Analyzing The Fairview Terraces Rafael Vien A.

Santillan University of the Philippines, Diliman

Shopping malls in the Philippines have been primarily used and enjoyed by a lot of Filipinos, which even lead to having a distinct Filipino mall culture however the Architecture of Filipino shopping malls are vastly influenced by western styles and are missing what is needed to be considered a Filipino Shopping mall. This paper will critique Ayala Fairview Terraces, located at Fairview Quezon City and will prove that the mall itself is an example of a Filipino Shopping mall that is for the contemporary Filipino but lacks a Filipino cultural identity. The mall was originally conceived of as a community center where people would converge for shopping, cultural activity, and social interaction. It is safe to say that the mall has achieved and surpassed those early expectations. In today's consumer culture the mall is the center of the universe. (Feinberg & Meoli, 1991) That being said, the Filipino people had nothing against the concept of shopping malls since the Filipinos love to engage in socialization or pakikipag-kapwa It is also worth noting that shopping malls in the Philippines was not founded by anyone who is Filipino, the foremost shopping mall in the country which is the SM was established by a Chinese merchant. The success of shopping malls didnt just happen due to the Filipinos fondness for socialization or need for entertainment, but can also be explained by cultural factors, in this case Filipinos doesnt mind to be acculturated. Renato Constantino once referred to the Filipinos as a defilipinized race. Through the system of colonial miseducation, most Filipinos have been inculcated with a view of life that puts more value on what is foreign rather than on what is ours. The late Dr. Virgilio Enriquez, a pioneer in Filipino psychology also once likened us to the "niyog" because we are brown in the outside and white inside, foreign in thought, language, and name. (Longid, 1998)

One theory that can be created is that the Filipinos know what they want to have or what they need, which is a shopping mall or a one-stop shop, except they dont know how to come up with something that is culturally reflective as well. Hence the problem is resolved by imitating what is existing and even worse is that this exists somewhere far from our culture. ..the need to at least draw the distinguishable borderlines of the Filipino identity is imperative if we are to build systems that shall truly respond to the needs of the people. "Who are we?" is a question that Filipinos may have to answer first before tackling the question, "What are we going to build?" For without churning out answers to the first question, we may be creating things we may not use or worse, things that may destroy us. In architecture where both social and economic costs may be enormous, it is all the more important to consider these. (Longid) Whats on the surface Fairview Terraces is at the corner of Regalado and Quirino highways, across the latter from SM Fairview and a block away from Robinsons Novaliches. It fights for elbow room in an area that is anticipated to boom with the planned construction of a metro rail line that connects to the North Triangle along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue. There is high growth [expected] in this area, especially with the construction of [the planned MRT line 7], ALI president Antonino T. Aquino said in a press briefing. And this is the gateway to eastern Bulacan. (Domingo)

The Fairview Terraces had done a great job in keeping the environment cool, shaded and well ventilated. For a hot-humid climate country, the mall used high ceiling roofing for the central garden and finished the space by placing a giant tree in the middle to add natural shade and ventilation. Large openings were also used for proper air flow which is really effective in keeping the open areas naturally well ventilated. The mall also had raised floors, which prevents

the whole structure from possible flooding and again to maintain cool temperature. In addition, the mall went away with the common box type configuration and made use of open areas with landscapes, which makes the structure look and feel cool. Basically the mall had considered the context of a hot-humid country and applied it in its architecture. In a contemporary Filipino cultural setting, what makes the mall effective is that it caters the Filipinos cultural forces such as social intercourse, basic needs, family and lifestyle. For a typical Filipino, a mall is a place for leisure activities, buying necessities, attending events or place for a Sunday date with the family. The mall did not fail to provide these factors, having a lot of retail shops, a vast range of restaurants, a grocery store, a central garden and an activity center, which is a typical location for artists to share their talents or have an event. This mall had again succeeded in catering most Filipino cultural forces. What lies beneath Without a doubt in a Filipino setting, the mall is effective in both context and social purpose but what the mall lacks is something that could only be seen by someone who believes that architecture should mean something. A mall may not be a national structure or a historical landmark but still it is a building made for the benefit of the people, and it is just vital to say that the architecture must also contain something that signifies the Filipino, something that will ignite ones deeper emotions rather than just say something literally. The nature of a mall identity is based on a global one- cosmopolitan and urbanized, the concept of leisure and entertainment from malling is definitely not our nature but yet we fit this culture into ours. In turn, this culture had weakened the concept of a national identity in favor of the globalized living. (Tolentino, 2004)

What the mall lack is the spirit or diwa of the Filipino Identity, that could be inspired from something that is remarkable and relatable for the Filipino individual. The mall does not say something figuratively because it is filled with a lot of consumerist purposes. The mall does not cater to enthuse ones cultural identity, it only functions to support ones needs, the location of the mall itself is an example that it does not stand for any metaphorical purpose, it does not have any cultural importance for the people, thus only serving as competition with the SM Malls. Through time Filipinos had been followers to western influences, and mall establishments was no exception, people in time, forgot to create something for them but just created something for solely commercial purposes. This is a result of adapting and not creating. In the field of the cultural arts, Filipinos are known to be expert copycats of the "stateside". (Longid) What we need is to promote Filipino architecture, something that uses all the concepts of Filipino living and translates it properly into architecture, something that can be symbolic yet not ancient, there are truly lot of Filipino cultural identities that architects could work on, why not start working with them rather than creating mimics of western influences. One should create something that could really pierce into ones being Filipino, something that embodies the Self or how does a Filipino related himself or herself into the building, or something that evokes a spirit that is Filipino, something that will make the mall goers feel something other than being into typical mall, bring them into a nostalgic place or have a play of historical context; one could also make use of signification. Paradigm-wise the mall is a sign itself says Gottdiener, it connotes something other than its principal function, but this type of signification is for the benefit of the mall itself, which is to hide its consumerist and instrumentalist nature which is the

malls motif. (Gottdiener); it uses a form of illusion that will make the mall-goers think that the mall is for them but in reality they serve to keep the mall going and produce money. But whats more essential to inculcate something cultural is to put symbols syntagm-wise, to give the mall a stronger and deeper meaning. Considering these needs, the mall responds to none. The bottom-line is, most of todays architecture are mere followers to what is dictated by the capitalist society, catering to physical needs alone, architecture becomes a product and not a work of art, a center of the community without a meaning, a building used by the Filipinos but not designed for the Filipinos.

References

Feinberg, R., & Meolli, J. (1991). Advances in consumer research. (Vol. 18, pp. 426-427). Association for Consumer Research. Retrieved from http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=7196 Longid, V. (1998). Balangay: A filipino cultural mall. (Master's thesis). Tolentino, R. (2004). Kulturang mall. (Vol. 1, p. 51). Pasig City: Anvil Pub. Gottdeiner, M. (1986). The city and the sign. In Introduction to Architecture Domingo, R. (2014, March 1). Ayala launches p5-b fairview terraces mall. Retrieved from http://business.inquirer.net/165098/ayala-launches-p5-b-fairview-terraces-mall