History of Urban Planning in the Philippines

Through the years, we have been informed and taught in our History classes how other nations have seen us as “uncivilized” people and thus they tried to colonize us. Through those lectures, not much has been told about the Filipinos’ home setting and hygiene. We knew that Filipinos back then lived in Nippa Huts but it was not elaborately discussed. The lecture by Sir Gerard gave us a lot of interesting facts about these areas of the Filipino life back then.

Sir Gerard gave a very interesting talk. He made us clearly see the situation of the Filipino homes back then with emphasis on the lack of comfort rooms. I did not imagine those situations before or it’s just that I have not thought much about it. Feces everywhere, dung smell all over the place, taking a bath with farm animals, doing the laundry with unclean water, I have not imagine much about that situation before but the lecture made us see that reality of our past. We were made to realize how lacking those times is when it comes to hygiene and because of that, the Americans came to a decision of introducing us to better hygienic processes. Truly we have learned a lot from them. I think we can be thankful for their help in imposing cleanliness in our country. But other than learning about the American’s contributions to the betterment of our society, we were also reminded by the lecture of how lowly those Americans looked at us back then and maybe up until now. The idea of white “clean” Americans cleaning the uncivilized black “dirty” Filipinos really pissed me off. Also, because of this thinking, their method of teaching us became harsh to the point that some Filipinos were hurt, disease contaminated areas were made to vanish and diseased people were collected and put to some place where they’d die, that’s just too much. Only people who think too highly of themselves can do that to people who they think are lower that them. The end did not justify their means.

But other than historical facts, I’m happy to have learned the changes that our architecture has undergone in reference to the improvements that have happened in our country. Also scientific stuff such as diseases, hygiene, viruses etcetera have contributed to the improvement of the society.

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Role of Social Media in Aiding Typhoon Haiyan Victims

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TYPHOON HAIYAN

Not so long ago, super typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) hit the central Philippines. With at least 5,000 dead and not less than P24 billion worth of properties lost, the country is devastated. Even the survivors of the typhoon are dying of hunger because of the food and water shortage Yolanda left. Fortunately, aid from different parts of the globe is being sent to the typhoon hit area to help the victims start anew. This would not be possible without the help social media.
Social media helped the victims of super typhoon Haiyan in many ways: in disseminating information about the typhoon and the damages it caused, in calling for aid for the victims, in risk mapping and documentation of the disaster, and in establishing communication between the victims and their families.


INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

Through social media, many people from the typhoon-hit areas were able to show the extent of the damages caused by Yolanda. By uploading pictures and video footages during the typhoon, they were able to make the people from the unaffected areas realize how extreme the conditions are in the area. Through sharing, liking, and retweeting, these information was easily spread across the nation, and even abroad.
Also, through socialmedia, different pictures and videos of the aftermath were shared easily. These images – which showed the destroyed houses, ruined properties and dead bodies on the streets– made the people from unaffected areas understand the suffering and pain experienced by the victims and sympathize with them.


CALLING FOR AID

Concerned citizens all over the world were also able to help the victims of the typhoon through social media by collecting donations from their networks. This was possible because many people are already well-informed about the disaster that struck the area, and many of them sympathize with the victims of the typhoon. Through sharing facebook posts and retweeting tweets on how to help the victims of the typhoon, the social networking community was able to help calling for aid for the victims of the typhoon.


COMMUNICATION

Since many people from the unaffected areas inside and outside the country have relatives or friends from the areas struck by the typhoon, communication is necessary for them to know the condition of their loved ones. Social networking sites were used by these people to contact their loved ones in the affected areas after the typhoon, which helped in making themselves feel less worried.


RISK MAPPING AND DOCUMENTATION

MicroMappers (link: www.micromappers.com) is an online app that can be used by anyone to tag tweets and photos from the disaster-struck area and rate the damage based on its severity. The data obtained by all the users will be compiled and plotted on a map. This can be used by the rescuers and humanitarian volunteers for them to see where the most affected areas are located.
After the typhoon, this technology was used to help the volunteers know which areas should be prioritized. This technology made it possible for them to save many lives in the disaster-struck areas. In addition to this, the maps can also be used to locate the areas that are more prone to damage in case another super typhoon strikes the area. This will help the local government redesign the buildings and plan for evacuation.
Finally, photos and videos of the catastrophic event can be used for documentation which can be made available to everyone. This will not only make us remember that we are not safe from the wrath of nature, but also teach us to always be prepared of the calamities that may come.
Social media is not only about selfies, rant posts, food porn, and funny videos. It can also be used to help other people in need. Technology might have negative implications to the society, but it definitely has more benefits to the community.

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Symmetry : yrtemmyS

Symmetry in its essence is the harmony of the different parts of an object; symmetry can mean also good proportions between its constituent parts. Symmetry denotes that sort of agreement or concordance of several parts by which they integrate into a whole. Symmetry as well as asymmetry characterizes many phenomena in our natural and man-made environment even our ideas about the world aims for symmetry too. Symmetry is in no doubt attractive to the human eye for it strikes a sense of balance, equilibrium and harmony.

Symmetry has always been a part of our lives. In its everyday use symmetry is associated with its different manifestations, like reflection or mirror-symmetry, rotation/rotational symmetry, and repetition/translational symmetry. A few further geometrical appearances of symmetry are glide symmetry, similitude, perspective and topological symmetry. All they are associated with the observation, that one performed a certain geometric transformation on an object and during that transformation one or more geometric properties of that object did not change or they were conserved. Those properties that have not changed prove to be invariant. Those invariances are referred to as “symmetry” in our everyday lives.

Symmetry shows its manifestations in a vast expanse of area. The reflection of a mountain in a lake, a starfish underwater, flowers of many types, a honeycomb, a snowflakes, the symmetry of our face, the facade of a cathedral, etc. All of these possess symmetry in the natural world and aesthetics. Symmetry does not always need to be spatial or visual: a musical composition, a play with its balanced structure of beginning, middle and end, etc. Symmetry is also an obvious feature of good, practical and effective design: a chair or table standing squarely, a clock face is symmetric, tea-cups and dinner plates have their own symmetries too.

Symmetry is a wonderful theoretical concept for science providing structure, organization (as oppose to asymmetry) and simplification for a host of complex phenomena across many disciplines. It is also worth noting the interrelationship between symmetry and asymmetry in a way that it tries to compensate for the other one. However without an understanding of the mathematical structures of symmetry we would not be able to comprehend asymmetry. Symmetry and asymmetry are therefore an essential dialectic for science, arts and society.

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