Makati pedestrian underpass ceiling murals stir the imagination, uplift the spirit

Those who work in Makati City, a bustling business district in Metro Manila, are always in a hurry to get to work or go home. But these days, in some of the city's pedestrian underpasses, keeping your eyes on the goal will lose you the opportunity to relax and admire beauty, even just for a little while.

GMA News' "State of the Nation" video on Friday revealed that the Makati Commercial Estate Association commissioned artists to paint colorful murals on the ceilings of the Makati and Legaspi underpasses.



The mural styles ranged from abstract to historical to cartoony or comics-esque, but all of them were brightly painted – giving the once plain concrete of the underpasses a more vivid look.

Coincidentally, the murals were finished before the commencement of the World Economic Forum on East Asia.

In the video, many pedestrians stopped and lifted their gazes to the ceiling, some even going so far as to snap a few shots.

“This wasn't there before,” said a pedestrian, a foreign woman. “But it's bright, it makes everybody cheery.”

“Maganda, interesting, creative,” described a young woman.

“Maaliwalas – para sa akin, okay na 'yun,” said one young man. He claims he does not trip while walking and looking up.

“Pag pagod ka, medyo magaganahan ka,” opined another young man.

There are reportedly plans to furnish the Paseo de Roxas underpass with such colorful murals. Whether this project will be replicated outside the bounds of Makati, no one knows yet.  — Vida Cruz /LBG, GMA News