Last March 16, the cityscape was buzz and all frenzied with the opening of a new gaming venue in the metropolis: the Solaire Resort and Casino. The Urban Roamer found himself among the hundreds of guests who flocked there at opening day along with some high-profile personalities and a great number of international guests. What makes the opening of Solaire Resort and Casino notable is the fact that it is the first facility to open in the planned “Entertainment City” (or more formally known as the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City, that is if plans of building a new Nayong Pilipino in the complex has not yet been scrapped or…
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A mall built right: SM City Marikina
Despite the vast and commanding presence nowadays of SM malls around the metropolis, the country and beyond as well, these malls are not exactly what one would call as compelling as far as form, aesthetics, and overall design is concerned. Save for some notable exceptions, SM malls are generally derided as “dull box structures” of concrete and, in recent years, glass, and steel which do not strive to become standout landmarks. I suppose the mentality employed here is, “Hey! It’s and SM mall! What more fancy design does it need? We can build a plain-looking building and put an SM tag on it and people will still go.” You get…
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Makati’s concrete eyesore: the JAKA Tower
Sometimes, no matter how beautiful or well-planned an area is, there will be eyesores that will stick out like sore thumbs thus ruining the landscape. To be fair, these structures were not meant to be built as such, but their continued existence is something that bugs a lot of people not just because of aesthetics but for safety reasons too. One example is the unfinished JAKA Tower along Ayala Avenue which originally had some grand ambitions to be the tallest building in the country. It was supposed to house the offices of the JAKA group, a company connected to the family of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. Construction began in 1996…
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Ermita Icon: The Philamlife Building
As the Philippines was recovering from the devastation of the Second World War, a surge of economic progress was beginning to take place beginning in the 1950’s. By the dawn of the following decade, new infrastructures, housing developments, and commercial establishments were beginning to take shape and arise in the horizon. One of these structures is the focus of this entry: the building of the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company at Ermita district in Manila. The Philamlife (or Philam Life, depending on your source but both forms are acceptable) Building was built in 1961 along Ermita’s major thoroughfare that we know now as United Nations Avenue (then known…