The path to one’s ambitions and goals will not always be smooth and easy, but it’s beautiful and worth it.
On a warm afternoon on the 30th of August, the PUP College of Architecture, Design, and the Built Environment (known as CADBE), held an online live stream to award students who made exceptional works and made architectural designs that are not just for pleasing the eyes, but also for providing a solution to an existing community problem. Amongst the ten graduating students, one showed exemplary skills in showcasing and defending her work that went through sweat and tears with confidence and professionalism.
Ann Cyrilla Coney A. Corporal, a graduating student from BS Architecture 5-1, proved that hard work and determination lead to spectacular results as she gets awarded for the Top 1 Architectural Thesis this academic year. Her thesis, “Balatoc Mines Village: Proposed Mining Heritage and Cultural District Adapting Community Architecture for Post Mine Rehabilitation”, highlights how culture and architecture can work as one to create something sustainable and helpful for the Ibaloi tribe in Cordillera and reliving their tradition and culture. More than that, she also got a special award for having the best video presentation.
What once started as curiosity sparked by creativity, Coney’s story begins as the art-inclined, consistently competing at poster and drawing competitions as a kid. She had always known she has a talent for doing artsy stuff, which made her choose architecture as her course. Of course, like every other beginner in this career path, she once thought that architecture is primarily about aesthetics and making buildings look good, but the more she progressed, the more she understood that architecture is more than what meets the eye. And this understanding led to a solid and strong mindset every future architect has.
“I thought architecture is more on aesthetics. Pag maganda tingnan ok na. but there’s more to architecture than meets the eye, that is what I realized as I stepped into the course and have deeper understanding of how critical it is to have a safe and functional design of spaces in architecture. I learned that strength, function, and aesthetics (firmitas, utilitas, venustas) must all be balanced,” says Coney Corporal.
Like Falling Off a Cliff
Not any different from college students who are far away from their universities, Coney experienced how rough everyday transportation can be. The smell of exhaust coming from engines and the busy calls of the streets of Manila have always accompanied Coney on her way to school. It was exhausting, all the walking, the fighting for bus seats and sometimes missing trains, and all of this just to come home later with more deadlines to chase and more cups of coffee to get ready for another all-nighter.
“One of my biggest challenges as an Architecture student in PUP is dealing with the daily exhausting travel from our residence in Parañaque to Manila. Every morning, I have to catch the PNR train and squeeze myself in with other commuters just to get to my class,” says Coney Corporal as she remembers her struggles of getting to school every day. “Major challenge talaga yung uwian na byahe tapos pag uwi mo need mo pa magpuyat or di matulog for a plate na malapit na ang deadline it’s been years of repeated cycle, but I must endure and keep going. May pangarap ako eh!”
Having to tolerate exhausting transportation is just one of the struggles architecture students face. Architecture is undeniably one of the most challenging courses pursued. The journey to completing it isn’t precisely the smooth-sailing indie college student film type everyone dreams of – it’s filled with constant doubting dashed with countless sleepless nights. It’s tough, but nothing’s more devastating for her than getting stuck and falling behind classmates as she only watched from a distance while they got to the finish line.
“I faced a major setback during my first Design 9 in 2019. I wasn’t able to make it. Not because I failed the thesis deliberation, but because I wasn’t able to finish my research and pass it on time. Kinapos ako sa oras and eventually I have to withdraw the subject. It was hard for me to accept that during those times, becoming an irregular student and seeing your batch mates graduate tapos ako I have to wait for a year for me to retake the subject.”
After withdrawing her design subjects, Coney did not give up. Even after falling from a cliff, she continued to climb up for her dreams that will never be taken away from her.
Reclimbing the Highest Mountains
“My proudest achievement at the moment would be the fact that I did not give up with my Architecture dream, no matter how hard and challenging this course would ever be, and because of that this year I will be one step closer to that dream as I become one of the graduating students in Architecture for batch 2021.”
One that never quits, wins, and one that quits never wins. Despite encounters with difficulties, Coney’s passion for architecture never died down. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel, and the promise of a successful journey guided her to a strong mindset and a burning passion to finish her thesis with a bright smile.
Her architectural thesis wasn’t made overnight, like how architectural designs are normally made. It was the product of thorough research and constant self-doubt in order to fully grasp the context of what Corporal was trying to achieve.
“It took so much time and effort for me to research about the topic. I have to read tons of books, tons of related literature and I literally climbed up Cordilleran mountains several times for site visit to meet the Ibaloi community of Balatoc for me to fully grasps the context of my thesis. Ayoko magcome up with a design na out of context,” Coney states.
No matter how high the mountains of her journey were, and how she fell back one time, Coney never missed the opportunity to reclimb and overcome these obstacles. And alas, her dedication bore rewards she wasn’t even expecting before. It was all worth it.
Witnessing the Best View
To come up with an inspiration to design something that can impact the lives of the users does not happen in a blink of an eye. Even more, realizing it and coming up with concepts and forms, and finally defending it in front of a panel with confidence. As Coney gets the award for the Top 1 architectural thesis, she looks back to how hard it was to even survive in this course, let alone get an award for her thesis.
“Being awarded as top 1 thesis is really overwhelming and fulfilling. Nagbunga rin lahat ng pagod, puyat, and breakdowns ko. Never in my wildest dream I thought to be a top thesis awardee, ang aim ko lang makagraduate na talaga, but God’s plan is bigger than what I expect. Ibibigay talaga sa’yo pag alam Niya na handa ka na,” she states.
Coney used the situation of Filipino Indigenous communities, particularly the Ibaloi tribe in Cordillera, as an inspiration to bridge the gap between their culture and livelihood, which is mining, and the possible loss of source of income and needs. This concept had her engaged in the topic, wanting to find a solution through research and design.
“Through series of research, I found myself interested with the Indigenous Filipino communities in Cordillera. I discovered about their mining heritage and settlements particularly the Balatoc Mines Village. Parte ng Ibaloi ancestral land ang Balatoc Mines Village and it has century old history of mining. it hosts the oldest mining in the Philippines and ngayon since the closure of large-scale mining doon, negative impacts of the former mining activities greatly affected the environment and put the life of the community at risk. The current condition of the Ibaloi tribe in Balatoc is what motivates me to pursue this thesis topic and research further,” Coney says.
She is now one of the seniors that young architecture students look up to, and when asked about her advice for students who wish to be like her, this is what she says: “My advice for young architecture students is for them to trust the process. Architecture must be a tough course, there may be a lot of challenges along the way, minsan things will not go the way you planned it but if your desire is greater than the hardships everything will be worthwhile in the end, just have faith, trust yourself and trust God.”
Coney Corporal’s story is just one of the proofs that the best view really does come after the hardest climb. From being a kid who dreams, to a student who never gave up her goals and ambitions, to being the author of the Top 1 architectural thesis this academic year, she proved that falling behind your steps and somehow kind of missing your way to your dreams is not a reason to give up, instead, a motivation to keep climbing the highest mountains to savor the best views at the peak.
The road to your dreams isn’t exactly the prettiest but taking it slowly but surely helps in finding your way back up in case you fall behind. It’s hard to stand right after you experience a sudden fall, but once you have risen from the ground, you’ll find your way again. And it’s still rough and exhausting, but it’s all beautiful and worth it in the end.
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