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.

Let's welcome Timothy Wong

We are pleased to announce a new addition to the AC Facade team. Timothy Wong is an architect based in the Philippines that shares our interest in all things AC related. We look forward to more contributions from his side of the world!!

54. Skeletons of lives gone by

Our correspondent Tim Wong has documented some images of apartment blocks in Manila, where like many other cities, features many examples of AC facade. He made a very interesting social observation as he snapped these pictures, noting that there are some apartment units that have upgraded AC condensers, while some have older ones and some do not even have AC at all. He postulates:

 " it is quite a common site here in Metro Manila since people are very unlikely to move out of places because land value growth is not as fast as there in Singapore. These tenants would then slowly upgrade their space and personalize it, a bit too much sometimes. Unaware of how they slowly create a disorder in the facade."

I also noticed that there were some empty condensor brackets on the facade as well, leaving behind traces of past occupancy. Thus the phenomenon of AC facade on these blocks are almost like an archaeological expression of human urban occupation. New AC condensers are a show of upward mobility, while empty brackets are skeletons of lives past.

Below: AC facade in metro Manila showing disused AC brackets leaving behind a reminder of past occupants

53. Drying your shoes in Manila

AC condensers work to cool interior spaces, but in doing so, a substantial amount of heat is released. Our contributor Timothy Wong observed that some people in metro Manila have figured this out and used the heat to dry their shoes. As AC condensers are ubiquitous throughout the world, it does make sense to harness this otherwise wasted energy. Meanwhile in Singapore, many new public housing flats have clothes drying racks that extend above AC condensers. Whether this is a design decision or coincidence, is certainly food for thought. 

Shoes drying on an AC condenser in Manila

Many built in drying racks in Singapore public housing extend over AC condensers