Kristienne Mae S.

Diaz

Humt 2 Y

2012- 43785

March 21, 2016

SPATIAL ANALYSIS: Boarding House (55 DPS Compound, Baguio City)

DPS Compound is composed mainly of residential buildings. According to our landlord and one of the
pioneer boarders, Ate Eunice, the house was initially an old, scary, dark, and some people say haunted house. But
then, our landlord is an engineer so he renovated it to become a cozy boarding house--- one that will make you feel
that you are at home.
SENSE OF PLACE. Our boarding house is near at a dead- end road of the barangay. It has a gate and as
one enters the gate, there is a space with flowering plants on the side, a tank and a small laundry area. Our boarding
house is a two- storey house. The first floor is composed of living room/dining area/ study area, four bathrooms/
comfort rooms, kitchen, two rooms and a room wherein our landlord stays. The living room has two sofas, a small
television, tables (two are round and one is rectangle) and monoblock chairs. Thus this part is not only the living
room but it is also the dining room and sometimes, a study area (especially if we bring our classmates for some
group project). The second floor, on the other hand, is composed six rooms. In terms of the ambience of the place,
our boarding house, as the visitors always say, gives you a comfortable feeling because it doesnt feel like a
boarding house but it makes you feel you are at home--- that you are with your family, a second family--- and this is
what our landlord wants. For the acoustics, it makes you feel that you are in your hometowns neighborhood
because our neighbors in DPS usually play their stereo loudly and you can hear the children play in the streets.
Aside from these, it also gives you the feeling that you are with your siblings when the boarders are in the living
room/ dining room talking to each other and sharing stories with each other. According to Ozaeta, it is not possible
to design a Place because it will always depend on the presence of people who experience it and infuse it with
meaning. As to how our boarding house affects me cognitively, I can say that it helps positively me in thinking,
understanding, learning and remembering because I honestly can study well when the surrounding is not too noisy
and not too quiet. However, emotionally, our boarding house makes me feel relaxed at times especially when Im in
the laundry area brushing my teeth because I would normally stare at the space with flowering plants on the side and
eventually look up to the sky then contemplate about life. Aside from this, I also relax myself by cooking in the
kitchen when Im stressed.
POWER- SPACE RELATIONSHIP. According to Lico, there is a distinction between power to and
power over. Power to refers to the capacity to do something while power over refers to having control of
something or someone. For me, our boarding house possesses both the power to and power over for it
encourages each boarder to learn, to be independent and to communicate with each other but at the same time, it also
encourages us to control ourselves that we must be mindful of ones space. So I can say that our boarding house is
both empowering and at the same time limiting.
SPIRIT OF THE PLACE. The spirit of the place refers to the quality of uniqueness but it will always
depend on the presence of people who experience it and infuse it with meaning, collectively and individually. As I
said before, our landlord wanted it to become a feel- at- home boarding house but it defeats the definition
uniqueness for we all have our own home in each of our provinces. However, the experiences I have differ for
the boarding house and our own provincial house. In our boarding house, I treasure all the memories I had with the
ates, batchmates and adings starting from our everyday routine up to the special occasions we shared such as
birthdays, Valentines Day and graduation celebrations.
I therefore learned from spatial analysis that one reacts to the physical layout, ambience and acoustics of a
place both cognitively and emotionally and in my case, our boarding house helps me positively in both aspects. In
terms of the power- space relationship, our boarding house is both empowering and limiting. It is empowering that it
encourages the boarders to grow with each other but at the same time limiting because we need to be aware of each
others space. Lastly, place is not just composed of space alone but it is also composed of meanings and experiences
of people and mine was all from simple to great memories I had shared with my boardmates and Ill always tell
others that our boarding house is a great place to be.

Open Space

Bathrooms

Laundry Area

Living room/ Dining area/ Study area

Kitchen

Rooms (2nd floor)