UP Bagong Lipunan Sights and Services (BLISS) is a cluster
of residential buildings located right at the mouth of one of the country’s top
universities, the University of the Philippines, Diliman. It was built back
during the Marcos rule in the 70s as part of the first lady’s housing project
initiatives.
Once populated mainly by UP professors and their families, it was a sanctuary for intellectuals, artists, and freethinkers which made the place a quiet haven. But over the years, demographics of residents have changed; creating a new mix of community members consisting of people from the lower-middle class to the higher-middle class.
This, in turn, has brought a new dimension to the once quiet and steady community. With college students taking up temporary boarding to extended families occupying a few square meters of space, the feel and look of each building tells numerous stories of lives intertwined together in one place with a culture and language of its own; where each window frame is a peek at individuals going by their normal days.
These images aim to look back at what the old BLISS was—peaceful, tranquil, and mysterious in its own way—where stories either last for decades or within just a few short, fleeting moments.
