15

Human social harmony and synergies in all human dimensions, with commonalities as bonding element and diversity as dynamic factor.

Aesthetics as basic faculty inherent and to be discovered/developed in all humans: Critique of elitist notions on art.

Interrelation and balance of aesthetics and functionality;

Community aesthetics rooted in the rhythms and rituals of Community Life;  Critique of divisive effects of segregating aesthetics into “seven disciplines”

Critique of commercialization of art.

Critique of overspecialized artistry and star system as elitist and separative in bases and consequences

Specific Nuances of Art in mass communication.

  1. Total Human Development and Harmony Through Synergism

  2. Holistic Health Care and Medicine

  3. Deep Ecology and Harmony with Nature 

  4. Sense of History and Sense of Mission

  5. Civics and Democratic Governance

  6. Culture as Community Creativity

  7. Light-Seeking and Light-Sharing Education

  8. Gender Sensitivity, Equality & Harmony

  9. Reconstructive/Restor-ative Justice

10. Associative Economics, Social Capital and Sustainable Development

11. Synergetic Leadership and Organizations

12. Appropriate/Adaptive Technology

13. Mutual Enrichment of Families and Friendships

14. Human Dignity and Human Harmony: Human Rights and Peace

15. Aesthetics Without Boundaries: 'Art from the Heart'   

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The House as a Living Being

By Prof. John Paul T. Olivares

Chair, Sanib-Sining Movement for Synaesthetics, and

Fine Arts Department, Far Eastern University

RECENTLY, I MOVED my family into my clan house, a war/post war Bahay-na-Bato. Before I got married, I remember showing my fiancé the old house, and she immediately fell in love with it.

The Bahay-na-Bato is a form of Philippine colonial / folk architecture that blends the aspects of Spanish design with Philippine common sense. The basic format of the Bahay-na-Bato is that it has a stone covered lower level (that’s why the name) called a zaguan, and the upper level made primarily of wood.

The zaguan is used as a cuadra (stable), a bodega (stock room), or atelier (workshop); while the upper area serves as the living quarters of the family. The upper level is designed to maximize the light and air of with it spacious floors and wide windows, which is a simple evolution of the Bahay Kubo design.

However, before we moved in, my wife and found the house in a very dismal state. After my grandmother died in the early 1980s, no one lived in it with the exception of a caretaker, who simply watched over the house. And over the years, she watched it as it slowly deteriorated. In fact, the whole kitchen was being supported by a lone dos-por-dos, and any earthquake would surely topple the whole kitchen. Aside from that, the roof leaked, there was rat droppings all over the place, the electrical system was short of a fire hazard, and much more.

People were aghast that we had chosen to move into such a place, the so-called “haunted house” down the street. But my wife and I persevered, because we believed in the house.

“Believed in the house”? Sounds strange, but I simply view a house as I see a living being, and the old girl (yes the house has a gender) was simply sick and not dead.

Looking at her like a doctor methodologically inspecting a patient, these were my conclusions:

The nervous system (electrical system) was shot from all the years of over use, and she needed to be rewired. The digestive system (drainage) was clogged and over flowing, which needed to be drained and re-piped.

Her vascular system (water pipes) was almost clogged and also had to be re-piped.

Her epidermis (outer walls and roof) has lost its natural protective layer and had to be sealed and repainted.

Her skeletal system (internal structure) was half rotten, but some areas needed mending and the structure had to be strengthened with cement and wood.

Her lungs (windows and air flow) were also clogged and thus the windows had to be repaired and opened.

With such a diagnosis, we had a daunting task ahead. So my wife and I, with two carpenters and an electrician, went to work (with a meager budget of PhP 120,000).

One of the first tasks I went on was to clear all the garbage that had accumulated through out the years. There was so much junk and dirt, aside from the rotten wood that we had to replace, that I was able to fill an area of 3 x 5 x 20 ft with garbage three times over.

The work was tedious, but very inspiring as we saw how much the house would change and glow as each day ended.

On week days, we went to the house before 8 am and gave the workers their instructions. We returned at 5 pm to inspect their progress, and then dismiss the workers as we continue what was not finished until 10 pm. When we returned home, we continued packing our possessions until 3 am, then go to sleep. On weekends, we would start from 9 am to 6 pm, and then we would go home.

This was our routine for two months until the day we finally moved in.

Now we had one final “operation” to complete.

You see, the old girl’s heart was there but very weak, and the only thing that would jump start that heart was the people who lived in it. A house becomes a home when a family loves each other and loves the house they are sheltered in. And the house’s heart is centered on its residents, and after three generations living in it and sharing with it, then abandoning it, she has weakened.

Now that we have come to call she our home, with the fourth generation (our daughter), she too has come alive and has become a bright beacon in our street for all our neighbors to see. In fact, many people come over and feel that they are transported to another world, where they are safe from their urban worries.

Our house has regained her heart, and now is opening her arms to others.

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