A non-Thomasian student architect’s love for the UST main building
By Christine Nicole Montojo
A steady hand kept the ruler from slipping out of place on the matte board, careful to follow the floor plan drafted prior. Making scale models is nothing new for him, but it wouldn’t sit right if one part came out wrong.
Though the lines are drawn, there’s still a lot to go before this piece of board turns into a scale model of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) main building, the same place that inspired his deep love for architecture.
Joshua Christian Ignacio kept passing by the UST main building when he used to stay in his old dormitory in P. Noval. Though he wasn’t a Thomasian, Joshua was drawn to the main building and its abundance of detail.
“As a whole, sobrang satisfying niya po tignan, ‘yung parang intricacies, ‘yung parang detail, there’s a whole story to it,“ said Ignacio, an architecture student from the University of the East Caloocan.
The UST main building, built in the late 20s, is a hallmark of Renaissance revival architecture, with its windows, big clock, and three statues at the sides. Though most of the newer buildings clash with the main building’s aesthetics, no view of the University is complete without the main building.
The one that got away
Although architecture was his dream, Ignacio’s life was supposed to play out differently. Raised in a household of medical professionals, he was destined to take over his mother’s dental clinic.
“Well estabilshed na siya sa dito sa Tarlac in the field of entodontics, ‘yun po ung nag-specialize sa root canal surgeries, and since ako ung panganay sa family, gusto niya ako ‘yung […] mag-take over sa clinic,“ he said.
Despite the doubts, this didn’t stop him from trying to convince his parents. Eventually, they relented, but Ignacio was already in his third year in dentistry when they did.
When he secured his family’s blessing to shift from dentistry to architecture, he tried to transfer into the University’s architecture program, which would mean starting over from scratch.
“Nag-email ako sa UST, kaso lang ang sabi po nila hindi daw po macre-credit ‘yung mga minor subjects, ‘yung mga gen-ed ganun, so I would be back to zero po. So ginawa ko na lang po is nag-shift nalang to same university na lang po,” he recalled.
Dimension and construction
Since he had never visited the interior of the building, creating its dimensions and the facade proved to be a challenge, especially the building’s details.
“I usually start sa mga basic parts, ‘yung mga mas madali, then habang tumatagal, I move up and up and up going sa mga complex na details,” he said.
The hardest part was creating the dimensions referenced from pictures of the main building. Ignacio said he uses many images of the building to draft the floor plan manually.
“Since wala akong access sa mga exact floorplans sa mga scale models na ginagawa ko sa mga actual structures wala akong exact measurements. I do it by Google images, nag-rereference lang ako sa Google then I make my own as accurate as possible,” he said.
There was never just one point or feature that drew his attention to the building, saying that every part contributed to the whole of its appeal.
“Kung paano din ‘yung turing ko sa mga scale models ko, ganun rin ’yung turing ko to each part of the building [because] it contributes. Big detail man or small detail, it impacts the structure as a whole,” Ignacio said.
Models for a cause
In his darkest moments, though he acknowledged that his feelings were valid, giving up wasn’t an option.
“Ang dami pang ibang mas nahihirapan, and yet hindi sila sumusuko. So kapag ako sumuko, parang it’s a slap in the face to those na nasa baba pero kumakayod pa rin,” he said.
Ignacio planned for the proceeds of the UST scale model to go to construction workers in his locality, providing daily materials such as protective gear.
“‘Yung money na makukuha doon pambibili ko ng sana ng mga daily equipment, daily material na pwede nila magamit — very basic stuff like ung cap, dahil siyempre mainit, long sleeves dahil nagtratrabaho sila tanghaling tapat, gloves, protective gloves mga ganun,” he said.
The 21-year-old cited the perseverance and endurance of construction workers as to why he admired them so much, recalling an experience where he watched them work.
“‘Yung perseverance talaga nila, kahit mainit, kahit mabigat yung bubuhatin, kahit na delikado ‘yung gagawin, like, parang hindi sila uma-ayaw,” he said.
Ignacio’s love for the main building and his scale model about it will not be his last step towards helping construction workers.
With his love for architecture, Ignacio has decided to continue doing scale models to support the cause.
“[T]he level of hard work they do [despite] being underpaid pero ‘yung persistence pa rin nila nangingibabaw, that’s what inspires me,” he said.
