Lighthouse
Stainless steel, CNC-cut aluminum panels, acrylic sheet, Sonoma fieldstones, archival film footage from the Sam Tagatac Digital Archive, and sunlight.
120” x 120” x 120”
2025
Lighthouse is a tribute to the Filipino American community that has called San Francisco’s South of Market (SoMa) home for over a century. Inspired by the bahay kubo—a traditional Filipino dwelling made from indigenous materials—the work reimagines this symbol of shelter and collaboration using components drawn from both urban and rural landscapes: aluminum, steel, acrylic, and locally sourced stone.
At its heart, Lighthouse embodies bayanihan—the Filipino spirit of communal unity and mutual support. In the Philippines, bayanihan often takes the form of neighbors lifting and relocating a house together. Here, it becomes a metaphor for the collective labor of the SoMa community as it continues to organize, resist, and reimagine home amid ongoing displacement.
The sculpture’s roof features a cutout of the traditional binakul weaving pattern, long associated with protection. As sunlight filters through, the pattern is projected onto the ground and cast across the sculpture’s translucent walls—a quiet echo of cultural memory and spiritual guardianship.
At night, archival footage from the Sam Tagatac collection—scenes of daily life in SoMa’s Filipino community—is projected within and around the work, transforming Lighthouse into both a beacon of inspiration and living archive.
Through form, light, and memory, Lighthouse invites reflection and renewed commitment to the collective act of placekeeping. It stands not just as a landmark, but as a call to keep building together.
