Contest to give Aquino Museum a facelift

By Karen Flores, abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 10/30/2010

MANILA, Philippines - The country's architects, designers, conservators and curators are invited to submit a creative and cost-efficient design scheme for the Aquino Museum at the Aquino Center in Tarlac province.

The contest aims to find the best design solution that will capture the impact of the late democracy icons Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and President Corazon "Cory" Aquino in Philippine history.

"At present, the museum only speaks of Mom in terms of her role in unifying the democratic forces following Dad's assassination, in ascending to the presidency on the wave of People Power, and in restoring our democratic institutions," Ballsy Aquino-Cruz said during the launch of the contest held at the Ayala Museum in Makati City.

She continued, "Dad's sheer flamboyance and dramatic exit make him a truly hard act to follow, but Mom's quiet strength and unwavering spirituality are just as compelling a story about human character."

Re-awakening Democracy is a 2-phase contest that involves teams of 3 to 5 members. Each team should have at least one licensed architect or set designer.

In the first phase, participants are required to submit an executive summary describing their concepts and design intent for the project -- from sketches of layouts to the products to be used for the renovation. The deadline of submission is December 3, 2010.

On the other hand, the second phase will give 3 finalists a stipend of P100,000 each to fully develop their designs, leading to a schematic presentation. Finalists will be announced on December 13, and submission of the designs in full schematics should be made by February 4, 2011.

Full schematic presentations will be held sometime between February 7 and 18, 2011. One finalist will be awarded a design contract for the implementation of the proposal.

The Aquino Center, built in 2001, was originally designed as a convention center as well as a museum for Ninoy and Cory Aquino. Currently, a huge amount of space is dedicated to the exhibition of Ninoy.

Following the massive outpouring of respect and affection to Cory's death last year, the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF) thought of capturing the democracy icon's achievements beyond her term as president through the competition.

The contest is organized by Lafarge Cement Services (Philippines) Inc. for the benefit of NCAF.

For more details, contact Myle Macalam at (63917) 807-7365.