58. Living in the Past

Thematic developments like to evoke a feeling from a specific period in the past or bring in architecture from a foreign land. These buildings in Metro Manila are not reused...they are relatively new in comparison the style they convey (If my memory serves me right, they were built somewhere in the late 90's).

The designs may have emulated too much of the past when the A/C's did not exist yet. Thus...

This one, at least, had an A/C ledge, while it is obvious that the intention was for a horizontal arrangement, the A/C's said: "No. We go upwards."

57. Hot Facade - Metro Manila

A wall of condensers spotted in a development somewhere in Metro Manila, Philippines.

and it goes farther... (click on image)

It looks like the condensers were deliberately designed to be at the sides. It would be better though if a nice rhythm was observed in the arrangement, and if the tops of the condensers didn't peak through the window. A similar situation can be found in Jakarta.

56. More ghosts in Lisbon, Portugal

Our correspondent, Sara Grosse was in Lisbon, Portugal, and sent us these pictures. It appears that some residents have moved out, along with their AC condensers. Building management could not quite match the original paint colour of the apartment block, leaving traces of the past, much like our previous metro Manila report.

55. Hidden in plain sight

AC's are usually very blunt in how they just stand out on a facade. While I was driving around in a small neighborhood in the Metro Manila area, I saw this pet food store.

In many places here, there is very little options where one can place the AC unit, that's why most are just left exposed without a care or above a signage, this was a clever way to add more impact to the branding while hiding the AC.