dark and low spaces.

At first, I had more ideas about what to do to improve the rooms and create more openings for the light to come in but after doing the budget costing, I had to pare everything down to the essentials or else it would just be too expensive for the owner.

Anyway, simply raising the ceiling already does a lot in lightening up the place so the basics hopefully would be good enough and if the whole project comes within budget, perhaps there'd be money for furnishing the place.

The kitchen and service areas will entail the most work.  I plan to make an opening doorway and window to let the light in from the living room into the kitchen because the kitchen window is so, so stingy in proportion.

I wish I can alter the space for the aircon to let more light into the bedrooms but that's one of the ideas I had to give to fit the budget.  Anyway, being in an existing building, it would be difficult to make alterations that affect the facade.

My hubby helps out a lot driving us to the site, buying tools and cleaning up.  He also forces me to improve my negotiation skills and to be firmer when I talk with suppliers.  I'm very grateful to have him as my husband. 



Twilight Zone

We've talked about this trip since last year.  I was going to take pictures of the house designed by my architecture classmate whose works since university days I've always admired so I was only excited to see the consumated projects. 

Construction started last year and this month it was finally finished.  My friend's a bit, no -- more of too obsessive compulsive about details and he keeps showing me computer rendered drawings because according to him, the reality doesn't perfectly match the ideal. The "as built" fell short due to human errors.  I told him that it would be more interesting to see the actual homes, that even if reality is imperfect, it would still be better than what high-tech machines can produce on the screen.  Of course, it's also a challenge for the architect to find the contractor who can bring his designs to life exactly as intended but that should be a subject for another article. 

Off we went to the site, my husband in tow because he operates the professional camera while I just use my simple digital camera.  We shot away and when we finished, something happened straight from the Twilight Zone episode with blue men putting back everything in place every minute of our lives.  The blue men forgot to put back my camera!  No matter how much we looked around, we couldn't find it.  I thought at least if the pictures taken by my husband using the camera with the big lens were good then at least the day wouldn't be lost.  However, it turned out the lens were much too narrow, limiting the shots. 

We went back to the house so I could take photos with the big camera and when I realized it was useless with that type of lens, we borrowed the house owner's toy-for-the-big-boy camera.  The lens were wide and it was enjoyable to take pictures.  We then transferred the photos onto my friend's laptop and the photos were copied to my USB.   When I got home, the photos in the USB were only a handful and couldn't be opened -- another case of the Twilight Zone blue men botching up their job?   Two mistakes today?  No, it can't be.  Theme music from the Twilight Zone pipes in. . . . . .

Anyway, here a few decent shots from the big camera with the narrow lens.  I'll try to get a copy of the other photos and will post them another time if the Twilight men allow me.

By the way, this house located at the south part of Metro Manila, is on the market and for sale.

The Second Contender

This is the state of the condo unit when I went in over a month ago.  It hasn't seen any renovation work in three decades so the design elements are all from the seventies -- low ceilings and disco wallpaper.  The groovy bachelor pad had a mirrored ceiling in the bedroom that were eventually covered up with plywood after changes in occupants.  The last tenant decided to just use it is as storage space -- a pity since the unit is in a prime location plus there are not too many new structures as generously proportioned.  This 115 sq m apartment has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and right smack at the heart of Makati, a stone's throw away from Makati Med. 

It took one week to remove all the false ceilings and walls and to tear down the closets and cabinets.  It has made such a great difference bringing the light in.

Before Reality Sets In

This should already be about the next renovation job I'm doing but I still have one set of photos to show of the treehouse villas we visited at the Shangri-La courtesy of Spar, the dynamic and accommodating front desk officer.  He made the quickie tour possible right before we caught our flight back to Manila.

I wish I can go back to this bathroom and open all the blinds and capture how the whole space opens up to the trees beyond allowing all the light to stream through.  I'd love to have a bathroom like this that is totally bathed in natural sunshine filtered through layers and layers of trees. 

This is Rima, the Italian restaurant which we missed.  That's why there should be a next time.

Reality has actually and abruptly set in the moment we stepped out of the speed boat and onto the bustle of the port area and the chaos of Caticlan airport under renovation.  This afternoon I went to visit the second renovation site.  Demolition work is going on as scheduled.  The workers are chipping out the tiles from the bathrooms and next we need to make the new openings through the concrete walls. 

 

Inspiring Discovery

My Mom is into architecture and design.  It's one of her obsessions.  She loves collecting antique wood from old houses and using them in her projects.  She has been constructing non-stop almost all her life.  Her bookshelves of architecture and design tomes weigh heavily.  She lights up whenever she finds inspiring pieces of architecture. 

When I went to Boracay last year for a bridal shower of a very good friend, I saw three places which I wished I could show my Mom because she would surely appreciate the modern detailing and design:  Tides, Astoria and Discovery Suites.  When a wedding in Shangri-La came up where she was the Ninang, we were only too lucky to be able to tag along with her.  My dream came true:  I was able to show her the three places.  My Mom kept telling my husband what pictures to take, what angles, what exactly she wanted captured. 

Following are my pictures of inspiring Discovery: