The Ancestral House as a project

The house, located in Imus, Cavite, was from a traditional bahay na bato of the middle class, complete with bamboo floors, wood posts, and stone walls on the ground. The house was passed down to the youngest of the siblings, Nicanor, who married Anastacia. The family of Nicanor and Anastacia were evicted from their land in the 1970s due to family conflicts and poverty and the house was moved to its final location with all bamboo floors intact. The ground walls were recreated in its new location with then earth flooring. In a spite, they chipped away the remaining ground slab where their house once stood. In 2020, we embarked on demolishing and building a new house, but due to budget concerns, the Sarinas sisters (the current owners) could only accommodate retrofitting the structure like replacing the rotting floors, roof, and selected posts, and updating the finishes.

This renovation led to a tremendous amount of scraps, as we started ripping off the old bamboo floors and fabricating a new stairway. We had so much raw materials from the old house that we knew we wanted to use them as adaptive re-use as objects of the past.

The Concept behind the Ancestral house as an exhibit

Topic : Sarinas Heritage and Lifestyle Exhibition

Big Idea : An ancestral house to show heritage pieces and lifestyle of the family

Objectives : To educate all generations of the family about their heritage through their lineage and objects of family significance;

To tell stories of the ancestral house and the new pieces created for the current house; and

To welcome the family alongside activities relating to the reunion and to celebrate the exhibited pieces and stories.

Short List of Adaptive Reuse Objects:

1. Bamboo Stools from recovered bamboo floor

2. Long Bench in Resin from damaged plank of wood bench

3. Long Table from wood scraps (door jambs, floor joists, wall studs)

4. Framed Antique Mirror from stair hand railing

5. Foyer Ledge from termite-damaged wood beam

6. Floor Lamps from stair newel posts

Short List of Objects and Exhibit Materials:

1. Metal four poster bed

2. Old Photographs

3. Family Tree (full-height mural with photos)

4. Family birthday list

5. House history and floor plan

6. Lolo’s Watch Repair Table and tools

7. Foreign Currency and Travel Souvenir collection of Nicanor

8. Old Porcelain collection of Nicanor and Anastacia

9. Carpentry tools of Nicanor

10. Oval Table of Lola Imang

11. Contemporary art of Rowenna Sarinas Bladh (daughter), Emmanuel Sarinas Junglander (Swedish-Filipino artist, grandson) and Nico Sarinas (animator, grandson)

12. Cross Stitch collection of Antonniete and Isabelita Sarinas (daughters)

13. Old Banga of Lola Imang with commissioned art from Cecila Sarinas (Animator, grand-daughter-in-law)