On the weekend I joined a sketch-walk with #UskManila at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). The building was designed by Leandro Locsin, opened in 1976 and is designed in a brutalist style. Brutalism is a style of architecture that developed in the 1950’s and 60’s – characterised by lots of bare concrete and bold geometric designs. Personally I find the style a bit ugly – but the PICC building was at least designed carefully, was built to high quality standards and is still in very good condition. I sketched this sculpture while we waited for a tour – it’s part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation sculpture garden, which was opened in 1996. Some blurb on a plaque in front of it says it is by Vitaly Shanov and Daria Uspenskaya. The plaque also says that “the image of the bear is seen now as the epitome of goodness, peacefulness and fairness”…hmmm perhaps not anymore.

Sat-23-Sep-2023