NEWS FEATURE | UPM-inecraft?
Students create virtual UP Manila campus
By Vince Balaga
Look out: you may or may not see CAS rats scurrying about.
In case you missed what it is like to be in the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) again, you can now have a virtual tour around the campus with these Minecraft mock-ups of the Health Sciences Center, including the other buildings the university originally owned.
With the initiative of the UPM College of Arts and Sciences Student Council (CASSC), a team of students began constructing the neoclassical buildings on the Padre Faura side while a UP College of Medicine (UPCM) student designed the buildings on the Pedro Gil side.
According to CASSC, one of the purposes of this project is to have some semblance of our campus that we consider our second home given that we are all far away from each other during this pandemic.
“I saw the Minecraft version din ng Ateneo High School before so naisip ko na maybe we can have that din in UPM since we’re not gonna have face to face classes and maybe we can use this for campus tours and bonding activities na rin,” shared Paolo Macasaet, CASSC Councilor for Sports and Wellness.
Using pictures sent by different students, the builders have completed the CAS facade, Rizal Hall, Student Center, Gusaling Andres Bonifacio, and other historical buildings in Padre Faura such as the Department of Justice and Supreme Court.
Jared Salvador, one of the builders, added that they had to request for floor plans of the building to ensure that the measurement is close to what it looks like in real life. “At first, trial and error yung ginawa [namin] especially sa scaling ng mga buildings, then yung mga head builders namin, they created an outline sa map mismo ng Minecraft in order to create the measurements, for example 1 cm is 5 blocks.”
This Minecraft version of UPM also provided a closer look at the CAS quadrangle, having details of plants, trees, benches, and the CAS parking lot with placards on the wall containing pro-student and pro-mass calls like “suspend online class” and “stop the attacks”.
(LOOK: UPM Padre Faura side https://www.facebook.com/UPMCASSC/posts/2671864182916335 )
Meanwhile, UPCM Batch 2023 Charles Melric Billedo started creating the white colleges’ buildings around early July which showcased the Calderon hall with detailed interior, as well as Salcedo Hall, Lara Hall, and Alvior Hall.
“I initially started building Calderon’s facade for a friend’s birthday, since they liked my past builds and I wanted to do something for them. When I did finish the facade, it felt so nostalgic just to see the college again that it felt like an injustice to keep Calderon hollow and without detail,” said Billedo.
Moreover, even those who are not from the UPCM can have a chance to see what it is like inside the Calderon Hall as Billedo released a campus-tour-like video featuring the college morgue, 1972 theater, 1927’s antechamber, different laboratories, and lecture halls.
(Look: UPCM virtual tour https://www.facebook.com/UPCM2023/videos/673289486870635/)
Although Billedo plans to take a break from continuing the project since online classes already started, CASSC is planning to finish the whole map of UPM including adjacent areas such as the Manila Light Rail Transit System (LRT), Office of the University Registrar (OUR) Compound, Philippine General Hospital (PGH) area, and other buildings in Pedro Gil.
(Help the CAS SC: Send your photos of UP Manila at bit.ly/MCPhotoBank or join Minecraft team at bit.ly/MinecraftUPM)
Undeniably, this virtual campus makes us reminisce about our good pre-pandemic days. Even with the display of creativity and innovation by the student builders, we must not be contented with the digital recreation of UPM. Rather, we should continue to demand for the government’s sufficient response to the pandemic and amplify our call for a safe return to campus.
