Bahay / Abog Bale / Harong Balay: An An Unofficial and Incomplete Survey of Filipino Traditional Philippine Houses Before and After A Series of Colonization

This poster-style booklet by Char Kristoff, a designer, artist, and photographer based in Laguna, Philippines, is titled "An Unofficial and Incomplete Survey of Filipino Traditional Houses Before and After a Series of Colonization." It features a wide range of photographs of various houses, from historical documents and photographs taken by American soldiers to more recent photographs taken by Kristoff himself, archiving the complex historical background of the Philippines.

These works are both an indictment of colonial oppression and a record of Filipino ingenuity in making effective use of readily available materials. Formerly a member of the Philippine designer and artist group Hardworking Goodlooking, and currently working in printing and publishing, he considers the internet cafe and its attached copy shop to be an important base. He also runs "POOK ARALAN UNRELEARNING," a mobile school on the queering of arts, culture, and knowledge production in the Philippines, and utilizes all available resources, including workshops and reading groups, to explore methods of independent activity and communication.

The booklet, which uses typefaces such as Apple Chancery and Bodoni Ornaments to introduce its own culture, appropriates and repositions open-source Western assets for its own activities, practicing agile reuse in its design, just like the houses featured in the booklet.