DASUGO, JOHN DERICK R.

PLANNING 1: SITE PLANNING AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE REACTION PAPER ON PANAGBENGA 2012: Market Encounter and Session Road in Bloom Two of the highlights of the annual Panagbenga are the Market Encounter and Session Road in Bloom. This year, these two events had some changes that made them a little bit different from other the past versions. This years weeklong pedestrianization of the session road, as always, was highlighted by the stalls put up to showcase a variety of products; and available as well is an array of delicacies. In general, the event became, again and as always, a food fest with food ranging from the local Etag to the unbeatable Shawarma to foreign delicacies like Thai food. Planning wise, some observations and reactions regarding this years Session Road in Bloom are as follows: firstly, session road was not totally closed from motorists. Somewhere at the middle, along Mabini and Session Road intersection, vehicles were allowed to pass through thus dividing the activity area into two. In planning, pedestrian and vehicular traffic should, as much as possible, be separated. Considering that the event was so crowded, the interference of the vehicles on the flow of pedestrian traffic made caused some congestion and also a threat to peoples safety. Secondly, though one could not really notice especially if one didnt buy anything from the bazaar, the most stalls were not using plastic! It could have been better if all of them werent but still the initiative is really commendable and it shouldnt stop there. Lastly, the anti-SM expansions aka save the trees at SM people! They were there asking for peoples signatures for the petition. Though the place was filled with potential signee of their campaign, personally, it is not ideal because people are not conditioned to do such decisions. Some people were just signing and dont even bother considering the side of SM. On the other hand, since the first day of February, the Market encounter at Burnham Park was opened. The event initially had 3 parts, the bazaar area where traders can sell various goods, the food and activity area which served as the magnet before the landscapes were installed and the landscape competition area where entries for the different categories were displayed. Some observations on those 3 parts are the following: The bazaar area. This area of the event was just some sort of typical tiangge. The idea of the market encounter that has been institutionalized since 1997, is to enable some traders to exhibit novelty items, which highlight Filipino ingenuity (business.inquirer.net) is lacking on this years edition. The food and activity area. Food really attracts people, especially if their affordable. The location is actually very strategic for it benefits the stalls, which one had to pass by before reaching the area. Landscape competition area. In general, those temporary landscapes, in general, are attractive and cute. Temporary does not give a pass in mistreating the plants. Some entries in the vertical landscape category were decorated with plants in wrong orientation. Instead of orienting the plant in a standing position, the plants were oriented in a way that their top portion faces the observers, like poinsettia flowers in a Christmas tree. And the fact that the particular entry placed is a total bummer.