UST CFAD Inaugural Research Forum: Researching the Discipline, Designing the Research
Inaugural Research Forum Overview and Welcome Address
Event Context: The University of Santo Tomas (UST) College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD) held its inaugural research forum entitled Researching the Discipline, Designing the Research as an integral part of its College Week celebrations on November 22, 2021.
Forum Leadership and Organizers:
Host and Moderator: Assistant Professor Lorena Varro, along with co-moderator Mr. Lope B. Gagaro (PhD candidate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University) and Ms. Liza Lin, MFA.
Welcome Address: Assistant Professor Mary Christie D. Que, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Design.
Project Proponent and Research Lead: Assistant Professor Mary Anne Venturina-Bulanadi, PhD.
Institutional Alignment: Research has historically remained a core strategic agenda of the University of Santo Tomas. The inaugural CFAD forum established an institutional pathway to transition faculty members and students from pure artistic and design practitioners to active art and design scholars.
Featured Keynote and Plenary Speakers:
Associate Professor Maria Alexandra Iñigo-Chua, PhD: Director of the UST Research Center for Culture, Arts, and Humanities (RCCAH / ARCCA).
Professor Ray Donne S. Papa, PhD: Dean of the UST College of Science and Editor-in-Chief of The Antoninus Journal (TAJ), UST Graduate School.
Assistant Professor Romano "Gemma" Macaisa Mendoza, PhD: Industrial Design Department Chair, presenting on Knowledge Production in the Creative Discipline, Design Research, and Research Design.
Assistant Professor Mary Anne Venturina-Bulanadi, PhD: Interior Design Department faculty and RCCAH Research Interest Group (RIG) Lead, presenting on Research and Advocacy on Curation of Spaces.
Departmental Panel Speakers:
Interior Designer Marie Antoinette Punzalan-Peña, MID: Interior Design Department, presenting on The Impact of the Refrigerator in the Filipino Space.
Assistant Professor Myla Baldemor-Balde, MAEd-EM: Painting Department, presenting on Art Model's Personal, Physical, and Professional Attributes that Enhance Modeling Effectiveness in the University of Santo Tomas.
Ms. Jennica Anne B. Pasquale, MFA: Advertising Arts Department, presenting on A Fiber Story: An Exploration on Bamboo Fiber as a Sustainable Material for Papercutting and Fiber Art Supporting the Advocacy Against Deforestation.
Mr. Manuel Dacanay Jr., MFA: Industrial Design Department, presenting on Grants, International Student Mobility, and Cultural Identity in Modern Product Design.
Infrastructure and Opportunities for Arts and Humanities Research: RCCAH / ARCCA
Background of the Research Center:
The Research Center for Culture, Arts, and Humanities (RCCAH, colloquially referred to as ARCCA) serves as UST's central research hub for literature, music, visual arts, design, cultural heritage, and humanistic inquiry. It was formerly known as the Center for Intercultural Studies (CIS).
The institutional mandate of RCCAH centers on the systematic production, advancement, and critical dissemination of cultural and artistic knowledge.
Key Academic Credentials of Director Maria Alexandra Iñigo-Chua:
Doctor of Philosophy in Music (2017) and Master of Music in Musicology (2000) from the University of the Philippines College of Music.
Bachelor of Music in Piano (1991) from the UST Conservatory of Music.
Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge (2015–2016) funded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Project Lead for the CHED-NCCA Creative Grant Julio Nakpil Music Project: Rethinking and Reimagining the Musical Works of Julio Nakpil in the Context of Philippine Modernity, Transculturation, and Cultural Nationalism (resulting in a two-volume music edition and a four-volume complete works recording).
Project Lead for Musica Filipinas: Research and Mapping Towards Understanding, Scoping, and Defining the Philippine Music Industry, supported by the Department of Science and Technology – National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP, awarded September 2021).
Key founding figure in the Musicological Society of the Philippines (established 2002).
Institutional Benefits of Conducting Research Under RCCAH:
Higher Research Load Credits: Research units awarded by the university provide higher computational value for workload equivalencies compared to basic teaching units.
Annual Institutional Research Budget: Faculty researchers receive an annual operating budget of approximately to jumpstart preliminary investigations, which acts as leverage to secure multi-million peso national and international external grants (e.g., CHED, NCCA, DOST, international foundations).
Global Scholarly Mobility: Opportunities to present peer-reviewed papers at prestigious domestic and international academic conferences (e.g., in Switzerland, across Asia, and Europe).
Accelerated Academic Promotion: Research deloading provides faculty with dedicated writing time to publish in peer-reviewed journals, substantially streamlining institutional career progression and professorial tenure.
Interdisciplinary Scholarly Community: Researchers gain integration into a multidisciplinary peer ecosystem spanning architecture, music, design, literature, economics, and social sciences.
Recent Collaborative Arts and Design Initiatives:
Diskurso Serye 2 (July 9, 2021): Focused on fine arts and design studies, featuring Professor Patrick Flores's lecture The Spirit and the Sentiment of the Present: Writing Art History Through Nena Saguil, followed by CFAD presentations including Ding Royales's mixed-media visual interpretations of Julio Nakpil's nine musical compositions (curated by Dr. Bulanadi), Dr. Gemma Mendoza's theoretical study on Diskarte through the Filipino chair, and Dr. Lilia De Jesus's framework on sustainable design for climate change adaptation.
Diskurso Serye 3 (November 24, 2021): Structured around interdisciplinary intersections between music, economics, and literature.
Legislative Context: The contemporary expansion of creative research coincides with national momentum surrounding the Creative Industries Development Bill, filed to provide statutory protections, grants, and infrastructure for the Philippine creative economy.
Theoretical Rationale for Everyday Design Research:
Art and design are intrinsically performative and production-oriented activities, but creative practitioners possess the primary intellectual agency to document, theorize, and historicize their internal thought processes and disciplinary artifacts.
Michel de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life (L'invention du quotidien, 1980) articulates how everyday users exercise tactical agency amidst macro-structures of architecture, industrial objects, and urban planning. Design research interrogates these everyday, structured material environments where culture and human action converge.
Knowledge Production in Design, Design Research, and Diskarte Theory
Academic and Professional Profile of Assistant Professor Romano "Gemma" Macaisa Mendoza:
Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design (1987), Master in Business Administration (Magna Cum Laude, 2001), and Doctor of Philosophy in Philippine Studies (2020) from the University of the Philippines.
Intensive certification in Painting Restoration and Italian Culture from the Accademia de' Riace in Florence, Italy (2014).
Recipient of major research grants: CHED-NCCA Creative Grant (), Cumulus International Association of Universities and Colleges in Art, Design and Media Mobility Grant (2016), Asian Productivity Organization Grant (2004), and Spanish Program for Cultural Cooperation Grants (2007 and 2008).
Epistemological Grounding: Differentiating Core Terminology:
Research Design: The overarching methodological framework, tools, operational procedures, instrumentation, and qualitative/quantitative strategies deployed to execute a scholarly study.
Design Research: Disciplinary inquiry inherent to the creative process, comprising ethnography, contextual inquiry, material exploration, user testing, ergonomic evaluations, and iterative visual explorations.
Design Studies / Art Studies: The historical, critical, and theoretical articulation of the socio-cultural, political, and informational functions embedded in built environments, furnishings, and designed artifacts.
Design as a Conscious and Iterative Science:
The iterative design cycle mirrors the scientific method:
State Problem: "What does the product need to be able to do?"
Research Problem & Hypothesize: "How could the product do this? I hypothesize this form/material/mechanism is optimal."
Implement: Build the physical product or functional prototype.
Test & Evaluate: "Does the product fulfill the specified criteria?" If no, cycle back to step one.
Historical Evolution of Design Methodology (Nigel Cross Timeline):
1920s (Bauhaus Era): Integration of scientific, material, and industrial findings into design pedagogy and foundational studio practice.
1960s (Design Methodology Movement): The rise of "design science," focusing on systematic, algorithmic, and quantifiable operational methods.
2000s (Autonomous Discipline Phase): The establishment of design as an independent, domain-specific discipline requiring distinct, non-borrowed evaluation rubrics, freeing it from the "othering" imposed by pure sciences or traditional humanities.
Social Responsibility and Expanded Functionalism:
Designers bear direct accountability for the material output of society, climate impacts, and waste streams.
Victor Papanek (Design for the Real World, 1972) asserted that few professions are more harmful than industrial design in manufacturing superfluous goods, exceeded only by advertising: "Convincing people to buy superfluous things with money they do not have only to impress others is probably the shabbiest way to make a living these days."
Design scholarship must transcend commercial functionalism toward an expanded functionalism addressing social, ecological, and psychological needs.
Bürdek's Three Categories of Disciplinary Theory:
Goal/Proposition: Universal concepts and teleological objectives specific to the discipline.
Form, Context, and Meaning: Semiotic, communicative, and cultural information functions of objects.
Disciplinary Methods: Operational, generative, and evaluative techniques native to design practice.
Case Study in Visual Arts: Comparative Analysis of Collaborative Murals:
Rising Philippines (1935, Capitol Theater): Painted by the "Triumvirate of Modern Art" (Victorio Edades, Galo Ocampo, and Carlos "Botong" Francisco).
Piazza Beato Angelico Tomasino: Executed later by CFAD faculty and alumni on the UST campus.
Commonality & Spatial Theory: Both works employ the iconic UST Main Building as an anchor of Tomasian identity. Space becomes an operational site for indigenous communal philosophies: Bayanihan (communal unity and cooperation) and Paugnayan (interconnected spatial and social networking).
Theory Building: Diskarte as Philippine Design Theory:
Etymology: Rooted in the Spanish card-playing term descartar (to discard or strategically eliminate cards to win), evolved in Filipino vernacular into an adaptive tactic, strategic scheme, or ingenious plan of action.
Reclaiming Diskarte from Pejorative Connotations: Often dismissed colloquially as opportunistic cutting of corners, Mendoza theorizes Diskarte as the foundational cultural demography of Filipino creative resilience, resourcefulness, and aesthetic problem-solving under systemic resource scarcity.
The Sublime in Diskarte (Bonifacio Rubric): Grounded in Andres Bonifacio's 1896 revolutionary poem Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa (Stanza 4): This patriotic and creative selflessness echoes the selection criteria of the National Artist Awards and Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA).
Analytical Triad of Design Culture:
Semiotic Framework for Object Analysis:
Syntactic Analysis: Examination of formal geometries, dimensions, physical materials, joinery, and manufacturing techniques.
Pragmatic Analysis: Ergonomic evaluations, anthropometrics, human factor interfaces, and utilitarian performance.
Semantic Analysis: Identification of symbolic references, historical iconography, sociopolitical contexts of use, and the zeitgeist (spirit of the times).
Typological Chronology: Understanding Design Culture Through the Filipino Chair ():
Emergent Identity Phase (Early 1900s): Furniture as symbols of wealth, prestige, and emergent nationalism.
Taller de Maximo Viola & Atelier de Isabelo Tampinco: High-relief woodcarvings integrating indigenous flora (e.g., anahaw leaves, bamboo stalks) into European neoclassical, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco silhouettes.
Laguna Trade School Library Set (1910): Institutional wooden craftsmanship during the early American civil regime.
Aesthetic Principles: Characterized by mabusisi (intricate, meticulous craftsmanship) and aluwalas (spatial breeziness, visual lightness, ventilation achieved via solihiya [woven cane lattice] and calado [openwork wood tracery]).
Evolving Identity Phase (Post-1910s to Mid-Century):
San Miguel de Mayumu Chairs (1913): Vernacular translation of the Austrian Michael Thonet bentwood chair (Chair No. 14), replacing bent beechwood with indigenous split rattan, solid bamboo, and hexagonal basketry weave.
Carlos Treceño Chair (1930s): Spanish Renaissance revivalist three-seater presentation settee gifted to Governor-General Frank Murphy, linked formally to the Malacañang Palace presidential prestige seating.
Postmodern Artisanal Period (Betis Tradition): JB Woodcraft Inc. accent chairs showcasing Pampanga's ornate, hyper-carved "Philippine Baroque" aesthetic engineered for commercial export.
Organic and Indigenous Identity Phase (Modern to Contemporary):
Antonio "Budji" Layug (Late 1970s–1980s): Modernist split-bamboo lounge chairs featured at Bloomingdale's, redefining raw tropical material into international luxury and organic modernism.
Bettina Colombo/Cabanban (1980s): Louis Lotus side chair, blending classic silhouettes with vernacular plant fibers.
Ched Berenguer-Topacio: Postmodern interpretations of the classical Greek Klismos chair rendered in Philippine indigenous materials.
Kenneth Cobonpue: Yin & Yang Chair (mixed media, organic modern), Bloom Chair (folded microfiber stitched over a steel frame resembling a blossom), Yoda Chair (tensile split rattan harnessing natural springiness, utilized at the 2015 APEC Summit), and Dragnet Chair (twisted fabric net over steel).
Redentor Bitantes: Pamela Chair (contemporary industrial application of bent rattan and steel).
Ann Pamintuan: Cocoon Chair (fluid, organic lounge chair hand-sculpted from heavy-gauge galvanized iron wire, evoking large-scale filigree metal jewelry functioning as usable sculpture).
Mendoza's Conclusions on Philippine Design Culture: It is inherently syncretic, artisanal, and indigenous. It embodies may-kusa (proactive initiative), remaining flexible, commonsensical, and tactically resilient across precolonial, colonial, and contemporary modes of production.
Research and Advocacy on the Curation of Spaces and Adaptive Reuse
Academic and Professional Profile of Assistant Professor Mary Anne Venturina-Bulanadi:
BS Architecture (UST College of Architecture and Fine Arts [CAFA], 1986); Diploma in Interior Design (Philippine School of Interior Design [PSID], 1991); Master in Cultural Heritage Studies (UST, 2004); PhD in Development Studies (UST, 2020).
Associate Editor for Architecture and Fine Arts of The Antoninus Journal (UST Graduate School).
Chair of the Cultural Heritage Committee of the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID); Research and Publication Head of the Council of Interior Design Educators (CIDE); Volunteer Curator at Bahay Nakpil-Bautista, Quiapo, Manila.
Epistemological Foundation of Research:
Bulanadi grounds curatorial spatial research in the Aristotelian epistemological maxim:
Research involves the disciplined practice of intelligere (Latin: to understand, gather, comprehend), converting multilayered historical and aesthetic data into communicative spatial experiences.
Curatorial Practice as Scholarly Dissemination: Early Institutional Milestones:
National Artist Nominations (Beato Angelico Gallery): Rigorous archival and curatorial research bolstered the formal nomination portfolios of pioneer Tomasian artists:
Ang Kiukok (Nominated and awarded National Artist for Visual Arts in 2001): Modern master fusing Cubism, Surrealism, and Expressionism.
Diosdado Magno Lorenzo: Pioneer UST Fine Arts faculty member and seminal figure in Philippine modernism, celebrated for heavy impasto and Post-Impressionist works.
UST Quadricentennial Milestone Exhibitions ():
Artista Tomasino Exhibition Series ( ):
Triptych (Shangri-La Plaza Mall, 3rd Floor): Solo exhibits featuring Jane Arrieta Ebarle (abstractions of indigenous Philippine fabrics), Mario Parial (pigment over photo-based prints), and Oliver Rabara (satirical social caricatures).
The Colors of Prudencio Lamarroza (September 2010, Beato Angelico Gallery): Hyper-chromatic representations of native Ilocano riverine ecology, Amburayan landscapes, and indigenous mythology.
Tres (Ground Floor, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, EDSA): Monumental works by three Tomasian master sculptors: Eduardo Castrillo (welded brass and steel), Ramon Orlina (cold-carved emerald optical glass), and Joe Datuin (swirling stainless steel rings).
Deus Architectus Mundi, Architectus Secundus Deus (2011): Major exhibition capturing the history and architectural legacy of UST CAFA, produced collaboratively with interdisciplinary scholars.
On the Trail Blazed by Pioneers (2012, GSIS Museum of Art): Curated survey of UST Fine Arts pioneer faculty, originally vetted and published in peer-reviewed proceedings at the De La Salle University Arts Congress and the UST International Conference on Heritage and History (2011).
Theoretical Framework of Adaptive Reuse:
The Three Destinies of Historic Structures (Wong, 2016):
Sustainability Rationale (Ijla & Broström, 2015; Wong, 2016): Adaptive reuse is the most environmentally and culturally viable solution. It sustains urban growth cycles, retains embodied energy, halts material disposal into landfills, and revitalizes historical identity by retrofitting obsolete architecture to contemporary programs.
Exemplars of Philippine Adaptive Reuse:
Grand Cafe 1919 (Binondo, Manila): Neoclassical 1922 former HSBC Manila branch bank adapted into a high-volume dining establishment.
First United Building / Perez-Samanillo Building (Escolta, Manila): Art Deco mid-rise adapted into the HUB | Make Lab, hosting artisanal micro-retail, creative workspaces, and cultural events.
The Ruins (Talisay, Negros Occidental): The structural skeletal remains of Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson and Maria Braga Lacson's sugar plantation mansion (built early 1900s), conserved as an international heritage tourist park.
Pablo S. Antonio Ancestral Home (Pasay City): Modernist tropical residential architecture adapted into private event dining and fashion atelier of daughter Malu Antonio Veloso.
Father Jose Burgos Ancestral House (Vigan City, Ilocos Sur): 18th-century bahay na bato birthplace of martyred priest converted into a regional museum.
Mira-Nila Heritage House (San Juan, Metro Manila): 1929 ancestral estate of the Benitez family preserved as an operational historic house museum and foundation headquarters.
Development of the Socio-Cultural Sustainability Index (SCSI):
Bulanadi constructed the SCSI to bridge the absolute absence of localized national metrics for adaptive reuse of historic interior spaces in the Philippines.
Refined 5-Stage Process Flow: Converted from an initial 6-step model to ensure procedural clarity for practitioners:
Step 1: Background Investigation and Archival Research: Comprehensive historical, provenance, and socio-cultural investigation of the space.
Step 2: Empirical Physical Evaluation: Comprehensive site surveys, drafting as-built measured plans, preparing condition reports on structural decay, identifying endemic hardwood species (e.g., molave, narra, yakal), and documenting ongoing spatial uses.
Step 3: Stakeholder and Expert Engagement: Conducting focused interviews, roundtables, and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with heritage architects, interior designers, homeowners, and interior design educators.
Step 4: Possible Reuse Rating Matrix: Quantitative and qualitative programmatic assessment scoring proposed spatial functions (categorized as educational, commercial, cultural, administrative, or artistic).
Step 5: Architectural Phasing, Correlation, and Validation: Sequential implementation through reconnaissance, conceptual design, construction documentation, and continuous post-occupancy assessment.
Action Research at Bahay Nakpil-Bautista (A. Bautista St., Quiapo, Manila):
Constructed in 1914 by Master Architect Arcadio Arellano in the Viennese Secession style for Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin and Petrona Nakpil (widow of Katipunan Supremo Andres Bonifacio, remarried to musician/revolutionary Julio Nakpil).
Physical structure remains in pristine integrity after .
Curatorial Interventions: Staged the centennial exhibition Tahanan (2014); collaborated on Julio Nakpil @ 150 / Nick Joaquin @ 100 at the Ayala Museum.
Adaptive Reuse of the Platería / Joyería: Adapted the former jewelry workshop room into the Art Curator's Den (exhibited at PSID Gold 2017). The modular installation was transferred back into the actual room at Bahay Nakpil-Bautista, functioning as a sustainable gallery for fundraising exhibitions and auctions (e.g., Leon Gallery fine arts auction) to finance the long-term conservation endowment of the ancestral home.
Material Culture and Domestic Space: The Refrigerator in Middle-Class Filipino Homes
Research Overview: Interior Designer Marie Antoinette Punzalan-Peña investigated the refrigerator as an artifact of material culture, examining its practical, functional, sociological, and personal relevance within the urban middle-class domestic sphere.
Historical Food Preservation Paradigms in Tropical Archipelago:
The Philippine archipelago () relies on climate-adapted food preservation dictated by distinct wet and dry seasons.
Documented Historical Techniques (Buzeta & Bravo, Diccionario Geográfico, Estadístico, Histórico de las Islas Filipinas, 1850): Fresh fish was caught in rivers or sea while rice cooked on the fire. When storage was required, indigenous methods included drying/dehydration, wood smoking (tinapa), fermentation (buro), salting/curing (tapa, bagnet, tocino, longganisa), and acid marination (kinilao).
Subterranean Preservation (Pumba): Traditional northern Luzon technique where pork cooked in vinegar and alcohol (rum/wine) was sealed inside a clay earthenware pot using a loincloth and buried underground for prolonged storage, especially critical during wartime food shortages.
Evaporative Cooling (Tapayan on the Bangguera): Unglazed earthenware water storage vessels placed on elevated slatted bamboo window counters (bangguera). Water was kept potable and cool through micro-porous evaporation; jars were scrubbed with guava leaves, rinsed, and settled with a kabibi bivalve shell to eliminate sedimentation.
Technological History of Artificial Cold in the Philippines:
The Boston Ice Trade (): Before domestic ice plants, blocks of pure freshwater ice were cut from Wenham Lake, Massachusetts, packed in sawdust and rice husks, and shipped via clipper ships to Manila. Wealthy families spent upwards of for daily deliveries by horse-drawn carts.
Wooden Iceboxes (): Insulated furniture cabinets lined with zinc or tin and packed with cork, seaweed, or sawdust, draining meltwater into underlying pans.
Advent of Mechanical Refrigeration: Driven in the 1890s by sewage pollution spoiling natural ice harvests, disrupting municipal brewing, dairy, and meat industries.
American Colonial Period & Culinary Transformation: Introduction of electric domestic refrigerators (dominated by the brand name Frigidaire, assimilated into Tagalog as pridjider or ref). Spurred cold culinary culture: ice cream parlors (e.g., Clarke's Ice Cream Parlor at Plaza Moraga, near Jones Bridge), adapted indigenously into sorbetes (churned using carabao milk inside metal canisters nested in wooden carts packed with ice and rock salt).
Theoretical Framework: Western vs. Filipino Domestic Value Systems:
Western Paradigms (Bush, 2005): The refrigerator functions as an electronic hearth, organizational nexus, and domestic communications center. The exterior acts as a dynamic message board via magnet tiles, chalkboards, and post-it notes.
Filipino Value System (F. Landa Jocano Theoretical Model):
Halaga (Core Evaluative Standard): Determines personal and collective worth, dictating what is vital, precious, or disposable.
Pagpapahalaga: The conscious psychological and physical act of conferring deep worth onto objects, spaces, or relationships.
Pagkilala: Active recognition and social affirmation of an object's or human's role.
Dangal: Honor, dignity, and elevated self-esteem reinforced through domestic care.
Diwa: The spiritual essence seated within the human core.
Loob vs. Labas Spatial Dichotomy:
Horror Vacui / Festive Decoration: Influenced by European colonial decorative aesthetics (chandeliers, wall tapestries), leading middle-class households to completely cover domestic surfaces.
Empirical Fieldwork Findings (Pasig City Middle-Class Enclave):
Methodology: Qualitative descriptive methodology studying 5 selected households in Greenpark Subdivision, Pasig City; unannounced on-site photo documentation of refrigerator exteriors and interiors coupled with in-depth interviews with primary homemakers (, middle to upper-middle income brackets).
External Surface Dynamics (Labas as Public Community Canvas):
Household 1: Entire front door appropriated by the matriarch for structured daily meal schedules and menus.
Household 2: Tri-surface functional zoning. Left panel: school letters, children's awards. Center front: calendars, high-mark test papers. Right panel: commercial flyers and utility billing statements. The appliance, positioned between the living and dining rooms, functions as a public family bulletin board cultivating pakikipagkapwa (harmonious relationality).
Household 3: Conscious aestheticization of bills mixed with colorful stickers to minimize financial anxiety and organize administrative tasks.
Household 4 & 5: Minimalist exterior restricted to travel souvenir magnets and fabric towels hung over handles for hygienic wiping and anti-rust protection.
Universal Vertical Sightline Rule: Across all surveyed households, zero communication notes, bills, or sentimental items were affixed below eye-level, indicating high pagpapahalaga (items of honor are never degraded to foot-level).
Internal Spatial Dynamics (Loob as Intimate Lifestyle Index):
Refrigerators house far more than perishable food. Common items discovered included prescription medicines, luxury makeup/cosmetics, dental prosthetics (dentures), chemical cleaners, and metal tableware.
The appliance's interior operates as an ultimate domestic sanctuary for preservation, where homeowners deposit whatever personal items must be protected from tropical decay, pests, or humidity.
The Dual-Refrigerator Phenomenon: Three out of the five surveyed households possessed two functioning or semi-functioning refrigerators simultaneously.
Due to spatial constraints, urban middle-class homes rarely have distinct separated "clean" and "dirty" kitchens; dual appliances are clustered communally.
Decommissioned or older units are never discarded due to intense emotional attachment; instead, they undergo interior adaptive reuse, permanently converted into dry pantries and storage cabinets.
Academic Publishing and Scholarly Dissemination in Art and Design
Academic and Professional Profile of Professor Ray Donne S. Papa:
BS Biology (Cum Laude) and PhD in Biology (Cum Laude) from the University of Santo Tomas; specialist in freshwater zooplankton ecology, systematics, and tropical limnology.
Author of >60 peer-reviewed articles in Scopus/Clarivate-indexed international journals, 2 book chapters, and editor of 3 books; founder of the Zooplankton Ecology, Systematics, and Limnology (ZESL) research group at the UST Research Center for Natural and Applied Sciences (RCNAS).
Dean of the UST College of Science; Program Lead for Natural Sciences at the UST Graduate School; former President of the Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines (); Vice President of the Philippine Society for Freshwater Science (); Philippine Representative to the International Society of Limnology.
The Disciplinary Imperative to Publish:
Conducting studio experiments, field samplings, or design explorations without scholarly publication reduces the academic to a mere technician:
Research is an institutional duty binding all higher education faculty and graduate/undergraduate students, establishing the foundation for global university rankings, program accreditations, and academic freedom.
Historic scientific milestones demonstrate that transformative publications can be remarkably concise: James Watson and Francis Crick's paper describing the double-helix structure of DNA (Nature, April 25, 1953) was barely over one page in length.
Historicizing UST's Intellectual Legacies in the Arts:
The Philippine modern art movement was heavily shaped by UST CAFA faculty and alumni (the Thirteen Moderns, Victorio Edades, Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Vicente Manansala, Galo Ocampo).
Academic research uncovers foundational institutional narratives, such as Professor Senon Rivera designing the individual heraldic crests and logos of UST's various academic colleges.
Overview of The Antoninus Journal (TAJ):
Origins: Established in 2015 as the official peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal of the UST Graduate School, succeeding the UST Journal of Graduate Research and Ad Veritatem.
Operations: Annual publication schedule; online since 2017; completely open-access; financially underwritten by the UST Graduate School.
Scope: Publishes original research papers, critical theoretical essays, and comprehensive literature reviews spanning the natural sciences, health sciences, social sciences, humanities, and fine arts/architecture.
Thematic Issues: Published a dedicated volume on Research and Scholarship During the COVID-19 Pandemic (); programmed a forthcoming special issue dedicated to Architecture and the Built Environment.
Function as "Academic Training Wheels": While pursuing international indexing in Scopus and Clarivate Analytics, TAJ enforces standard double-blind international peer-review protocols. It offers emerging researchers, junior faculty, and graduate students a rigorous environment to refine manuscripts, respond to reviewer critiques, and navigate editorial boards.
Interdisciplinary Synthesis Between Science and Design:
Scientific Communication: Science requires the communicative power, aesthetic clarity, and visual storytelling of fine arts to make complex empirical data comprehensible to civil society.
Exhibit Case Study (Taalaman): Collaboration between limnologists and CFAD curators at the UST Museum translating ecological sampling data from Lake Taal into public interactive visual exhibits during the First Philippine Symposium on Freshwater Biodiversity and Ecosystems.
Scientific Illustration: Biological taxonomists routinely partner with CFAD-trained fine arts illustrators (such as alumni employed at the National Museum of the Philippines) to produce hyper-accurate morphological ink stippling and anatomical plates of freshwater plankton.
UST Co-Vax Project: Direct cross-college partnership between the College of Science and the College of Fine Arts and Design, led by Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, OP, developing diagnostic and public-health design frameworks.
Sustainable Materials in Art: Bamboo Fiber for Papercutting and Fiber Art
Research Focus and Environmental Advocacy:
Ms. Jennica Anne B. Pasquale, MFA, explored bamboo fiber as an eco-friendly artistic medium for intricate papercutting and fiber embroidery, positioning studio practice as an explicit intervention against the global deforestation crisis.
Deforestation Metric (One Tree Planted, 2019): Human activity clears an area of natural forest equivalent to the size of an entire football field every .
Botanical Characteristics and Ecological Advantages of Bamboo:
Classification: Bamboo is taxonomically a true grass (family Poaceae), making it the largest and fastest-growing grass species on earth.
Growth Rate: Attains maximum structural height and full maturity within , contrasting sharply with traditional commercial timber softwoods/hardwoods that require decades.
Carbon and Ecological Services: Bamboo stands release than equivalent stands of timber trees; widespread rhizomatic root systems bind topsoil to halt erosion, filter heavy agricultural run-off, and stabilize riverbanks.
Philippine Distribution: Over of bamboo thrive in the Philippines. Primary industrial species producing high tensile strength fibers include Kawayan Tinik (Bambusa blumeana), Bolo (Gigantochloa levis), Yellow Bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris), and Giant Bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper).
Comparative Analysis of Bamboo Fiber Extraction Technologies:
Cellulose Regeneration Process (Chemical Viscose/Lyocell):
Mechanism: Raw bamboo culms are cooked down in aggressive chemical baths (sodium hydroxide, carbon disulfide) to break down natural cellulose into a viscose liquid, which is subsequently extruded through spinnerets into synthetic chemical settling baths.
Critique: The process strips the fiber of its natural antimicrobial, anti-fungal, and UV-blocking attributes, while the chemical effluent causes heavy environmental toxicity, negating "green" sustainability marketing claims.
Mechanochemical Extraction Process:
Mechanism: Employs mechanical crushing, decortication, and retting combined with minimal, mild, non-toxic bio-enzymatic agents.
Properties: Retains the native natural cellular composition, high tensile strength, UV-repellent, and natural antimicrobial qualities of raw bamboo.
Local Status: Historically rare globally due to intensive labor costs. In October 2021, the DOST Philippine Textile Research Institute (DOST-PTRI) successfully launched its patented local mechanochemical extraction technology, formalizing bamboo's integration alongside abaca, piña, and banana fibers under the Philippine Tropical Fabrics mandate.
Studio Methodologies and Material Constraints:
Supply Chain Limitations: Severe commercial unavailability of domestic bamboo art paper required importing German-milled Hahnemühle Bamboo Paper (, composed of and ).
Fiber Sourcing: Three distinct fiber grades were obtained from specialized international suppliers (US and China) during quarantine supply disruptions: 100% handspun mechanical bamboo yarn (vegan, enzyme-retted), commercial bamboo viscose, and pure bamboo pulp.
Intricate Execution Protocols:
Papercutting: Complex linear vector sketches cut entirely by hand utilizing an X-Acto knife fitted with a precision No. 11 surgical carbon blade, requiring upwards of of sustained cutting per major piece ( and compositions).
Structural Relief Mounting: Flat paper cutouts were scrunched, folded, and stress-tested, then mounted across dimensional layers using thick double-adhesive structural foam tapes.
Embroidery Techniques: (1) Direct through-paper embroidery threading bamboo yarns into structural cutouts; (2) Three-dimensional embroidery constructed by stitching individual bamboo leaves onto stiffened organza fabric backings, cutting each leaf with scissors, and stitching them individually into the paper matrix alongside handcrafted bamboo pom-poms.
Iconography and Symbolic Palette of the Exhibition Series:
Palette Rationale: Restrained strictly to white, raw earth brown, and deep forest green.
White Bamboo Paper: Signifies the desolate void and systemic loss resulting from commercial clear-cutting, while functioning simultaneously as a clean slate for ecological regeneration.
Green Bamboo Fibers: Represents living canopy foliage, resilient vitality, and the promise that bamboo can replace hardwood timber.
Key Works in the Collection (Exhibited Virtually March 2021):
Triptych Series (Roots, Leaf, Bark): Microscopic close-up studies isolating the cellular patterns, root tapestries, and bark textures of native flora to inspire environmental wonder.
From the Top: Aerial split-view perspective contrasting an intact canopy on one flank with a desolate clear-cut logged wasteland on the other.
Landscape: Layered interior forest profile charting the gradual recovery of tree crowns following destructive forest fires and mechanized logging.
Circle of Life: Transverse cross-section of a fallen hardwood log where growth rings, symbolizing chronological age, are populated internally with layers of embroidered bamboo greenery, embodying rebirth.
Educational Management of Life Drawing: Professional and Physical Attributes of Art Models
Pedagogical Context and Problem Statement:
Assistant Professor Myla Baldemor-Balde, MAEd-EM, investigated the selection, performance metrics, and administrative governance of human art models within collegiate studio figure drawing classes at UST CFAD.
Significance of Life Drawing: Studio figure drawing is universally prioritized as the foundational bedrock of fine arts and advertising curricula. Mastery of human anatomy, curvilinear forms, bone structure, and foreshortening enables accurate creative execution across all representational art forms.
Historical Evolution of Art Modeling in the Philippines:
The Edades Revolution: In 1935, Victorio Edades restructured the UST CAFA program along modernist Beaux-Arts lines, establishing direct life-drawing studios with live models (documented in Hannibal Carado's 2003 thesis History of the University of Santo Tomas College of Fine Arts).
Nelly Santa Maria (The 1950s Pioneer): Recognized as the first professional Filipina life model in academic history. Dubbed "The Queen of Models" by Justin Nuyda, "Star Model" by Alfredo Roces, and "The Blue Lady" by Bessie Kelly Poe (mother of actor Fernando Poe Jr.). Historical accounts reveal she was paid an initial fee of to per session, establishing life drawing at UP and UST.
The Oblation (Pahinungod) Models (1935): Sculpted by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino. Archival research confirms the monumental figure was modeled on the physique of Tolentino's studio assistant Anastacio Caedo and the height/proportions of Caedo's brother-in-law Virgilio Raymundo. Historiographer Rodolfo Paras-Perez debunked the persistent urban legend that Fernando Poe Sr. posed in the nude for the statue; Poe Sr. was merely a UP student who inspired the expressive pose.
Quantitative Methodology and Research Sample:
Design: Descriptive statistical research computing percentages, arithmetic means, and Chi-square () tests of independence to evaluate significant correlations between model effectiveness and personal/physical profiles.
Sample Size: total respondents across the Manila academic art ecosystem, comprising () and ().
Statistical Findings and Demographic Profiles:
Art Model Demographic Matrix: The majority were younger than , predominantly female, single, Catholic, and native Filipino. Average physical height was , average body weight under , characterized by fair skin complexion, medium body frame, and an absence of conspicuous body art/tattoos.
Artist Demographic Matrix: The majority of professional artists employing models were , predominantly male, married, Catholic, Filipino, BFA alumni of UST, practicing actively as professional painters and sculptors holding competitive national exhibition awards.
Statistical Correlation Findings: Chi-square tests revealed a statistically significant relationship () between the recognized effectiveness of an art model and the combined variables of personal background, age, modeling experience, posture training, and natural physical proportions.
Physical and Professional Preferences of Artists:
Body Geometry Preferences: Artists rated skin complexion, facial features, and body art as "little to not important." Artists expressed an active preference for curvilinear, fuller-figured, and "chubby" body types over extreme thinness or severe obesity, because prominent natural curves provide greater surface shadows and planes for mastering anatomical form.
Age Parameters: Recommended functional age span ranged from a minimum threshold of up to . Younger models () sustain challenging, dynamic standing gestures for ; mature models () are deployed for seated or reclining poses limited to intervals.
Experience and Discipline: Prior professional training was rated as "critically important." Top operational criteria included absolute punctuality (arriving ahead of studio setup), maintaining static pose discipline without fidgeting, responsiveness to lighting instructions, and high bodily confidence.
Legal Protections and Ethical Governance in Studio 801:
Studio 801 Protocols (UST Painting Department): The designated life-drawing studio operates under absolute decorum. Studio access is strictly sealed with fully blacked-out windows and locked doors. Disrobing occurs privately within a specialized changing cubicle. The model wears a robe and slippers until positioned on the elevated posing dais.
Non-Negotiable Decorum: No student or artist is permitted to touch the model under any circumstances. Inquiries or directional adjustments must be channeled through the presiding faculty member. No cameras or smartphones are permitted; Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) are formally executed.
International Comparative Example (SCAD Hong Kong): Life-drawing studios at the Savannah College of Art and Design Hong Kong campus operated under identical protocols: strictly enforced pose cycles, closed doors, isolated spotlight rigs, and mandatory NDAs.
Philippine Statutory Framework: Studio practice must strictly navigate national laws:
Republic Act No. 9231 (Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination): Imposes mandatory penalties of imprisonment and fines of for employing minors, setting an absolute ban on life models under .
Senate Bill No. 2464 (Anti-Obscenity and Pornography Act): Authorizes sentences of imprisonment and fines of . Fine arts communities have continually rallied against overly broad statutory language to preserve the classical human form under the legal protections of academic and artistic freedom.
Balde's Key Disciplinary Recommendations:
Establishment of a National Art Models Guild: Unlike Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK, and the US, the Philippines possesses zero recognized professional guilds to certify models, train them in safe posing techniques, and protect them legally and financially.
Universalized Academic Wage Rates: Standardized wage rates must be instituted across universities in Metro Manila, eliminating current disparities where UST maintains higher rates due to high fine arts enrollments while other institutions underpay models.
Standardized Faculty Model Compendiums: CFAD should formally compile and archive an internal vetted registry of certified models and posing guidelines to assist studio faculty.
Industrial Design Grants, International Mobility, and Cultural Identity in Mobility Design
Academic and Professional Profile of Mr. Manuel Dacanay Jr.:
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design and Master of Fine Arts (Magna Cum Laude) from the UST Graduate School.
Senior Industrial Design Specialist at the Product Design and Development Center of the Philippines (Design Center Philippines, DTI); co-founder and Senior Designer at DAX Industrial Design Works ().
Over of continuous pedagogical service teaching industrial design studio courses at UST CFAD.
International Grant Architectures and Academic Mobility:
DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst / German Academic Exchange Service): Funded five major student cohorts from UST Industrial Design and the College of Architecture to visit Germany on all-expenses-paid study missions (covering room, board, inter-city transit, and visa fees, with students covering only flights).
Cologne International School of Design (KISD): UST students completed collaborative studio workshops alongside German peers, conducting material transformations from raw plaster-of-Paris carvings into functional sheet-metal fabrications, attending design symposia, and utilizing individual studio workstations.
Long-Term Institutional Impact: Direct institutional exposure enabled UST CFAD graduates to successfully secure prestigious master's degree admissions and full scholarships at KISD, validating global parity.
Museum Field Research: Field visits to the Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein, Germany, bordering Switzerland), the Porsche Museum, and the Mercedes-Benz Museum (Stuttgart) exposed students to world-class manufacturing standards.
Professional Grant Pathways: Opportunities through the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft (CDG) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provide corporate and institutional avenues for practicing designers to expand technical expertise abroad.
MFA Thesis Case Study: The Cultural Identity Alternative Personal Transport:
Research Problem: Reconciling fine arts academia with industrial design practice. MFA programs historically pressured candidates to present traditional gallery paintings or gallery sculptures. Dacanay introduced the first mass-manufactured, functional industrial vehicle prototype as an MFA terminal thesis in UST history, drawing upon the Bauhaus philosophy of synthesizing fine art, craft, and industrial serial mass production.
Design Proposition: An electric, solar-powered personal mobility scooter integrating Philippine socio-cultural identity, regional crafts, and indigenous materials onto an industrial canvas designed for scalable serial manufacturing.
Technical and Cultural Specifications of the Vehicle:
Energy System: Integrated rooftop monocrystalline solar panel arrays charging an on-board battery pack over an daylight campus exposure, providing zero-emission personal transit.
Powertrain Evolution: The 2015 prototype utilized a mechanical chain-driven motor; contemporary industrial revisions incorporate brushless in-hub wheel motors, eliminating chains, reducing curb weight, and lowering maintenance requirements.
Structural Framing and Functional Variants:
Lady Variant: Step-through chassis frame engineered for urban transit.
Adventure Variant: Rugged exposed tubular steel space-frame designed for off-road resort and ecotourism environments.
Leisure Variant: Ergonomic cruiser fitted with extended saddles and targeted lumbar-support backrests.
The Wheel Well as a Cultural Canvas:
Borrowing formally from the iconic sheet-metal wheel arches of the Philippine Jeepney, the scooter's modular wheel wells were designed as industrial "canvases" manufactured using vacuum-formed ABS thermoplastic and layered fiberglass composites.
Regional Craft Integration: Natural abaca fiber, woven bamboo splits, and rattan reeds were laminated directly into outer body panels using clear water-based thermoset resins.
Artistic Visual Collaborations: The flat side-panels served as display surfaces for painted motifs by Filipino artists (e.g., Ayala Pananaw painting series) alongside certified indigenous textile patterns documented in Design Center Philippines archives. Dacanay noted that patterns reserved for sacred or funerary indigenous rituals must never be appropriated for everyday consumer products.
Forum Synthesis and Institutional Future of CFAD Research
Closing Synthesis by Dr. Mary Anne Venturina-Bulanadi:
The CFAD Inaugural Research Forum successfully bridged the historically perceived divide between fine arts studio creation, design practice, and rigorous academic research.
The event adapted the institutional format of RCCAH's Diskurso series, pivoting from university-wide inter-college representation to focused departmental presentations from Interior Design, Painting, Advertising Arts, and Industrial Design.
Disciplinary Imperative: Emphasized that building an institutional research culture inevitably produces preliminary "birth pains," but mastering rigorous research methodologies allows the arts and design community to shape public policy, urban heritage preservation, educational legislation, and the national creative economy.
Questions and Discussion
Preserving Cultural Buildings and Designer Responsibility:
Audience Question (Anne Carmela Ayuson): "How does preserving a cultural building affect us as designers, especially for the new generation?"
Response (Dr. Mary Anne Venturina-Bulanadi): Preserving old buildings directly bridges modern designers to physical, historical reality. Conserving a 107-year-old structure like Bahay Nakpil-Bautista enables contemporary designers to experience Viennese Secession styling firsthand while unlocking economic viability. Sustainable adaptive reuse (e.g., converting heritage rooms into active educational museums or operational commercial cafes) extends building longevity and provides functional utility for subsequent generations.
Design Freedom Amidst Restrictive Heritage Contexts:
Audience Question (Anne Carmela Ayuson / Follow-up): Does working with older buildings limit a designer's creative novelty?
Response (Dr. Romano "Gemma" Mendoza): Adapting historic buildings does impose tight physical, regulatory, and spatial constraints that limit arbitrary formal novelty. However, young designers must view structural limitations as an intellectual design challenge. Designers do not operate in a vacuum; they belong to a broader civic community where heritage advocacy is paramount. Creative ingenuity thrives within constraints.
Response (Dr. Mendoza on Reclaiming Diskarte): Designers frequently operate within constrained national socio-economic conditions where budgets are severely limited. Under this framework, diskarte becomes an essential creative mechanism. While colloquially viewed with skepticism, it represents the foundational genetic blueprint of Filipino resilience. Artisans and industrial designers make up the operational fabric of society through adaptive ingenuity. Studio research must systematically articulate this resourcefulness to elevate it beyond commercial marginalization.
Operational Challenges in Adaptive Reuse:
Audience Question (Timothy): "What are the biggest challenges encountered as an advocate of adaptive reuse?"
Response (Dr. Bulanadi): The primary impediment is consistently capital funding. Beyond financial restrictions, structural hazards in dense urban settings present massive operational risks—specifically adjacent ground-level traffic vibrations that destabilize 100-year-old wooden trusses and foundations. Navigating complex regulatory layers across bureaucratic heritage and municipal agencies poses a continuous operational hurdle.
Legislation, Advocacy, and Changing Socio-Cultural Perceptions:
Audience Commentary (Professor Edilberto "Butch" Cunanan): Research forums must act as catalysts for statutory and legislative advocacy, establishing legal platforms to halt the commercial demolition of revered architectural heritage. Scholarly production establishes public credibility, actively dismantling the persistent cultural stigma that art and design degrees are "useless courses" for students unable to pursue technical careers. Faculty must speak up politically to ensure incoming legislators pass robust creative industry protections.
Navigating Matrices and Academic Rubrics in Design Research:
Audience Question (Professor Victoria Mortel-Flores): There is often resistance to pinning design down to a metric; the research matrix can be intimidating and viewed as restrictive. How should design navigate this tension?
Response (Dr. Mendoza): A research matrix only feels restrictive when it is an arbitrary rubric imposed from an outside field (such as engineering or pure science). Designers must actively engage in domain-specific theory building to formulate their own matrices, rubrics, and conceptual frameworks. Designers naturally operate within complexity and find order within apparent chaos. By adopting rigorous, transparent methods, designers can define native frameworks that command cross-disciplinary respect without sacrificing artistic autonomy.