Quezon City Archives - Page 16 of 25

“Sentral”: The Iglesia Ni Cristo’s Central Complex

July 27, 2014July 27, 2014 by The Urban Roamer

Today marks the centennial anniversary of one of the most influential Philippine-based religious groups, the Iglesia Ni Cristo. While they will be celebrating their centennial at a wider and bigger venue outside Metro Manila, the Ciudad de Victoria complex in Bulacan, particularly in the 25,000-seater outdoor venue Philippine Stadium and the 55,000-seater (the biggest indoor venue in the country) Philippine Arena, the Urban Roamer has chosen to highlight today the INC’s current headquarters, their Central Complex located along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City’s Barangay New Era.

aerial shot of the whole INC Sentral, courtesy of inewmedia.org

A Supertall Tower in the Philippines Soon?

July 7, 2014 by The Urban Roamer

It’s been a while since the Urban Roamer touched upon the landmark that was the Manila Seedling Bank. Since that last update, the Quezon City government shut the facility down for good with the former plant dealers relocated elsewhere, notably at a spot in the Quezon Memorial Circle called the “Hardin ng mga Bulaklak” or garden of flowers. And what a coincidence that the initials of Hardin ng mga Bulaklak and that of the Quezon City mayor at this time of writing is eerily the same. Wow, amazing.

Quezon City Mayor (at this time of writing) Herbert Bautista

So what does the Quezon City government planning to do with this prime piece of property in the corner of EDSA and Quezon Avenue, right smack of the planned Quezon City business district they’re trying to build? Well, news has come that a supertall structure is being planned to rise at the site. To be specific it will be a tower that will not only become the tallest structure and tower in the Philippines, but also become possibly second tallest tower in the world.

The Question of the Common Station

June 26, 2014June 11, 2014 by The Urban Roamer

If the problems of malfunctioning trains and the alleged corrupt practices of the sacked/resigned general manager of a metropolitan rail transit administering body were not enough woes to the metropolis’ mass transport system, well here comes another one that is surely to make mass transportation “more fun in Metro Manila.”

The issue at stake now is the building of a common station, which is intended to the common terminal for mass rail transit Lines 1 and 3, as well as that of the planned Line 7 which would run all the way to San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan. This would be the vital missing ingredient that was missing that would make at least the current mass transit loop of Lines 1 and 3 complete as at the moment, passengers are deprived of what would have been a convenient transfer between lines.

At the crux of this issue is a dispute as to where it would be located, something that may or may not involve some external forces at play. At stake is the welfare of millions of commuters who will benefit from the convenience or inconvenience of this common station, depending on where it will eventually be built.

At the House of Precast

March 16, 2014March 16, 2014 by The Urban Roamer

Many of us may not know what the word “precast” means or what it’s about, but its importance in the shaping of the urban landscape that we know today cannot be emphasized well enough. We may not know it, but the sights we see in our city from the classical monuments to the columnar designs to the ornamental details of edifices, they all have precast figured into their designs.

But apologies for getting myself go further without explaining what precast is about. Anyway, it is defined as a material, usually of concrete or plaster, that is cast in a mold to be brought to a site for installation. Precast comes in many forms, the more common perhaps would be what is called “ornamental precast” which is used primarily as a decoration element with organic or geometric designs.

Ornamental precast in itself is something that requires skill and artistry that has to be done by skilled hands and not left to modern automated methods that are employed in many fields today. Luckily, there are a few that still specialize in creating and installing works made in ornamental precast. In the Philippines, one name stands out as the oldest and one of the leading (if not the leading) craft house that specialize in it. Its name speaks for itself: the House of Precast.