Wednesday, July 25, 2007 New Age Forum By Arch’t. Karl A.E.F. Cabilao, UAP
IN the architectural parlance, a “forum” was used to name a public square or marketplace of an ancient Roman city. During the time of Rome’s grandeur, these spots were the vital centers of judicial and business affairs. More importantly, it was a place, replete with a basilica and a temple, where people could assemble.
Fast forward several centuries later, the forum has been a term utilized for almost any place where people converge. That’s regardless of the presence of enormous and intricately decorated institutional and religious buildings.
Structures, like the malls, restobars and even the humble billiard hall made of bamboo and nipa, are now tagged, especially by the younger lot, as their “forums”.
When we were still carefree undergrads in a school that has the mountains as its refreshing backdrop, we were always at a quandary whenever two- to three-hour breaks came our way. Where to kill time, that is?
We thought it would br such a waste of precious minutes going home and back. The fastfood population along the sides of the long strip toward Talamban was still sparse. One could only count the decent Internet cafes nearby. And we did not play billiards. So we just ended up juggling the library and the school canteen as a humdrum tambayan.
Students at that mountain-side university should thank the heavens for the numerous “forums” or tambayan that have sprouted like mushrooms over the years.
One of these converging spots for them is Rosedale Place, just beside the entrance toward Doña Rita Village in Banilad. The pastel-colored commercial edifice attracts mostly the tired and young souls who badly need a breather from all the classroom stress. Named after the Del Rosario family and built nearly five years ago, the place has in its niches a kaleidoscope of shops catering to almost every need of the denizens nearby.
Among the hottest crowd drawers is the Fuselage Internet Café at the second floor. Well, in this age of Internet, the computer ranks among the main sources of not just learning tools and important info (for those assignments), but also entertainment through online gaming. At the ground floor, the food stalls are a fave. From burritos to hotdog sandwiches, a hungry soul won’t have to endure gastronomic agony for long.
Privacy reigns at the third level, as apartment units for rent line up its hallways. And making full use of space, the roof deck can serve as excellent venue for parties and other gatherings.
“Forums,” then and now, have maintained their essential spots in fostering social ties among different people. With Rosedale Place, it has not only added blush to a once desolate mountainous part of this congested metropolis but has provided a locus where the academically weary minds maintain their lucidness.
