SPECIAL ISSUE 3 2015 | PHP19 9

UNBUILT
DESIGNS

+ Future Projects by

tHree FiliPino Finalists oF tHe

2015 World arcHitecture Festival
CARLOS ARNAIZ ARCHITECTS
WTA ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN STUDIO
VILLEGAS-ROXAS CONSULTANTS
1/0 design collective Alexander Mayoralgo Aoanan Arkitektos Studio ARCONiC BUDJI+ROYAL Architecture + Design
Cadiz International Architects Daryl Abaygar, Bryan Gabaldon, John Patricio and Nelson Roquero Edson Cabalfin Ge Joson
and Miguel Ricalde HANDStudio Jayson Mata and Jelda Cabardo Javier Design Studio Manila Kurt Yu, Angeli Luna and
Ruel Fabia L.A. Poco Architects Leandro V. Locsin Partners MB Architecture Studio OOZN Design Pen Works Architecture
& Interiors SpaceFabrik Sudarshan Khadka TVA&P urbanshift studio Zubu Design Associates

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INSIDE
Special issue 3 2015

12

Editors Note

Costa Rica Congress Hall by CAZA

FIRST PRINCIPLES
14

Built, uNBuilt, Built Tobias Guggenheimer

starts from the very beginning by asking,
What is the essence of architecture?

TOWNSHIP
18

REvitaliziNg a HistoRic DistRict

by Edson Cabalfin

68 HElsiNki musEum by Daryl Van Abaygar,

Bryan Andrew Gabaldon, john Andrew Patricio
and Nelson Roquero
70 tHE Rizal cENtER by ARCONiC
Architecture and Design
72 talukaB by Kurt yu, Angeli luna
and jose Ruel Fabia

INFRASTRUCTURE
20

sHEaREs islaND by OOZN Design

MIXED-USE
22
24

tHE FoRt towERs by Royal Pineda

of BuDji+ROyAl Architecture + Design
sERvita civic cENtER by CAZA

HOSPITALITY
26
28
32
34
36
40
42
44
46

siBol by Ge joson and Miguel Ricalde

BamBoo tElls by jason Mata
and jelda Cabardo
soutH laguNa PRimE by Angelo Ray
Serrano and jC San luis of 1/0 design collective
taNikala by yonni Habulan and Maricris Ngo
of HANDStudio
cElEBRity HotEl by Ed ledesma
of leandro V. locsin Partners
RaiNtREE HotEl by Royal Pineda
of BuDji+ROyAl Architecture + Design
JEBEl Jais mouNtaiN HotEl
by Cadiz international
clouDscaPE by WTA Architecture
& Design
FJ HotEl by Zubu Design Associates

R ECREATIONAL
48 viEwFiNDER cluBHousE by
l.A. Poco Architects & Associates
52 Rizal tHEatER by Micaela Benedicto
54 sagay: tHE tuBBataHa maRiNE liFE
saNctuaRy by Villegas-Roxas Consultants

I NSTITUTIONAL
58 costa Rica coNgREss Hall by CAZA
64 solomoN guggENHEim musEum
by T.i. Vasquez Architects and Planners

O FFICE
74
76
80

volumEs tHat sPEak by SpaceFabrik

cRystalliziNg Roots by SpaceFabrik
tHE silHouEttE by Cadiz international

ASSEMbLY
82 PoPE PavilioN by CAZA
84 sitio malaya by Sudarshan V. Khadka jr.
of ii.ncite

RESIDENTIAL
86
88
89
90
92
96
98

tHE caNtilEvER HousE

by javier Design Studio Manila
tHE s HousE by jose Vicente Aoanan
yEllow FaRmHousE by Oscar j. Peasales
RamP HousE by urbanshift studio
14 PEtER stREEt by Sudarshan V. Khadka jr.
of ii.ncite
PRoJEct NEPal by Sudarshan V. Khadka jr.
of ii.ncite
How woulD you likE to sEE
youRsElF livE? by Alexander Mayoralgo

MEMORIAL
100 How woulD you likE to BE
REmEmBERED? by Alexander Mayoralgo

FUTURE PRO jECTS

102 a HomE oF maNy mooNs by CAZA
108 tHE uRBaN Block by WTA Architecture & Design
112 ama BaNk FiNaNcial cENtER
by Villegas-Roxas Consultants
114 claRk PoDscaPEs by Angelo Ray Serrano
and jC San luis of 1/0 design collective
120 sources

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EDITORS NOTE

From left Senior Photographer Ed Simon, Editorial Coordinator Andi Arines,

Associate Editor Adrian Tumang, EIC Judith Torres, Managing Editor Miguel Llona, and
Group Art Director Patrick Kasingsing (Photographed by Floyd Jhocson of Studio 100)

collected represent the aspirations of their authors

to create delightful and innovative solutions to
identified needs, might not their schemes also herald
emerging trends in Philippine architectural design?
Is this ridiculously wishful thinking? Maybe not.
In addition to 35 unbuilt designs, this issue
includes four projects that are being or about
to be built. Three are finalists at the World
Architecture Festival this year: a house, a mixeduse development, and a bank office building, all in
the Future Projects category. Designed by Carlos
Arnaiz, William Ti, and Connie Roxas respectively,
they show a higher level of design than most of
us have come to expect in our context. The fourth
future project is the winner of the Bases Conversion
Development Authority contest for the design of a
25-hectare mixed-income housing development
in Clark Green City, Pampanga. Designed by
Angelo Ray Serrano and JC San Luis, the plans
are idealisticjust the kind you expect to win
theoretical competitions but not get built. Perhaps
these are signs that we can get our hopes up?
In producing an issue like thisor for that
matter, in practicing architecturethere is no room
for cynicism. A defeatist outlook is suicide! Most of
the designs of any successful practice go unbuilt.
Many of the architects included here are still young,
and their unbuilt designs are practice for better
designs yet to come. For me, this issue represents
hope we can build on.
To show you how crazy hopeful we are, next
year, we will do this again, and
go a step further34 years
into the future, to be exact.
One of the hopes about our
country that I hold onto to
keep me sane is by the time my
childrens children start families of their own, the
Philippines will be a safe and livable place, right up
there with the worlds most progressive states. That
insane conviction was galvanized in 2012 when
HSBC predicted that in 2050, the Philippines would
be the worlds 16th largest economy. At the time,
the IMF and World Bank ranked us 43rd out of 188
countries. Today, three years later, they rank us 39th
and predict well be in 29th place by 2020. Price
Waterhouse Coopers for its part recently forecast
that by 2050, we would be within the worlds top
20 economies. Right about where Switzerland
and Saudi Arabia are today. Feeling hopeful yet?
So next year, we want to challenge architects and
designers to envision our homes, schools, churches,
government buildings, parks and famous landmarks
in 2050a visioning exercise for our country!
Excited? You should be!
While heady with hope, let us in the meantime
enjoy these visions of an alternate reality, one that
we could well surpass if we would all start pulling
togethersooner rather than later!

Forecasting the Future

through Unbuilt Designs
We said last year wed do this again, so here we
are once more, mining the iceberg of unexecuted
architectural projects for intriguing examples of
what might have been. One might uncharitably
view this as a collection of losers and aborted
dreams. But some of the unbuilt designs on these
pages are glorious losers that Id take any day over
many mediocre winners that now mar our built
environment.
I like to see this special issue as a collection
of visions that one day could be. Could Be is the
name of an awards program that the Washington
chapter of the American Institute of Architects
created in 2009. It was the height of the global
economic recession, and many building projects had
ground to a screeching halt. Still, the chapter wanted
to recognize significant work by local designers
and students. Architecture, after all, as Tobias
Guggenheimer points out in our introductory article
to this issue, is an idea, an effervescence that cannot
be unbuilt any more than it can be built.
In gathering these unbuilt dreams, we hope
to raise the bar in the minds of local developers
and clients. Here is modern Filipino architecture
and design! Royal Pineda would exclaim. This is
what we could be! And because the designs weve

12

BluPrint

Editor in Chief

FIRST PRINCIPLES

BUILT
U NBUILT
BUILT
Design for the moment,
not resurrected design, will
illuminate our way forward
By Tobias Guggenheimer

Images from growingupinamerica.wordpress.com

and 1000museums.com

he American poet
Walt Whitman
suggested that one
can find wisdom in the certainty of the reality
and immortality of things; and the excellence
of things. Do we not seek the very same
underpinnings when making and considering
architectureimmortality and excellence?
How do we locate the essence of
architecture? Perhaps we should ask
architecture herself to clarify. Excuse me!
Architecture! Hey! Are you lines on paper?
Are you bricks and mortar? Are you ideas that
disturb the designers slumber in the middle of
the night? Are you tangible? Ineffable? Are you
rules and regulations? Are you a history book?
Are you the future tensea world within
which we will live tomorrow?
Architecture might protest that she is
primarily ephemeral, a soulful internality
whose whirling mists of ideas and emotion
coalesce into building design. She will suggest
that disciplined acts of imagination and
anticipation lead to exceptional architecture.
Inversely, she will inveigh that poor thinking
results inevitably in sub-optimal solutions.
Architecture appreciates that we who
evoke her powers are responsible for imbuing
traditional bodies of knowledge with creative
innovation in the service of the human
environment. This same architecture is also
a bit of a shrew, sternly rejoining educators to
prioritize objectivity and narrative capability.
Everything designed under the teachers
watchful gaze should be vibrant, powerful and
experimental. Time enough later, she might
argue, for the mundane.
Is it important for our work to form the
basis of construction? The instinctive answer
is yesof course. It matters the architect
for reasons economic, artistic and egoistic.
Ultimately, the essence of architecture is not
significantly challenged if or whether her
drawings are deployed to guide the erection
of a building.
An instinctive definition for unbuilt
architecture would be design not yet
deployed as the basis for construction.

But an unbuilt building is not unbuilt

architecture. It is simply an unbuilt building.
Architecture is an idea, an effervescence
that cannot be unbuilt any more than it can
be built. Design is certainly enlivened by the
builders toolsdevices which themselves
are made pregnant by the incubus of our
vision, animated, and given the breath of life.
Fabrication allows our inventions and our
intentions to be measured, the pulse taken,
the specifications of form, mass, materials and
plan assessed. If the message is architecture,
the medium is constructionthe expensive,
tenacious and necessary endeavor by which
concept is confirmed or denied.
To further understand why buildings
occupy a very different place in the order of
things than does architecture, we borrow
from our legal friendscolleagues who
describe our output as instruments of
service, and who draw a distinction between
that service (intangible architecture) and
deliverables (drawings). An analogy might
also be found in medicine, the practice of
which will, it is hoped, cure a patient. The
outcome, or deliverables, will vary between
good health and death, but neither of these
states is to be confused with medicine.

Opposite page Broadacre City (19321934) was Frank Lloyd Wrights idea of
a suburban utopiaa decentralized city
where the automobile reigned supreme.
For him, cities like New York with their
denseness and teeming diversity were
like fibrous tumors that needed to be
excised. In his vision, people would
live in self-sufficient one-acre lots, and
drive to distribution centers (gas stations
with retail complexes) to buy what they
needed. With the radio, telephone and
telegraph, who could want for anything
more, much less miss their neighbors?
In some ways, Broadacre predicted the
direction modern America would take
unsustainable, unneighborly urban
sprawl, endless highways, gas-guzzling
cars, and huge malls. Below In 1924,
a wealthy businessman asked FLW to
build on top of Sugar Loaf Mountain
in Maryland an impressive monument
that would attract visitors from nearby
Washington and Baltimore. FLW began
to sketch a spiraling roadway that
mimicked the shape of the mountain,
and he placed a theater at the center. As
plans progressed, the monument turned
into a great dome with a planetarium,
surrounded by a ring-shaped natural
history museum. The client rejected
the design. FLW would continue to
work with hemicycle forms, which later
inspired the design of the Guggenheim
Museum and other projects.

A rc h ite c t u r e i s A n i d e A ,
A n e ffe rv es c e n c e th At c A n n Ot B e
u n Bu ilt Any mO re thAn it cAn Be Bu ilt.

BluPrint

107
15

FIRST PRINCIPLES

This is one of the many visions of the City of Angels that was
never built. In 1925, Los Angeles held a competition asking for
a redesign of the city core. FLWs plan is that of an elongated
cross with a 150-meter wide walkway. The grand promenade
would be flanked by twin buildings that escalate in height as one
gets closer to downtown LA. The city chose instead the design
of Allied Archietcts.

Architecture withOut A client even if Only imAgined Or

prOjected is An Act Of unprOductive design OnAnism.
Frank Lloyd Wright, who argued that
architecture was relevant only when responsive
to culture, to physical and metaphysical
touchstones, designed many projects which
were not executed. In his view, architecture
without a clienteven if only imagined or
projectedwas an act of unproductive design
onanism. In a controversial practice that
many have deplored, his successor firm, the
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, exhumed
from their vaults projects, many of which
had never progressed beyond the schematic
phase during his lifetime. Their purpose was
to capitalize on Wrights tremendous fame
by committing these drawings to the auction
block. Regrettably, they were not offered as art
pieces but as the bases of designs for homes of
the firms clientele. Committing a vast error of
judgment, the foundation performed extensive
revisions to some of these drawings, and in so
doing challenged the core of Wrights oft-stated

16

BluPrint

Crtitic Brian Lin writes: Fallingwater is clearly visible in the rendering of the Cottage Studio for Ayn
Rand (the author of The Fountainhead). Designed in 1946, the slate base, vertical circulation shaft and
cantilevered slabs are revisited almost dogmatically. However, unlike the elegant balance of projecting
slabs in Fallingwater, these slabs thrust boldly from their wooded terrain toward a single point on the
horizon. Rands worldview seems unmistakably reflected in the design.

Images from thebluereview.org (Grand boulevard) and beloose.com

(Ayn Rand cottage studio and Point View residences)

beliefs. In a misguided quest for revenue,

the firm contorted his concepts to fit new sites,
new uses and new clients, willfully ignorant
of their beloved mentors message and values.
Wright, who had placed enduring faith in the
power of design, who famously said that there
were always more arrows in the quiver of
creativity, would have been aghast that his heirs
clung to his tailcoat rather than forged ahead
into uncharted territory. It is quite certain that
the master would have advised his disciples
to reach for the moment and not hide within
the comfortable territory of nostalgia and
anachronism.
That designs should not be resurrected
is not to say that buildings that honorably
represent a historical period should not be
carefully preserved and groomed. For at
least 1,300 years, the people of Japans Mie
Prefecture have been rebuilding their Ise
Jingu Shinto shrine in an act of devotion
that has replicated the original design with
regularity. Renovation and restoration that are
grounded in reverence is to be admired just as
duplication and bootlegging are to be deplored.
The destruction endured by many
global cities during the second World War
stimulated these questions on a broad scale.
In the aftermath of the conflict, several
European cities were able to reconstruct
entire quarters to close approximation of
their pre-war appearance. Our own beloved
Manila, a witness during the final days of
the war to ferocious urban combat between
American and Japanese forces, was also

reduced to rubble. An urgent response

brought to life an entirely new organism, a
vibrant, modern, chaotic and ever-changing
enclave situated upon the ruins of her
predecessor. In a process perhaps more in
keeping with historic forms, violent events
arbitrarily silenced many voices while laying
bare entire fields upon which succeeding
generations of architects could reinvent a
phoenix from the ashes of a painful past.
If only political institutions had paid heed,
we lament, the beauty of our old Manila could
have been preserved. Yet a city is the product
of a culture, and it does little good to pine over
what could have been or what should have
been. Manila may shine more brightly than
she does now if her citizenry comes to believe
that design can be the light that illuminates
the way forwardnot unbuilt design, but
design of the moment.

the writer
Tobias Guggenheimer
is principal of the New York design
firm, Tobias Guggenheimer Architect,
PC. He taught Architecture and Interior
Design at Pratt Institute, Parsons
School of Design, and Fordham
University, and is currently Dean at
SoFA Design Institute in Makati.
Guggenheimer is the author of
A Taliesin Legacy: The Architecture
of Frank Lloyd Wrights Apprentices,
published in 1995.

This drawing for apartment

building Point View
Residences in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania (1952) again
shows characteristics of
Fallingwater.

TOWNSHIP

WRITTEN BY EDSON CABALFIN, PHD

REVITALIZING A
HISTORIC DISTRICT
Designed by Edson Cabalfin for Cadiz International

he project was the redevelopment

of Old Town in Ras al Khaimah,
United Arab Emirates. I designed
this in 2008 to 2009 as senior project architect
for Cadiz International. Tasked to develop
conceptual designs, I led the team in the proposed
revitalization of the historic district of the emirate.
The sketches were done as preliminary concept
design for a new civic space for the old town.
The client was very excited and receptive to the
idea of a new civic space in the heart of the old
town. This was intended to put Ras al Khaimah in
the same league as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but in a
manner appropriate to the history and context of
the emirate. The client approved the initial idea of
the project and we further explored the proposal.
Unfortunately, with the advent of the global
economic crisis, the project was downscaled and
simplified, and later put on hold.

Defining features and benefits

The historic Old Town of Ras al Khaimah was
deteriorating. An existing road built in the 1980s
ran through the historic quarters, splitting the
town in two, but it remained underutilized and
unappealing. Our design focused on introducing
an underground civic space carved out in the
heart of the town with a new Friday Mosque,
pedestrian walks, recreational and retail facilities.
On the street level, an undulating landscape
interspersed with skylights and wind towers
would serve as a new green space and park
system that would stitch the town back together.
As the architecture of the old town were mostly
one or two-storey buildings, I felt the new
structure should not overpower the historic
fabric, and so submerged the proposed insertion
into the town. The new civic space would bring
new life into the area without destroying its
historic characteran audacious move, but at
the same time a sensitive and respectful approach
to development.
I revisited the project by creating physical
models in 2013. The models further explored the
idea of this subterranean civic space by focusing
on fractals and shards as strategy for stitching
the town together. Similar to the original goal of
the project, the aim of this exercise was to explore
the idea of insertion in a historic district through
a careful and delicate interweaving with the

18

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01

02

01 Top view of model study for Old Town

Ras al Khaimah using fractals and shards as
approach in exploring pathways, landscape and
program for redeveloping a historic district. The
model, a later exploration in 2013, investigated
the relationship of historic fabric with the new
development by identifying contact points and
layering the landscape with fractals and shards.
The layered fractals evoke the sand dunes in the
area but also anticipate the layering of program
and activity in the new civic space. The blue field
in the middle represents the existing gap in the
middle of the town created by a road introduced
in the 1980s. With the road a relatively recent
scar on the historic fabric, the new civic space
sought to stitch and heal the scar. The model
is made from balsa wood on illustration board
with acrylic and conte crayon. 02 Detail view of
model study for Old Town Ras al Khaimah. The
shards and spindles represent how pathways
and programmed activity areas are interwoven.
Layering is the primary technique to explore
the connectivity of the shards. The lines on the
ground represent the movement of people in and
out of this new constructed landscape.

03

04

W H I L E C R E AT I V I T Y I S PA R T O F A RC H I T E C T U R E ,
O N E M U S T L E A R N T O N E G O T I AT E W I T H T H E
ECONOMICS OF THE PROJECT.
existing infrastructure. To see this project built,
I would be willing to redesign it in a simpler way.
The design can be downscaled and simplified
without abandoning the original concept.
As a case study for architecture students
I would use this story to illustrate the process of
negotiation and mediation between architecture,
economics and politics. While creativity is part
of architecture, one must learn to negotiate with
what clients want, the economics of the project, and

05

the politics of the area. This is not to say that you

should veer away from ambitious ideas. In fact, as
I experienced through this project, it is important
to be audacious and creative with your strategies
throughout the entire process. The client saw the
potential of the ambitious project from the beginning
and realized the possibilities that could change the
area. The daring approach instigated conversation
and discussion between consultants and
stakeholders, a discussion necessary to eventually
reach a feasible and still creative approach.

03 Longitudinal section of the

subterranean civic space. Wind
towers pierce through large
domed skylights. Undulating
land forms nestle between
the one to two-story houses,
creating a new public garden
on what was a road that split
the historic town in half. The
landscape on the street level
is meant to blend in between
the houses. By submerging the
new development, the civic
space would not overpower the
houses. 04 Aerial perspective
done in 2008-2009 of the
subterranean civic space
showing street level landscape
of undulating land forms
interspersed with skylights and
wind towers. The new park
connects the historic old palace
on one end and the Friday
mosque on the other. 05 Sketch
perspective of entryway leading
down to the subterranean civic
space. Layers of tessellated
glass panels peel away from
the ground, revealing the entry
down to the underground public
plaza. 06 Sketch perspective
of a new Friday mosque in the
heart of the subterranean civic
space. Large domed glass
skylights cover the civic space
allowing light to stream to the
underground. Recreational and
institutional areas also line the
underground plaza. The mosque
is envisioned to be covered with
varying shades of iridescent blue
ceramic tiles, evocative of the
nearby Persian Gulf and history
of pearl cultivation in the area.

06

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INFRASTRUCTURE

WRITTEN BY PETER MORRIS

SHEARES
ISLAND
Designed by OOZN Design Studio

01 The proposed pedestrian bridge is a simple lightweight

structure that complements the design of the existing road
bridge above. The pontoons will be turned into shaded island
gardens, where people can relax and enjoy a unique public
space. 02 The new pedestrian link will connect the 21-kilometer
East Coast Park directly to the Northern City Center, creating
an unbroken cycle superhighway from the Northeastern tip of
the island at Changi Airport directly to the Singapore Flyer. The
creation of a pedestrian and cycle superhighway will reduce the
citys commuter road traffic coming from the East.

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02

01

he Benjamin Sheares Bridge in

Singapore is a 1.8-kilometer elevated
concrete bridge connecting the East
Coast Parkway to the city. The bridge rises 20
meters above the water, offering spectacular
views of the CBD and Marina Bay, creating a
dramatic introduction to the city from Changi
Airport. Completed in 1981, the bridges height was
intended to allow ships from the Kallang shipyards
heading for the ocean to pass underneath. But since
the shipyards closure and the completion of the
Marina barrage, which disconnects Marina Bay
from the ocean, this function is no longer needed.
In 2011, during the construction of the
Gardens by the Bay, we proposed a pedestrian
and cycle superhighway under the Sheares Bridge,
reimagining the pontoons as shaded island gardens.
Using the existing bridge has numerous benefits,
including reduced cost by negating the need to build
new pontoons, and weather protection provided
by the existing concrete road deck above. From an
urban planning perspective, the symbiotic design
will improve sightlines by eliminating the visual
clutter created by a new standalone structure.
We remain hopeful that this proposal, or
a version of it, will eventually be realized. The
ongoing development of Singapores park connector
network, the Gardens by the Bay and Sports
Hub has seen the completion of a 12-kilometer

waterfront. The waterfront is comprised of the

two loops of Kallang Basin and Marina Reservoir
connected in a figure eight, and links into the
21-kilometer East Coast Park at Sheares bridge. The
parks are experiencing a dramatic boom in user
numbers, recreational and commuter, generating
the need for an East-West pedestrian link, the
shortest crossing point of which is Sheares Bridge.
An independent pedestrian bridge that had
been proposed as part of Gardens by the Bay East
was not included in Phase One due to cost issues,
a situation that has created an opportunity for the
government to adopt our Sheares Island concept.
A pedestrian link in this location is still included
in the Singapore planning authoritys masterplan,
but a construction date has yet to be confirmed.
We hope that our sustainable and cost-effective
solution will be considered, and we are currently
in dialogue with the planning authority and
our engineering partners so we could adapt
our design to respond to changing urban and
technical requirements.
OOZN is a Singapore-based design studio established in 2013 by Rafal
Kapusta and Stephanie Gunawan, with Peter Morris and Jay Panelo
joining soon after. They have started work on projects in countries like
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Germany.
P R OJ E C T T E A M Peter Morris (project leader), Stephanie
Gunawan, Rafal Kapusta, Chipik Alsi Tuinti, Jay Panelo

PLAN

BEFORE

AFTER

While ships dont pass under the

bridge anymore, the Sheares Bridge
still stands as an elegant landmark
of Singapore. It offers the shortest
crossing point between the northern
CBD and the eastern part of Singapore,
which makes it the ideal location to set
up a pedestrian link for commuters.
With the pedestrian link in place, we
estimate it can cut 4 kilometers off
the bike ride of commuters wishing to
cross to the other side.

ELEVATION

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MIXED-USE

WRITTEN BY ROYAL PINEDA

The towers converse. The two multi-faceted hotel

and bank towers create a dynamic convergence
of lines and curves to make living architecture.
Simplicity in form and composition is very important
in creating architecture that works. Even with the
simplest of silhouettes, you know the composition
is right when you see it. The property is 9,866 sqm
while the footprint for the two towers would have
been 5,370 sqm.

e were commissioned to create iconic

twin towers to house a hotel and bank
offices on a triangular property in one
of the most strategic spots in the Fort, Bonifacio
Global City. This was seven years ago, when the
Fort presented a clean slate, ideal for showcasing a
locally designed project that was global in style and
technologically up to date. We were very excited
about the project, because all the early buildings
then were designed by foreigners. The time was
ripe for a Filipino to set the benchmark for modern
Filipino architecture + design. It would have been a
great statement in an upcoming dynamic city still
shaping a new urban skyline. But it was not meant
to be. The US, followed by many countries, fell into
recession and the investors pulled out.
The site is in a wonderful triangular lot, and the
architecture is designed to move as you drive by
the street, changing its face with every new angle
from which it is viewed. With this design, I had
hoped to show developers that modern Filipino
architecture+design can contribute to a projects
value and viability as an investment, rather than
going the route of applying foreign themes to ones
development.
Strategically positioned solar panels envelop
the 50- and 65-storey sculptural forms, providing
most, if not the entire, power requirements of
the buildings, with the existing electrical grid
as back-up.
What is needed for these towers to get built?
Another bold client!

The building envelope consists of thousands of integrated photovoltaic panels, both mirrorized
and transparent. These are tilted to collect the suns energy at different times of the day, even
without direct contact with sunlight. These solar windows are made of monocrystalline silicon cells
sandwiched between two glass panes, which allow views and diffused light to come through. There
are even innovations like dye-sensitized solar cells, and meso-superstructure solar cells (MSSC)
wherein solar cells are printed directly on the glass curtain walls.

THE FORT
TOWERS
Designed by Royal Pineda for
BuDji+Royal architecture + Design

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MIXED-USE

AS NARRATED TO JUDITH TORRES BY CARLOS ARNAIZ

SRVITA CIVIC CENTER

Designed by Carlos Arnaiz and Laura Del Pino of CAZA (Carlos Arnaiz Architects)
his is a project we designed for a client
in Colombia whom weve worked with a
lot, one of the biggest office developers
there. It unfortunately didnt go through because
he needed a certain amount of the land for it to
work, and he was not able to buy all of the land,
so in the end it got shelved. What was fascinating
about the project was that the brief required a
hybrid of three things: doctors offices, a civic
center, and an art museum.
The property our client was eyeing was right
across the street from one of the citys biggest
hospitals, where there was a big demand for
doctors offices. This would be part of the
revenue-generating component
of the development.

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The second part was going to be in

partnership with the city. The government of
Colombia had created this kind of one-stop-shop
civic service center. They realized that people
had to go to different city institutions to get
different kinds of permitsdrivers license,
marriage license, building permits, affidavits,
and what-have-youin different parts of town.
So they said, Lets consolidate them. Theyd
been doing this across Colombia, and its been
very successful. So the civic center was going to
be one-third of the development.
Now there was an old historic home right
in the center of the property that had to be
preserved. We invited a museum to use the old
home as headquarters, and that would be the third
part of the development.
We designed a garden that would bring together
the doctors offices, the civic center and the gallery.
In the garden, they would display sculptures, making
Art the unifying force for the three components.

We designed the structures

to look like a series of glass
shards or diamonds rising up
from out of the earth. These
shards or diamonds are
ways to bring light down into
the doctors offices and the
civic center underground;
and ways for those offices
also to peek out and admire
the sculpture garden
outside. Below We began
our plan with a very compact
distribution, and then we
rotated the basic volumes
and oriented them toward the
mountains and the light. We
added sunken gardens where
open-air exhibitions could
take place. We also included
a theater (the building with
the round drop lights). Instead
of one large high-rise, the
development has the scale and
air of a villagea collection of
low structures.

WRITTEN BY GE JOSON

HOSPITALITY

01

SIBOL

Designed by Ge Joson and Miguel Ricalde

he Tagalog word for sprout,

sibol, encapsulates the ideal of
the project. This hot spring and
wellness resort emulates natural patterns,
with formal and spatial diagramming based
on the environmental context. Because it is
situated at a junction between two critical
environmental landmarks, Laguna de Bay and
Mt. Makiling, we took care in our design not
to disrupt the natural flow of water from the
mountain to the lake. Instead, we envisioned
the site as a natural buffer and filter of water
runoff, which could help mitigate flooding in
the lowlands of Laguna.
Existing site conditions were fed into
the design process in combination with the
programmatic requirements of the complex.
These were visualized through generative
diagrams that created a recursion in the
design process. Through this feedback loop
system, the complex was developed in an
organic manner.
Spatial organization was derived though
direct and indirect circulation paths that

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lead and distribute users to different parts

of the complex. The central core is the lobby,
which bifurcates to the different areas of the
resortthe hotel, the pools, wellness area
and the museum. Dead ends are avoided
without going through the same path twice.
The core system is advantageous in bringing
all the uses into close proximity to each other.
The designs formal translation reflects the
eagerness of the structure to be seen and
02

01 The lobby is the main node through which one

navigates to access the major areas of the complex.
The Active-Relax diagram references the duality
of Filipino culture of being both accommodating
and reserved. The public space at the center
transitions to more private and personal spaces and
activities to the north. 02 The arrival area. Voronoi
patterns seamlessly integrate the elements of the
complex together. This was developed through
Grasshopper scripting with parameters such as
privacy and solar exposure as inputs. The voronoi,
a pattern that occurs in nature, serves the structure
as a secondary skin, privacy screen, sunshading,
and helps induce ventilation. The patterns create
enough enclosure for privacy and controlled porosity
for voyeurism, inspired by the accommodatingreserved duality of Filipinos.

03

04

05

03 The private pool is exclusive to hotel and villa guests at the top floor with voronoi skin as shade from excessive sun, and privacy from other parts of the complex.
04 The public pool is the most open part of the complex. The structure embraces the area to protect it from outside developments. From this vantage point, the structure is
both imposing and playful, with the help of the porous faade. 05 Portions of the hotel shade a portion of the public pool. 06 The resort complex occupies 67,000 sqm of the
10.8-hectare property. Private areas are placed on the north-facing side of the structure to limit sun exposure. Public spaces serve as activity nodes around which the resort
complex revolves. The Active-Relax diagram is clearly translated in the form that diminishes in scale as one traverses the site from south to north.

disappear at the same time. It follows the

massiveness of the mountain at the south
and slowly dissipates as it approaches
the openness of the lake to the north. The
massing creates a gradual visual scale and
also harnesses wind circulation through
the complex.
Environmental studies dictated the
location of the pool area and hotel room
openings that directly face the north. The
scale of the hotel was reduced visually by
slicing the different levels and spreading them
over a larger footprint.

06

Sibol is the grand prize winner of the Metrobank Arts and Design
Excellence (MADE) 2015 competition, architecture category. The challenge
was to design a 109,548-square meter world-class resort with natural hot
springs in Los Baos, Laguna. In addition to offering a wellness facility
for retreat and physical activities, it would serve as a venue to showcase
Philippine art and culture.

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WRITTEN BY JAYSON MATA

HOSPITALITY

e knew from the get-go that we would

use bamboo as the main material.
It is readily available in Laguna,
is resilient, and with proper treatment and
construction technology, will withstand time
enough to realize the ROI of the development.
The choice of bamboo forced us to continually
rationalize our structure keeping in mind the
qualities of our chosen material. At the same time,
we were challenged to continually push how far
we could build with bamboo. Our challenge was
to present bamboo as elegant and modern in our
applications, and overcome peoples perception of
it as a humble and backward material.

BAMBOO
TELLS

Designed by Jayson
Mata and Jelda Cabardo

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01

02

W E K N E W F R O M T H E G E T - G O T H AT
WE WOULD USE BAMBOO AS THE
M A I N M AT E R I A L .
03

One of our design and planning strategies

was to go modular. The repetition of units
and structures would save time and
resources, which is beneficial for clients.
The resort would have three building
types: 1) pavilion modules with structural
clustered bamboo column spines, bamboo
arches, and roofs using anahaw shingles
firmly overlaid with fishnet; 2) hotel modules
using grids of clustered columns, bamboo
beams and bamboo space frames; 3) villa
units with green roofs and intelligent louver
wall systems that adjust to the intensity
of sunlight.

01 The villa, as a living

structure where the ground
landscape grows and
becomes the roof. The
innovation lies between
combining bamboo
technology and green roof
system. 02 The sala, a
feature lounge for the villa
guest to experience. 03 The
villa bathroom uses crushed
bamboo for the flooring. A
customized copper bathtub
that looks like Aladdins
lamp adds a touch of magic
and modern art.

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HOSPITALITY

The Bamboo hotel (with majestic

Mt. Makiling in the background) is
conceived to be an architectural and
engineering feat, using innovative
bamboo construction technologies.
The modular units are stacked facing
north-east to avail of breezes from
that direction, and enjoy views of
Laguna de Bay. The built-up portions
occupy only 15,114 sqm of the
10.8-hectare property.

01

03

02

04

For the resort experience, our plan was

inspired by Maria Makiling folklore. We
wanted guests to experience the feeling of
getting lost, exploring, finding and being
found. The idea is to make the guests feel they
are exploring places they've never been to.
The lush bamboo forest promenade on the
main interior curve road feels almost tunnellike, suggesting mystery at first, followed by
discovery upon reaching different arrival
points within the development.
The Public Cluster Pavilions housing the
hotel reception, lounge and restaurant are in
the middle of the site. They form the resorts
hub where people arrive, depart and converge
again. Curving decks and roads connect
these structures to others in the resort,
encouraging guests to wander around and
experience the place.
Guests today look for unique experiences.
We are convinced we offer a unique solution
via form and function. The architecture
and materials feel local and familiar, yet are
world-class, interesting and fresh.

Bamboo Tells is an entry to the Metrobank Arts and Design Excellence (MADE)
2015 competition, architecture category, where it received a special citation.

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01 The hotel arrival experience,

a circular open space plan
defined by the bamboo forests
and accentuated by the bamboo
pavilions. 02 The hotel reception
pavilion interior showcasing
bamboo as a flexible and graceful
material. 03 Pavilions on water. A
series of pavilions interconnected
by a spine access, fronted
by the two tiered infinity pools
inspired by rice fields. 04 From
the outside, the hotel units look
like boxes, but the unit interiors
feature a gable ceiling resulting
from the innovative space framing
system of the hotel structure.
05 One of two hot springs
bound by thick bamboo forests
for privacy. The space was
conceived to invoke intimacy
while communing with nature

05

WRITTEN BY JC SAN LUIS

HOSPITALITY

01

SOUTH LAGUNA
PRIME

Designed by Angelo Ray Serrano

and JC San Luis of 1/0 design collective

query about merging the geologic and

the architectural into a cohesive entity
resulted in a structure that blurs the
boundaries between nature and man-made, with
a volcano as the organic point of inspiration and a
hotel structure as spouse.
The development consists of three volcanic
crater-inspired themes reflecting the sites
geologic profile: the Maar Crater Lakes of San
Pablo City, the lush tropical valleys of eroded
calderas, and the cinder cones of Lagunas
volcanic fields, which dominate the rugged
topography of the province. In the northern
section of the resort, the lowest in topography,
is a crater lake that serves as catchment basin.

02

In the middle section is a large bermed caldera

park, a communal area. In the south is a cinder
cone crater enveloped by the hotel structure.
The hotel is an arc that cups the main
water park. It is a single loaded plan with the
units facing the park, and its corridor bound
by a loaded retaining wall that cools the hotel
structure. The hotel proper tapers on both ends,
crests on the midsection, and is capped with a
sweeping green roof that sinuously connects
the hotel with the main resort complex and the
cultural center, creating green pockets in areas
where it bends.

01 The hotel is shielded

on the south by soil and
vegetation, negating the need
for insulating against 8-12
hours of sun. Hotel rooms
are all oriented to the north
where there is little direct sun
exposure, and a 270-degree
view of Laguna de Bay and
Mt. Makiling. 02 Orientation
plays the most vital role in
building an energy-efficient,
green building. Developing
the plan to avoid exposure
to sun, and benefit from
cooling breezes minimizes
energy consumption for air
conditioning.

03 South Laguna Prime aerial from the west. The property is

10.8 hectares, and the built up portions, including pools and
landscaping, occupy one hectare. The resort complex forks
into two, with the hotel on the bermed southern section,
and the villas along a loop around the crater lake, tropical
park and the caldera park. 04 The Crater Lake. We used a
community-driven approach to design the masterplan. An
axis of plazas and green areas connect the caldera, crater
and cinder cone concepts to encourage a socially engaging
development. Culture will be further nourished in programs
that include the community: dance halls, exhibition spaces
and retail spaces to showcase Laguna.

03

04

S I T E

PLANS

A QUERY ABOUT
MERGING THE
GEOLOGIC AND
ARCHITECTURAL
R E S U LT E D I N
A STRUCTURE
T H AT B L U R S T H E
B O U N DA RI E S
B E T W E E N N AT U R E
AND MAN - MADE

TR ANSPORT

DES I GN

GREENS

We took the conventional volume of a hotel,

curled it into a semi-circle, made it compliant
with local building codes, and reduced density
at the east and west ends to preserve views for
the central section. This is the form of a cinder
cone, inspired by Mt. Makiling nearby. It also
naturally creates sunshade for majority of the
amenities at ground level.

WATERSCAPES

DE V E LOPME NT
60m

60m
60m
60m

CONVENTIONAL HOUSING BLOCK

60m

60m

MODIFIED HOUSING BLOCK

END RESULT

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WRITTEN BY YONNI HABLAN

HOSPITALITY

01

TANIKALA
Designed by Yonni Hablan and
Maricris Ngo of HANDStudio

01 Private villas undulate from the ground forming a roof garden structure that envelopes
the living spaces within. 02 The hotels form was derived from a bundle of coconut coir. Its
distinct skin, whose pattern and shape were derived from the random cuts found on the trunk
of a coconut tree, provides shading and privacy while maintaining transparency and natural
ventilation. 03 By burying the theater facility slightly below ground and carefully peeling its front
to face the plaza and amphitheater, there is minimal obstruction to the vistas. 04 Local cultural
representations of the region mold the architectural forms. The museum (center) was crafted
to emerge as a landscape out of rice fields. To the left, the spiralling structure is an interactive
vertical hydroponic farm symbolically integrates science and nature into the development, and
presents a sculptural piece into the landscape.

02

his is an international
hot spring and
wellness resort. We
began the design process by
identifying natural and manmade environments significant
to Filipino society and culture
Mount Makiling, UP Los Baos,
International Rice Research
Institute, the National Arts
Center, and the nearby Ayala
Greenfield Estatesand linked
them to the project site. We took
cues from these adjacencies
to form and mold the project
design, giving it a clear sense of
place. The result is a pragmatic
Filipino design that is not defined
by notions of what Philippine architecture
should be. Rather, it is architecture that
represents Filipinos as dictated by location,
culture and purpose.
The complex has three zonesculture,
activity, and wellnesswhich we envision as
immersive environments. The culture zone
includes the arrival area, museum and theater.
The activity zone includes the amphitheater,
nexus water feature, interactive vertical
farm, and sports facilities. The wellness zone
includes the hotel, spa, villas, and meditation
garden. All are formed and laid out with the
highest respect for the graceful presence of
the Lady of Mount Makiling.

03

04

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WRITTEN BY CRYSTAL VENTURA

HOSPITALITY

01 The area of the site is 9,559 sqm, with the hotel taking up 8,250 sqman 80% site occupancy that
led to our decision to bury the events hall. The casitas are terraced to follow the existing slope of the
site. There are only two rooms for each floor, to lessen foot traffic and provide exclusivity. 02 The walls
of the hotel lobby are made of cast-in-place concrete finished to resemble stone. A giant concave swoop
embraces the round drop-off while a simple cantilevered canopy offsets the curves of the structure.
03 Once inside the lobby, guests are released to a tranquil view of Taal Lake.

CELEBRITY
HOTEL

Designed by Ed Ledesma of Leandro V. Locsin Partners

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n 2011, Sir Ed Ledesma (Managing

Partner of Leandro V. Locsin Partners)
asked me and my colleague, Frances
Cortez, to spearhead this project. A local TV
personality had bought a sizable lot in Tagaytay
with exceptional views of Taal Lake. The lot was
heavily populated with trees and had an existing
house on a steep slope. Falling in love with the
views, the owner wanted to put up a boutique hotel.
We met with him several times, and he gave us
the impression of being a simple man cast into the
roller-coaster ride of mainstream media.
This project gave us the opportunity to create
something unique to the place. We adhered to

01

T H E S T RU C T U R E S R AW
CONCRETE FINISH IS FRAMED
AN D SO F TE N E D BY L AN DSC API N G,
MAKI NG THE WHOLE DEVE LOPME NT
APPEAR AS IF IT WERE MADE OUT OF
MONOLITHIC STONE.
02

03

LVLPs principle of designing contemporary

tropical architecture, and utilized long, sharp eaves
for the design of the hotel. Because of the sites
slope and topography, we used cut and fill to layout
the guest rooms efficiently. Viewed from above,
the rooms look like terraces of concrete, water
and grass. The structures raw concrete finish is
framed and softened by landscaping, making the
whole development appear as if it were made out of
monolithic stone.

Each casita has an infinity pool that opens to the

view and is buffered by a canopy of greenery that
provides privacy to the casita below.

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HOSPITALITY

T H I S P R O J E C T I S A S T O RY O F H O W M A N - M A D E M AT E R I A L S
A N D N AT U R A L E L E M E N T S C A N B R I N G O U T E A C H O T H E R S
B E AUT Y WHEN USED TOGETHER.
02

01

03

01 The interiors of the casitas are generous and have several lounge areas. A spacious living area greets guests as they enter their casita and an outdoor dining area
subtly floats above the infinity pool. Frameless glass doors add to the openness of each casita. 02 The amenity floor at the bottom of the hotel includes a game room, a
casual restaurant and an infinity pool which opens to the view. The large structural columns are clad with stone. 03 Because of the site's steep topography, the surface
area to build an event hall was limited. We decided to "bury" the structure and cantilever a portion of it to maintain the desired area as well as conceal it from view. The
all-glass facade of the cantilevered portion also enhances the view from the events hall.

SITE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

C A S I TA S

E V E N T S/M U S I C H A L L
(F U T U R E D E V E L O PM E N T )

L O B BY

P R OJ E C T T E A M
Chief designer: Ed Ledesma
Project leaders: Crystal Ventura
and Frances Cortez
Team members: Jiddu Bulatao,
Charms Chua, JP Dela Cruz,
Dhen Degala, Gabriel Halili,
Xander Lacson, Maryneil Velasco

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While the client was blown away by

our schematic presentation, there were
a lot of loose ends that prevented the
project from rolling. The project required
efficiency programs and feasibility studies,
as well as technical consultants, project
managers and construction supervisors
who were unable to get on board because
of budgetary constraints. Several months
after our presentation, there was no further
instruction from the client so the project was
eventually shelved.
This project is a story of how man-made
materials (concrete and glass) and natural
elements (water and greenery) can bring out
each others beauty when used together. In
several instances during the design process,
we treated architecture as the landscape, and
vice versa. I believe good architecture is about
striking a good balance between the two.

WRITTEN BY ROYAL PINEDA

HOSPITALITY

I love the simplicity of the composition and construction.

The way simple design can be built in a country limited in
resources coupled with high cost of technology, and yet still
convey a distinct character that sets itself as an icon in the
skyline. For me, truthfulness in approach sends the meaning
of your message more deeply than when designs are
contrived, pretentious, or not authentic to our context.

aving already collaborated with us

previously, the client believed we were
the right people to interpret their
project. We share the same sensibility; and the
modern tropical architecture and design that we
do complements their brand personality. They
felt that the collaboration would reverberate our
philosophies both ways. It was a perfect match.
As with all our projects, it was exciting to
create a sense of place...amplifying what is Filipino,
especially in the city. The added pop would be
integrating their brand name and soul into the
architecture and design. What I like about it this
project is the honesty of the design addressing the
tropicality of our context. At the same time, we
developed this to be a green building right from the
basic planning to technology application, exhibiting
the first and second lines of green architecture.
The project, however, did not push through;
a decision made by the investors. What would I
be willing to change for it to get built? I wouldnt
change anything. Its a practical design. It could,
however, incorporate future improvements as new
materials and technology are developed.
If this unbuilt project were to be a case study for
architecture students, what I hope they would take
away from it would be the honesty and truthfulness
in the approach in terms of architectural
composition and construction. Architecture and
design do not have to have highfaluting forms
or very complicated silhouettes to achieve a
statement. Both function and delight must shape
the form, and not delight alone.

The Raintree Hotel was to be built in Alabang. The helipad and crown create a silhouette of the
rain treeconveying the brand, as well as the meaning of the design and its philosophy. From
afar, it sends a strong visual message, announcing the presence of a tropical resort in the city.
Then, the features are realized and experienced as you explore and immerse in the spaces.

RAINTREE
HOTEL
Designed by Royal Pineda for
BUDJI+ROYAL Architecture + Design

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WRITTEN BY MARIA CECILIA CADIZ-VEGA

HOSPITALITY

JEBEL JAIS
MOUNTAIN HOTEL
Designed by Cadiz International

rom 2001 to 2008, the whole of UAE

was undergoing tremendous real estate
development growth. Ras Al Khaimah
(RAK) is one of the UAE Emirates that remains
very special to our CEO, Medardo T. Cadiz. His
Highness Sheihk Saud Saqr Al Qasimi, the ruler of
RAK, has known Medardo since the late 1990s,
having been recommended to His Highness by one
of Medardos clients. There was always an ease in
their relationship, partly due to the fact that both
were alumni from the University of Michigan and
graduated in the same year. The Jebel Jais Mountain
Hotel is one of the many special projects Cadiz
International (CI), has been fortunate to have done
for HH.
It was 2004 when the Cadiz team, together with
Medardo, went to visit and fell in love with RAK.
It is so different from Dubai, as RAK distinguishes
itself from the other six UAE Emirates by having
four different landscapes: the Arabian Sea coastline,
the desert, the plains and the mountains. European
tourists who visit RAK stay longer primarily to
experience the peacefulness it offers. HH believed
that RAKs future tourism development should
continue to offer that point of difference. We were
awed on our first visit to the mountains.
After a workshop on another project, HH shared
with CI his thoughts of how little land along the
coastline would be left, and how important RAKs
ongoing road construction to Al Jais mountain range
is. HH advised us that it would take years (maybe
10) to reach its elevation of 1,900 feet above sea level,
to make the mountains more accessible and the land

We envisioned the
architecture to be of the
mountaindesigned
to integrate, respect and
embody the qualities that
make up the language of
Al Jais. This meant creating
architecture that sat not
on a plane, but moved on
different levels and cascaded
in response to the topography
of the site, presenting us with
opportunities for discovery
and surprise. We proposed
using the stones quarried
from the mountains so as
to blend naturally with the
landscape. The hotel footprint
would cover 7,260 sqm of
mountainside, with 3,745
for the main lobby level, and
3,515 for the hotel ramparts.
At 1,900 meters above
sea level, Jebel Jais, Ras
Al Khaimahs tallest peak,
is less than one-fourth as
high as Mt. Everest (8,800+
meters), and lower than our
Mt. Apo (2,900+ meters),
but in the context of desert
lands, is one of RAKs most
alluring destinations, and its
coldest, with temperatures
ranging from -10C to 10C,
compared to the lowlands
25C to 40C.

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developable for future residential communities and

a hotel sitting on the highest elevation level. And
just like that, HH said: Medardo, you have to see the
mountains to know what I am talking about!
A helicopter was arranged in the next hour to
fly the CI team to the plateau of Jebel Jais. It was
the only way to access the project site. We used a
military helicopter flown by a Russian pilot and met
up with a weathered and ancient-looking man, our
guide, dressed in a white dish-dash, leather sandals
and carrying a wooden walking stickhe looked
almost biblical. We were transported high up and
made a tour of RAK city and its surroundings, then
veered to the mountains. It was an experience to
fly and see the mountain ranges from high above,
and to gently land on the plateau, to experience the
colors, the sense of isolation, the grandness, and the
utter stillness.
Our initial discussions and thoughts on the
vision with HH was of creating a modern and
contemporary experience for the hotel using steel
and glass, with floating decks that would let the
scenery in. But after our visit, we realized it needed
to be something more special. It had to feel as if
the hotel grew out of the mountains, and had been
there for generationsweathered over time yet
romantic, solid, roughly-hewn and warm, with all
the rich colors and textures that the mountain has
shown us. HH Sheikh Saud and his development
team received the concept design favorably and
await the mountain road access to be completed to
start this project.
The project is not built yet because access to the
site is still in progress. The Al Jais mountain range
is very isolated and the terrain, unforgiving. Only
when the roads have been built, and people and
supplies can safely ascend, can our vision for the
project be finally realized.

WRITTEN BY WILLIAM TI JR.

HOSPITALITY

CLOUDSCAPE
Designed by WTA Architecture
& Design Studio

01

02

01 Terraces will be carved

out on the sloping site, for
hotel rooms and condo
units. Because of the
cascading landscape of the
development, the walkways
and public areas will open
up opportunities for social
interaction among guests.
02 View from the residential
area of Cloudscape

Cloudscape is to be built on 14 hectares of sloping terrain in Tagaytay, with a building footprint of

12,500 sqm. On the west side of the development is the residential area, with prime units on top for
the best views. The hotel and clubhouse are situated on the east. The existing dirt road will be kept
for vehicles to shuttle guests to different areas.

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he owners presented us with a

lot located on the less busy side
of Tagaytay, and asked us to do
a concept study for a hospitality project.
The site was quite challenging given the
sloping terrain, not to mention the stretch
of zigzag road that cuts through the middle of
the property.
Our concept was derived from the climate
of Tagaytay, specifically the fog that cloaks
the area from time to time. We believe that
the people who regularly visit Tagaytay are
after the chilly weather, not only the view of
Taal Lake and the volcano. This gave us an
interesting starting point for developing the
character of the project.
Taking inspiration from the experience
of walking through Tagaytay fog, we came
up with a design that begs to be explored
and discovered. The structures are
supposed to act as part of the landscape,
blurring the boundaries between indoor
and outdoor space. The whole development
will be sculpted out of the mountainside,
and terraces containing the hotel rooms
and residential units will be created.
By integrating the structures with the
topography, users will be unable to quickly
grasp the developments scale and complexity,
prodding them to further explore and
discover more of it.

WRITTEN BY BUCK RICHNOLD SIA

HOSPITALITY

FJ HOTEL

Designed by Zubu Design Associates

have a special attachment to our

first scheme for the FJ (Fujinoya)
Hotel (which is under construction
now, but with a different design). I feel that it
articulated well the ideals of Postmodernism,
an architectural philosophy that had a great
influence on me at the time. This fascination
for Postmodernism was triggered by two
memorable conversations.
The first was a conversation I had with
my student, which digressed into the topic of
Postmodernism in the Philippines. I was cynical
about the quality of our Postmodernist buildings,
but my student argued that Postmodernism
came in a different form in the country as a
result of Modernist ideals adapting to our local
climate and setting. The next instance was a
conversation with Michael Graves protg,
Lyndon Neri. I was curious why Michael Graves,
whom I consider the best among the New York
Five (perhaps even better than Richard Meier)
shifted from Modernism to Postmodernism and
why Neris works were not reminiscent of his
mentors. Neris answer was that Graves felt that
being good and known for something should not
hinder one from trying something else.
I then asked myself: Am I a Modernist,
a Postmodernist or a Post-Postmodernist?
I realized that though I have Modernist
sensibilities, some of my works show hints of
Postmodernism and even Post-postmodernism
because of my inclination to refer to history.

The FJ Hotel is a 16-storey boutique

hotel with 176 rooms, amenities and
an entire floor for corporate offices.
It occupies an 11,000-square meter
property. The modem arch on the
podiums faade gives an illusion of
weightlessness to the tower.

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01

01 A series of arches is the prominent feature of the hotel, seen in both the exterior and the interior, as seen in the lobby. 02 From the space program, we determined
the required areas and sizes of the rooms. Deviating from Modernist glass boxes, we then applied our concept of the arch on the building envelope through additive
transformation, and came up with a playful faade and an asymmetrical building form. 03 The pool and bar area are located on the lower floor balcony overlooking the street.

02

03

I always tell my students to study history and let it

guide them in the design process. While Modernism
eschews historicity, Postmodernism celebrates it.
The broken pediment crowning Philip Johnsons
AT&T Tower (now Sony Building) in New Yorkthe
building that ushers the Postmodern erais a
reference to a historic architectural element.
Similarly, our first scheme for the FJ Hotel
pays homage to history. The arch, which is both
an architectural and structural element, is the
defining feature of the plan and the faade. The
arch is a remnant from the classical period but is
still widely used today. The thing about putting up
arches and doing arc layouts is they eat up space.
The first scheme did not materialize because we
had to increase the GFA per floor and maximize the
footprint. Hence, our original intention was lost in
the revision. Nevertheless, we are satisfied with
the outcome. Will I apply my concept for the first
scheme to another project? No. I want to explore
other options for my next commissions.

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RECREATIONAL

WRITTEN BY LEANDRO NICHOLAS RAOA POCO

VIEWFINDER
CLUBHOUSE
Designed by L.A. Poco & Associates

The view of the approach to the clubhouse from the village. The angles
berms and opaque walls with slit-like openings allude to hillside defensive
fortifications. The entry portal behaves like a scene viewfinder used by artists
to define the extent of their painted scenes.

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he project is a clubhouse and amenity

park for a landed development in
Nuvali, Canlubang, Laguna. It's a
500-square meter clubhouse with a social
hall that can accommodate table service for
100-plus persons, a kitchen, event storage and
spillover spaces, administration and security
offices, and restrooms and bathhouses. It is
sited in a 3-hectare park, set on the side of a
hill overlooking a wooded natural bowl. The
hillside has views of the Metro Manila skyline,
which is why we took to naming the scheme,
Viewfinder. The park was landscaped with
Land Design One of Singapore, and amenities
include a 5-lane lap pool, kiddie pool, view deck,
basketball court, storm shelters and walkways
spanning the park's landscape.

DES Ig N

CONCEp TS

Our design concepts are the viewfinder, an enjoinder to partkake of the breathtaking views afforded by the site, and to continually see them with fresh eyes; and
the form of hilltop forts, which are exemplars of good integration of landscape and architecture.

W E WA N T E D TO
USE THE CLUBHOUSE
AS A MEANS OF
HEIGHTENING THE
EXPERIENCE OF
SEEING THE VIEWS.

Design Rationale
The design is driven by the site's unique
context. Architects will seldom get the chance
to work on such a picturesque site and we
wanted to use the clubhouse structure as a
means of heightening the experience of seeing
the views. The idea is to "constrict" views
by creating walled berms that don't directly
show the view of the skyline and hillside.
The walled berms are similar to walled
hillside forts, which are usually located
with great vistas for defensive purposes.
We created a portal at the arrival area to
frame the views to the metro skyline and to
eventually lead people to the pool deck and
amenities below.
Circumstances
The scheme is a favorite in our office
because of its response to the site and
because we seldom get the chance to take a
very constricted, client-based program (when
working with corporate developers) toward
a less thematic, utilitarian direction.

01

02

01 The clubhouse overlooks a wooded hillside that forms a natural bowl, which serves as the
park and open space amenity for the village development. The amenity park area is approximately
three hectares, and the clubhouse footprint, 500 sqm. 02 The amenity park has a path of dry
stream-beds which are spanned by pedestrian bridges. The clubhouse anchors the top of the
hill and serves as an orientational device for park visitors.

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RECREATIONAL

01

The fact that we were given a chance to come up with

something different and we were given the chance
to present it to management was a great experience.
We gained a bit of confidence in our ability to do
so in other projects as well, despite the developer's
decision to go with a more traditional, vernacular
hipped-roof clubhouse scheme. This decision was
driven really by market dynamics, their concern
was that something too modern" wouldn't be
appreciated by their segment of the housing market.
Personally, I've wanted to do something that
makes use of walls and berms because I think
modern architecture's language makes so much
use of transparency and openness, that I think most
designers/students have lost the ability to contain a
space with the opacity of a wall. Opaque walls don't
only contain space, but frame views and serve as
backdrops for events and attractions. Opaque walls
also lead people toward paths in a manner that
is direct but at the same time discreet. I think my
attempts to use opaque walls this way is a symptom
of my introspective personality.
The berms are an interesting feature because
berming or the use of sloping soil creates a diagonal
plane on which you could lift the planting palette of a
landscape. It's like angling a dish of food so that it can
be appreciated better.
The concepts of framing views and creating
constriction in space/views is something we look
to do in our work when there are opportunities
to do so. So, while we may not get the chance to
replicate the design exactly, we may be able to
apply the same conceptual approach, tailored to
specific site conditions.

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T H E FA C T T H AT W E W E R E G I V E N
A CHANCE TO COME UP WITH
S O M E T H I N G D I F F E R E N T WA S A
G R E AT E X P E R I E N C E .
02

03

01 The lobby serves as the villages

living room, overlooking the pool deck
and park. 02 The view from the pool
and park side show a more open/
glazed faade directing views to the
park and the Metro Manila skyline.
The pop-out box on the upper floor is
a function room for village association
meetings and private functions.
03 The lobby or village living room
with a screen wall to filter views of
the pool and skyline from the drop off

ASSEMBLY

WRITTEN BY MICAELA BENEDICTO

RIZAL THEATER
Designed by MB Architecture Studio
he project was to be a center for
independent film. I was excited at the
thought of designing a stand-alone
cinema, similar to those I used to go to as a kid.
I wanted to bring back the excitement of going to
a theater instead of a mall.
The site was an arc-shaped lot at The
Fort Strip in Bonifacio Global City. The three
auditoriums took up half of the buildable area,
leaving the other half for auxiliary spaces like
lobbies, offices and a souvenir shop. Since
the auditoriums had to be without openings
for lighting and acoustics control, I thought
of dividing the buildings mass into two: one
solid and opaque, and the other, light and
transparentan allegory to the comedy and
tragedy masks, the symbol of theater. The solid
volume would house the auditoriums and the
transparent volume, the auxiliary spaces.
The transparent wing features a sleek access
ramp, like those in the old Greenhills Theater.
The lobbies and lounge function as event spaces,
so I thought it would be interesting if they were
permeable and connected. A caf and a theater
bar can be found under the raked audience area.
I wanted to use this void as a cave-like space,
with an area depressed a few steps down for a
conversation pit. The clients wanted to do open-

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air screenings as well, so I planned for an outdoor

rooftop cinema.
I wish I had more images to illustrate my
ideas, but the exterior perspective was about
as far as we got since the production company
that commissioned us shelved the project for lack
of funding.
I hope students learn that architectural forms
can be derived not just from the program but
also abstract ideas, which may be articulated in
space, volume and form. A buildings appearance
need not be a literal reference to certain objects.
Exposure to photography and film trains the eye
and opens the mind to the power of allegorical
images to convey ideas, and I like to think that my
appreciation of motion pictures helped me arrive
at a fitting concept.

The monolithic wing that

curves along the property
line would be finished
with textured concrete
similar to Leandro Locsins
Brutalist buildings at the
CCP complex, while the
transparent wing would have
a glass faade revealing a
section of layered spaces
connected by an accordion
of exposed ramps.

1 Theater
2 Caf and bar
3 Roof deck and
events area
4 Formal lobby and gallery
5 Snack bar
6 Lobby lounge
7 Souvenir shop

RECREATIONAL

WRITTEN BY MA. CONCEPCION V. ROXAS

The structure's form was inspired by the undulating waves of the sea representing the ups and downsthe opportunities and challengesof marine life conservation in Tubbataha.

SAGAY: THE TUBBATAHA

MARINE LIFE SANCTUARY
Designed by Villegas-Roxas Consultants
esigning the Sagay, our entry to
The Innovative Minds 2013 Virtual
Context competition, had been
an exciting experience for our team. As one
of the applicants from sixteen countries, we
were tasked to integrate virtual reality and
architecture to address important issues. It
took a stretch of imagination to come up with
an innovative concept for our chosen site, the
Tubbataha Reefs. Our idea was to design a
subaquatic sanctuary that would promote the
beauty of this marine habitat.
The structure is accessed by watercraft.
Guests enter through the main structure that
seems to float on the ocean. It leads to the docking
views that provide vantage points where guests
can appreciate the natural beauty of Palawan.
Hopefully, this would make people realize how
we are all invested in preserving these wonderful
gifts of nature.

The Tubbataha Reefs in Cagayancillo, Palawan, is one of the biggest reef

systems in the world. It houses 396 species of corals, about half of all coral
species on the planet! Our idea is to have reef building coral polyps fitted
throughout the structure in depths that are suitable for corals to live in.

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NEWLY BUILT

10-20 YEARS

The Virtual Marine Life Immersion facility, using virtual reality simulation, immerses guests in a marine
ecosystem without the need for diving apparatusa low-impact alternative to physical interaction
with marine life. Right Sagay is fitted with low-voltage electrical current cables (safe for humans and
marine life) to facilitate accelerated reef growth. In time, whether it is operational or abandoned, corals
will attach to the structure, multiply and build a new reef, replacing part of what has been destroyed in
recent decades due to ruinous fishing practices.
100-200 YEARS

Below the ocean surface are three floor

levels dedicated to Virtual Marine Life Immersion
(VMLI) facilities. VLMI simulates the underwater
environment of Tubbataha in actual scale to create
awareness, leaving visitors with an impression of
swimming through one of the greatest and most
biodiverse coral reef systems in the world. The
first level depicts the destruction of the coral reefs
through man-made activities. The second depicts
the destruction of reefs by natural causes, some
of which are also triggered by man such as global
warming. The tertiary level shows a utopia of
coral reefs where human and marine life co-exist
harmoniously.
What we like most about this is the fact that
in time, the structure itself can be part of the
coral reef. Based on our research, the design
is structurally feasible though expensive to
build. Nevertheless, we are open to changes and
improvements as long as the translations of the
main concepts like the VLMI are not lost.
We want to push for awareness as a concrete
first step in saving our precious marine
ecosystems. Students should be more proactive
when it comes to designing buildings that balance
the needs of man with those of nature. We're proud
to say that our firm won third honorable mention,
the only Filipino firm that made it to the finals.

W H AT W E L I K E
MOST ABOUT THIS IS
T H E FAC T T H AT I N T I M E ,
TH E STRUC TU RE ITS E LF CAN
B E PA R T O F T H E C O R A L R E E F.
DI A G R A M

Access ways
Docks
Main structure
Structural suppor ts
First level
Second level
Third level

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INSTITUTIONAL

AS NARRATED TO JUDITH TORRES BY CARLOS ARNAIZ

COSTA RICA
CONGRESS HALL
Designed by Carlos Arnaiz and Laura del Pino of CAZA

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The irregular geometry of

CAZAs design for the Costa Rica
Congress Hall is organized around
a series of hypercubes that hold
themselves up. This rendering
shows the distribution of the
units, including the orientation of
the faade louvers and the various
floors inside the main structure.
The lots for the congress hall and
offices come to just over 9,000
sqm, while the footprints for the
two buildings would have been
563 and 451 sqm respectively.

e were invited to
a competition to
design the Congress
Hall of Costa Rica. We didnt
win, but then nobody really
won because there was a big
corruption scandal and the
project was scrapped. Costa
Rica is in South America and it
has a very interesting political
history. When one thinks of
South America, one thinks of
military dictatorships, coup
dtats, revolutions and corrupt
governments. Costa Rica,
however, actually is quite an
exception. Theyve always been a
peaceful country. They never had
a dictator; they dont even have
armed forces, and their political
system is open and transparent.
So we wanted to create a
building that embodied that
sense of transparency. Thats
why the building rises up and
then comes down creating what
looks like a big gatewayalmost
like an archway that frames a
plaza at the bottom. The idea
was at the plaza, the public could
come and convene with their
government officials, because in
the brief, they said they wanted a
place where government officials
could speak to the public. Here at
the plaza, they could announce
policy changes, respond to
disagreements, that sort of thing.
Thats why the building has that
shape and form. Is it buildable?
Very much so! Its basically a

bridge. If you take out the boxes

and look at the essential form, its
just two legs with an arm across.
Eco-friendly design
The stripes on the faade are
aluminum louvers. The idea
behind the louvers is that
Costa Rica is environmentally
consciouseverything has to be
eco-friendly. Theyre one of the
pioneers in nature conservation.
More than 60% of the land in
Costa Rica is nature reserves, and
theyve made their reputation
globally as an eco-friendly
destination. So we worked
with a bunch of environmental
engineers based here in New
York, who helped us create a brise
soleil louver system that shrouded
all of the offices, the library and
Congress Hall all in glass, but
with these solar protective visors
so that there would be no heat
gain and essentially the building
would be passively cooled.
We wanted to harvest the
rainwater, circulate it through
the building and in that manner,
cool the building so that you
would not need air conditioning
for the most part of the year.
That was actually one of the big
design challenges while doing
the Congress Hall. The sky
gardens in the different parts
of the building are possible
because Costa Rica is further
south of the hurricane line;
hurricanes do not hit them.

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INSTITUTIONAL

(x,x,x)
(x,0,0)

(x,x,0)

(x,0,x)

(x,x,0)
(x,0,0)

(0,x,x)

(0,0,x)
(0,0)

(0,0,0)

(0,X,0)

(0,0,0)

(0,X,0)

(0,X,0)

(0,0,0)

(x+x/2,x+x/2,x+x/2)
(x/2,0,x/2)
(x,x,x) (x/2,0,0) (x+x/2,x+x/2,0)
(x,0,x)
(0,x+x/2,x+x/2)
(0,0,x/2)
(x,x,0)
(x,0,0)
(0,x+x/2,0)
(0,x,x)
(0,x/2,0)
(0,0,x)
(0,x,0)
(0,0,0)

(x/2,0,0)

(x,0,x)
(x+x/2,x+x/2,x+x/2)
(x/2,0,x/2)

(x+x/2,x+x/2,0)

(x,0,0)

(x+x/2,x+x/2,x+x/2)
(x+x/2,x+x/2,x+x/2)

(0,x,x)
(0,0,x)
(x/2,0,x/2)

(x,0,x)

(x/2,0,x/2)
(x,x,x) (x/2,0,0)

(x+x/2,x+x/2,0)

(x+x/2,x+x/2,0)

(0,x+x/2,x+x/2)
(x,x,0)

(0,0,x/2)
(x/2,0,0) (x,0,0)
(0,x,x)
(0,x/2,0)
(0,0,x)
(0,x,0)
(0,x/2,0)
(0,0,0)

(0,x,x)

(0,x+x/2,0)

(0,x,0)

(x/2,0,0)

(x+x/2,x+x/2,0)

(0,0,0)

(0,0,0)
(0,x/2,0)

(0,x,0)

(0,x+x/2,0)

(0,0,x)
(0,0,0)

CONGRESS HALL INITIAL GEOMETRY

The hypercube is a geometrical figure that consists of two
cubes located diagonally in plan and elevation, and connected
with a series of parallel line segments that create interior
spaces that belong to both cubes. It is because of these spaces
originated by the intersection of the cubes that we chose this
figure as the starting point for our proposal. We thus were
able to organize interior gardens/public spaces inside these
zones while keeping a closed and compact skeleton. In this
first diagram, we explain how we build the hypercube: First,
we draw a point (dimension 0); then, a line (dimension 1)
which would be part of a square (dimension 2); then, a cube
(dimension 3) and finally, the hypercube (dimension 4). We also
marked the varied volumes that resulted from the intersection
of the cubes and how they were related to each other. This
diagram is essential because it shows the basic unit we used to
create the entire building. (Editors note: Explanations regarding
the diagrams were written by Laura del Pino)

13
19

10

21

18
20

23
17
2
22
7
8 11

16
4

5
14

15

12

ROOF PLAN

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5

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FRONT ELEVATION

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20 21 22 23
RIGHT ELEVATION

BACK ELEVATION

UNITS ANALYSIS
Based on the previously created hypercube, we
designed a series of interconnected units that were
capable of supporting themselves while creating a
more open civic space. This diagram explains how
the units vary in size and orientation and how the
hypercubes are stacked on top of each other in order
to produce a stable structure. In fact, some of the
units are not completely closed skeletons,
which helped us add elevated gardens
that would have overlooked the city.

FRONT VIEW

FRONT VIEW
FRONT VIEW

PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

HYPERCUBE 7 HYPERCUBE 12

FRONT VIEW

PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

FRONT VIEW

FRONT VIEW
PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

FRONT VIEW

PLAN VIEW

HYPERCUBE 7

PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

HYPERCUBE 6

PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

HYPERCUBE 8

FRONT VIEW

RIGHT VIEW
HYPERCUBE 5

PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

HYPERCUBE 9

HYPERCUBE 4
FRONT VIEW

HYPERCUBE 10
PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

FRONT VIEW

HYPERCUBE 3
FRONT VIEW
PLAN VIEW
PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW
FRONT VIEW

RIGHT VIEW

HYPERCUBE 11
HYPERCUBE 2
HYPERCUBE 12
FRONT VIEW

HYPERCUBE 1
PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW FRONT VIEW

PLAN VIEW
PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

FRONT VIEW
HYPERCUBE 13

FRONT VIEW

FRONT VIEW

PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

RIGHT VIEW

RIGHT VIEW
PLAN VIEW
PLAN VIEW

FRONT VIEW

RIGHT VIEW
FRONT VIEW

FRONT VIEW
16

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PLAN VIEW
PLAN VIEW

PLAN VIEW

RIGHT VIEW
16

17

18

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21

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PLAN VIEW RIGHT VIEW

FRONT VIEW

RIGHT VIEW

RIGHT VIEW

23

EXPLODED DIAGRAM

LEFT ELEVATION

This exploded diagram explains the distribution of the units (including the orientation
of the faade louvers and the number of floors) inside the general structure. The
approach of this drawing is similar to the Unit Analysis diagram but we included
the plan and the elevations so it would be easier to identify how the stacking of the
hypercubes took place.

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INSTITUTIONAL

The Congress Hall building

connects with the Costa Rica
National Park, making it a part of the
peoples lives, and articulating their
representatives commitment to
openness and nature conservation.

CONCEPT PROCESS
OF THE CONGRESS HALL

01 The program
covers the whole
lot in two levels

02 Reorganization
of the program

The series of diagrams explains how we organized the Congress Hall program
by size and how we integrated the initial cubes into the lot. We used the grid
as a starting point because it was extremely flexible and helped us distribute
the program in plan and in elevation. We also wanted to establish an open
space on the ground floor so that people would be able to use it for gatherings,
demonstrations and civic activities. Finally, we did not want to make the
program a series of compartmentalized containers and thus, we decided to use
the hypercube as the basic unit of our proposal.

01 Grid as a
starting point

CONGRESS

02 Occupation
of the grid in plan

COMMISSIONS

DEPARTMENT

03-04
Reorganization
of the program
to make the
proposal more
porous

PUBLIC

03
Occupation
of the grid
in plan

04 Connections with
the Parque Nacional
and Main Avenue

05 Creation of a
visual and pedestrian
connection with the
Parque Nacional

06 Reorganization
of the program so
that the transitions
are more fluid

05 Program
addition

06 Final stage

CONCEPT PROCESS OF
THE OFFICE BUILDING
We applied the same method to the Office Building design so that the openness
and variability of the Congress Hall would be part of the adjacent structures.

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WRITTEN BY EDWIN BARCIA

INSTITUTIONAL

SOLOMON R.
GUGGENHEIM
MUSEUM
Designed by T.I. Vasquez Architects & Planners, Inc.

The northeast faade of the Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki, where the drop-off for vehicles is located. The museum is bordered by open water on this side, and by a
main thoroughfare and park on the southwest. Low-E double glazed curtain wall systems are used on all faades to help keep the heat in during winter, and out during summer.
Below The museum's location exposes all sides of the building to the sun during summer at different times of the day. Offsetting this is a heliotropic louver system to control
heat gain and loss from the museums large curtain wall area. In this system, wooden trussed brise soleil swing open and close from their fixed cantilevered planes to shade the
building in hours when it gets direct solar exposure during summer. Thermally modified spruce or pine is used as cladding for the exterior and interior walls and floors.

he intersecting volumes, planes and

materials in our proposed design for
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
are an architectural translation of what a museum
isan intersection of ideas, philosophies and
artistsfor what will be the cultural meeting
point and artistic hub of the city.
The space requirements are spread as needed
throughout two connected buildings, the North
and South Rakennus (Finnish for structures), not
conforming to clear-cut zoning patterns. Outsized
horizontal planes of wood, stone, concrete and
glass that protrude beyond the masses frame
views to several of the citys historical and
architectural landmarks. Linking the museum to
its vicinity was a priority, to further the concept
of intersections.

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The glass curtain wall on the second and third floors frames majestic views of Helsinki, letting visitors going down the ramp
see architectural landmarks such as the Helsinki Cathedral and the Uspenski Cathedral. Below Plans showing the different
views visitors can see from inside each floor of the museum. By opening up parts of the building to views of the city, the
museum stays true to the concept of intersections and connectivity.

Perspective showing the northwest

faade of the museum. The curtain
wall allows visitors to see views of
Helsinki from inside.

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INSTITUTIONAL

16

01

01
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02

01

05
06

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12

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03

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07

04
05

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08
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15

LOWER GROUND FLOOR PLAN

15

UPPER GROUND FLOOR PLAN

01

01

01

02

02
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03

06
03
03

03

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03

01
05

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04

SEcOND FLOOR PLAN

A pedestrian bridge at the upper ground level of

the South Rakennus provides convenient access to
Tahitornin Vuori Park and Laivasillankatu Street,
both of which border the museum on the southwest.
From the lobby, visitors may take the lift
or escalator up to the third floor and start a
downward route from there, viewing the smaller
galleries that eventually lead down to the main
gallery on the second floor via ramp. The main
gallery is connected to five smaller galleries,
including a special gallery that also serves as the
canopy for the drop-off area at the entrance of the
museum. The upper ground floor is comprised of
the main lobby, open gallery, and the public area
which catches the influx of visitors coming from
the pedestrian bridge. A winter forest serves
as the centrepiece of this floor, a pocket of nature
enveloped by the lobby and smaller galleries.
The layout conveys openness and playfulness,
convenience and informality, and an ease of
usethe same traits commonly found in art.
Furthermore, the museum portrays Helsinki
as a city on the verge of sharing its rich culture
to the world. Although our firm didnt win, it
was rewarding for us to be part of a prestigious
competition participated in by architects from all
over the world.

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03

03

THIRD FLOOR PLAN

The lot for the museum will be two hectares. The North Rakennus has four levels, with the
main lobby and open gallery on the upper ground, and small galleries on the third level. The
South Rakennus houses the fine dining restaurant, caf and museum shop, and the main
gallery spaces on the second level. On the upper ground floor plan, notice the pedestrian
bridge connecting the museum to Tahitornin Vuori park and Laivasillankatu, giving
pedestrians and commuters easy access to the building.

LOWER GROUND
FLOOR

UPPER GROUND
FLOOR

1 Service
2 Maintenance and
operations
3 Collections storage and
management
4 Receiving
5 Loading and unloading
6 Cold storage
7 Dry storage
8 Office
9 Garbage room
10 Utility room
11 Programs and events
12 Multi-purpose area
13 Ticket office
14 Drop-off

1 Service
2 Public walkway
3 Main lobby
4 Open gallery
5 Museum store
6 Ante room
7 Winter forest
8 Main drop-off
9 Public area
10 Kitchen
11 Cafe
12 Offices
13 Design store
14 Fine dining
15 Plaza
16 Shallow pond

SEcOND FLOOR

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Service
Lobby
Gallery
Multi-purpose area
Special gallery
Winter forest
Ramp

THIRD FLOOR

1
2
3
4
5

Service
Lobby
Gallery
Ramp
Amphitheater

P R OJ E c T T E A M Topy Vasquez, Jimmy Hermogenes, Edwin Barcia, Toni Vasquez,

Nikko Nava, Alyssa Par, Gelo Reyes

WRITTEN BY JOHN PATRICIO AND BRYAN GABALDON

INSTITUTIONAL

HELSINKI MUSEUM

Designed by Daryl Van Abaygar, Bryan Andrew Gabaldon, John Andrew Patricio and Nelson Roquero

he City of Helsinki
was the Worlds
Design Capital in
2012 and is home to a number
of museums exhibiting
internationally significant
artworks. In line with the citys
urban renewal efforts, a leading
modern and contemporary
art institution organized a
competition for architects to
design a new Helsinki museum.
The project is to be built on
an 18,000-square meter
waterfront site within the citys
south harbor, Etelasatama, a
former industrial area that now
functions as a ferry terminal
adjacent to the Tahititornin
Vuori Park and the Market Hall.
It was our groups first
attempt to design for an
international project. Apart
from designing a landmark
building in a foreign country,
joining a competition alongside
huge international firms was
both a big challenge and exciting
opportunity to test our mettle.
There were 1,715 entries, of
which six finalists were chosen
and only one was proclaimed
winner. We didnt make it to the
finals. We submitted an avant
garde museum that incorporates
passive and active green building
strategies to retain interior
heat and produce energy for the
building. From the Tahtitornin
Vuori Park, we designed an
elevated link bridge with a bike
lane to allow park visitors direct
access to the museum without
having to cross the road.
In retrospect, we think
our strategy of integrating all
activity spaces under one roof
did not sit well with the jury
as it may have disrupted the
waterfront skyline, in contrast
to the winning entrys series of
interconnecting pavilions with
a lookout tower. With over a

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thousand solutions by architects

of diverse backgrounds, cultures
and personal experiences,
the jury favored the winning
proposals design that provides
a seamless transition between
spaces while establishing a
strong connection with the
historic city center through
orientation.
Competitions like this
give architects the freedom
to conceptualize solutions in
a non-standard way and the
opportunity to experiment. We
can be flexible in how to go about
our design without worrying
about client validation. There are
no phases and client meetings,
just a deadline that you have to
pull all the stops to meet. We
believe joining competitions
benefits the profession.
Realistically speaking, we
dont see our design getting
built or replicated for a similar
project, local or international,
in the near future. But if theres
another chance to play on the
world stage, well do it again!

Since Helsinkis road network is designed with cyclists and pedestrians in mind,
we followed suit with bike ramps and paths running along the open parks at ground
level. We continued the parks landscape into the museums ground level, and added
new landscapes along the boardwalk, thus stitching it to the existing urban fabric.
Below Much of the museum is covered by a green roof with thermal insulating
properties that reduce heat loss during winter. Photovoltaic panels (an alternative
energy source) and a rainwater collection system are part of the design.

C O M P E T I T I O N S L I K E T H E H E L S I N K I M U S E U M G I V E A RC H I T E C T S
T H E F R E E D O M T O C O N C E P T UA L I Z E S O L U T I O N S I N A N O N S TA N DA R D WAY A N D T H E O P P O R T U N I T Y T O E X P E R I M E N T.

The programs area, located above the exterior public gallery, uses Low-E4 glass windows to reflect solar infrared energy. Low-E4 glass reflects trapped
heat back into the interiors during winter, reducing the radiant heat loss. The opposite happens during summer. Right A spiral staircase slithering
between columns provides for vertical transition and serves as a sculptural centerpiece of the museum.

Designing the Helsinki Museum was

doubly challenging for us since only one
of us had actually been to Helsinki. We did
computer simulations studies for other team
members to become familiar with the place.

SUNPATH
DIAGR AM

Finland is a tree-rich country and enjoys an abundant and sustainable source of timber.
We used Finnish wood as the main material for the faade and most of the interiors. The
curved building mass, with a 5,000-square meter footprint, creates a natural and dynamic
form that allows for distribution of thermal loads on the faade.

VEHICULAR CIRCULATION

PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION

LEGEND

LEGEND

Private vehicles
General ser vice vehicles

General public
Museum cores

Por t ser vice

Museum admin ser vices

Programs and events

Fire exits

Kitchen ser vices

Bikers

Kitchen ser vicing

General ser vicing
Ar t deliveries
Por t terminal tourists

LED COMPONENTS

GR ASS & GREEN ROOF AREAS

LEGEND
LED wall system and
control room

LEGEND
Green spaces

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WRITTEN BY MANUEL MAXIMO LOPEZ DEL CASTILLO NOCHE

INSTITUTIONAL

THE RIZAL CENTER

Designed by ARCONiC Architecture and Design

Our design concept revolves around the persona of Rizal as an author, hence the inspiration for the Rizal Centers architecture from his three great writings. This is
translated into a dynamic combination of protruding volumes that soar from varying angles and point to three places significant to his life. Below The stacked volumes
that characterize the building can be appreciated from Padre Burgos Avenue, an important street in Manila named after one of Rizal's early heroes.

n 2011, the Order

of the Knights of
Rizal commissioned
our office to design what
would have been a national
architectural landmark in
honor of Jose Rizal. The Rizal
Center, to be located on a
1,589-square meter site at
Rizal Park, Manila was to be
be a cultural facility housing
memorabilia and artifacts
about Rizal.
We were already halfway
through the design process
when the client learned of
a prevailing circular from
the Department of Tourism
stating that no permanent
structure should be built
within the national park, so as
not to undermine the aesthetic
prominence of the Rizal
Monument. This prompted
the proponent to halt the

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project. We had suggestions to

build on another site but the
proponent did not agree.
Our design interpretation
of the Rizal Center is modern
because Rizal himself was a
modern, Renaissance man.
However, our team made sure
that there are meanings and
historical relevance in all of
the buildings major features.
Our concept was inspired
by the phases in Rizals life
as represented by his three
periodic works: Translation
of Morgas Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas, representing
his childhood, Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo,
representing his scholastic
life, and Filipinas Detro de
Cien Aos, representing his
revolutionary life.
We call our design concept
Books of Valor: the Hero as a

O U R D E S I G N I N T E R P R E TAT I O N
OF THE RIZAL CENTER IS
M O D E R N B E C AU S E R I Z A L
H I M S E L F WA S A M O D E R N ,
RE NAISSANC E MAN .

18.00m

H E IG H T
A N A LYS IS

16.00m
14.00m

A comparative height analysis

shows that the apex of Rizal
Center did not exceed the
height of nearby structures and
monuments within Rizal Park.

0.00m

C ONCE PT
DEVELOPME NT

2 Make the singular

form dynamic.

apex of the surrounding trees.

This strategy would allow
the monument of Rizal an
unobstructed background
from that quadrant of the park.
Hopefully, the Knights of Rizal
will consider this proposal.
Designing a museum
of this nature requires a
thorough understanding of
the life of the person to be
honored. The Rizal Center
is more than a functional
structure; its a symbol and
should therefore be designed
and embedded with deeper
levels of meaning.

3 Align each module to

corresponding symbolical axis.

JAPANESE GARDEN

CHESS PLAZA

Writer, and articulated it into

a general building form of
three massive blocks stacked
on each other. Each block
is oriented towards three
important sites in Rizal's
life: Calamba, his childhood
home; Ateneo Municipal in
Intramuros, his cherished
school; and Luneta, his place
of execution.
Since the visual axes of the
monument were a concern,
our office proposed plans
to reconfigure the design by
adjusting the height of the
structure no higher than the

1 Create a unified
and solid structure.

PADRE BURGOS

The evolution of the

building mass shows the
relationship of the 'books'
concept with the orientation
of the building blocks.

PLANETARIUM

The site is that of the former Mass Communications Library beside the chess
plaza and adjacent to the Planetarium and Japanese Garden in Rizal Park.

View of the building from the Rizal Monument. Despite exhibiting a modern and dynamic design, the building, with a 690-square meter footprint, remains unobtrusive
within the panoramic background of the Rizal monument. This drawing was done, of course, before the Torre de Manila reared its head.

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WRITTEN BY KURT CLEON YU

INSTITUTIONAL

01

TALUKAB

Designed by Kurt Cleon Yu, Angeli Luna

and Jose Ruel Fabia
y teammates and
I were fresh out
of college when
we decided to join the Build
Forward Design competition
by Ortigas & Company,
the Department of Science
and Technology (DOST)
and Habitat for Humanity.
We were left with a void
or hangover of sorts after
spending so much time
together doing our theses
we still had so many ideas
and so much energy with no
outlet. The competition came
at the perfect time.
The brief was to design
a disaster-resilient school
on an unspecified site in
the Philippines. This came
just after Typhoon Yolanda
battered the country and
everyone was thinking of

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Taclobanrecord wind
speeds, flooding, and storm
surges. Added to this was the
possibility of earthquakes.
We came up with a
design with a symmetrical
form reminiscent of the
modernist era of Philippine
architecture. We called our
entry Talukab, in reference
to the durable turtle shell
from which we derived our
concept. The structure has
a massive roof structurally
independent of the
classrooms it shelters. The
basic configuration had four
classrooms arranged around
a central courtyard.
The stated intent of
the competition was to
simply build the winning
house entry. However, my
understanding was that

it was more of an ideas

competition, so we worked on
that assumption. We did not
really grasp the affordability
or practicability issues at
the timewe were more
concerned about exploring
new solutions to problems
than applying conventions
under such circumstances.
Our approach landed us
second to a simpler and more
conventional solution.
We received comments
that Talukab was evocative of
structures in UP Diliman and

02

01 Talukab is a structure that can

function as school and evacuation
center in times of calamity, such as
earthquakes, floods and typhoons.
The shape of the roof minimizes eaves
to lessen their risk of flying around in
case of strong winds. The roof is bolted
to the ground for the same reason. It
acts as a second layer of protection
for the existing roofs of the container
van classrooms, which provide their
own structural strength in case of
earthquakes. No lot size was specified
for the competition, but Yu says
Talukab's ideal site is a 43 x 43 meter
lot, with a building footprint of 500 sqm
02 The roofing structure has three
layers, thatch roofing for insulation, a
coco lumber purlin grid frame, and a
bamboo frame system.

03

I T H I N K A RC H I T E C T U R A L
E D U C AT I O N W O U L D B E S O M U C H
R I C H E R , A L B E I T M O R E D I F F I C U LT,
I F IT IS G ROU N D E D O N
E X P E R I M E N TAT I O N .
Escape deck during
extreme flooding

04

Acrylic louvers for natural

ventilation & lighting
Thatch roofing for
ventilation
G.I. sheet
Fenestrations for emergency
egress during floods
Coco lumber purlin
grid frame

05
Bamboo roof frame system
Independent concrete
footing/foundation for roof
Support for escape deck/
floating rail
Bamboo connection to roof
R.C. columns/vertical
floatation rail for raft
Coco lumber raft
PVC drum floor support/
floatation system
Recycled container vans
Coco lumber floor/ceiling

03, 04 & 05 At the center of Talukab is an elevated courtyard or platform,

which can float with rising flood levels and take evacuees to the top of the
classrooms. In case of extreme flooding, people can go through an escape
deck at the tip of the roof. This floating platform is an idea that has to be tested.
Classroom

Entrance

Ramp

Classroom

the value of experimentation

through Talukab. In school,
I relied heavily on concepts
and theories, and we usually
just sought an adviser on
whether this or that could
work. I think architectural
education would be so
much richer, albeit more
difficult, if it is grounded on
experimentation.

Classroom

reminiscent of the aesthetic

of Locsin, a firm I would
eventually work in. For this
to get built, the size of the
proposed design would have
to be scaled down, and maybe
just one classroom instead
of four. The materials for the
roofing could be changed to
more conventional ones too.
Hopefully, students can learn

Platform

Entrance

T&B

Classroom

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OFFICE

WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE JOYCE TAN-BRANQUINHO

01

01, 02 & 10 For these towers, we wanted to develop a language of openness to the site and the surroundings, by positioning the towers to embrace and open out
to a park that is both private and public at the same timeprivate in its access, but public in its visual openness. We wanted vertical communication among floors
and inter-organizational community building. This is done via visual connections that foster openness, transparency and relationship, versus isolation and secrecy.
Our design concept is that of a lighthouse, a perfect symbol for our clients company, which started in the shipping industry. The lighthouse stands for our clients
values that are strong and steadfast guides.

VOLUMES
THAT SPEAK
Designed by SpaceFabrik
02

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t was very exciting

for us to receive
a call from one of
the countrys most respected
manpower agencies to develop
a conceptual design for an office
building at the reclamation
area along Roxas Boulevard,
just across City of Dreams. We
started the design process by
understanding the company as a
leader in the service industry; and
we also looked at the conditions
of the city as one that lacks green
spaces and resting areas. With
this, we wanted to create two
towers that communicate with
each other, with an open space
where the heart of the company
can flourish.
We always try to develop
new design processes to come
up with better typologies. It
was interesting to work with

two separate towers and

understand their relationship,
how they communicate, how
their proportions and size relate
to one another. As we were
developing tower placement
in three dimensions, we were
able to develop community
areas for interaction and new
narratives. It was important for
us to see and develop buildings
in multi-dimensional ways, not
just as objects, but in creating
spaces, carving out voids and
understanding volumes. We
enjoyed thinking of how the
workspace can be a more
pleasant space by creating
gardens for relaxation, parks and
greens at the same time aligned
with the vision and work values
of a company.
We felt very encouraged to
be called for another conceptual

W E A L W AY S T RY
TO DEVELOP NEW
D E S I G N PROC E SS E S
TO COME UP WITH
BETTER TYPOLOGIES.

04

05

E F F I C I E N C Y

07

06

R E L A T I O N S H I P

08

P U B L I C

E F F I C I E N T
R E L A T I O N S H I P

P R I V A T E

09

04 The small diagrams show different tower placements at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and T. Alonzo, and how the bottom right placement creates a natural
plaza space for the users. Winds blow against the rounded corners of the buildings, greatly reducing wind disturbance. 05 & 07 The towers give the appearance
of cooperation because the rounded corners face each other. 06 Concerns regarding the plazas permeability and privacy are solved by raising it 1.5 meters from
street level, keeping it visible to pedestrians, yet also making a soft distinction between private and public. 08 & 09 The two towers share green spaces and a
water feature where people are dropped off, facilitating chance encounters under pleasant circumstances.
10

design project as our studio

develops innovative and world
class design on local soil. If the
project were to be built, we
would redesign the building to
conform to economic and space
requirements, which of course is
part of the design process. Even
if there were conditions that
would cut out the studio's design
intent, we think we would be
able to work around it.
If our unbuilt design were
a case study for architecture
students, what wed want them
to learn from it would be to think
about the relationships between
spaces and how they can foster
communication among users.
Think of new spatial typologies
by questioning how architecture
can influence people's quality
of life, and offer new and
interesting experiences.

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OFFICE

WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE JOYCE TAN-BRANQUINHO

CRYSTALLIZING
ROOTS
Designed by SpaceFabrik

01

02

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01 A sense of community
and welcome is created by
a groundscape plaza that is
both friendly in scale and
approach. The plaza space
is created by the building
cantilevering above the main
entrance. The cantilevered
ceiling of copper softens the
height of the tower and provides
a distinct and iconic entrance
to the tower. The columns
embody the strong roots and
foundation of the company.
02 Architecturally, we sought
to create a building that would
not only represent the company,
but also speak to its owners
and stakeholders, and challenge
them to reflect on their values
and conduct their business with
integritya building that would
inspire and revolutionize.

e were asked by Datem, one of the

countrys most respected contractors,
to compose a conceptual design
for a design-build project, which would be the
headquarters of a prominent Filipino company.
The project was in line with their vision to be
a premiere company in their field, in terms
of technology and innovation in design. The
challenge was to design a building that would
represent in physical form the values that the
company stands forexcellence, ingenuity,
innovation, a sense of community and social
responsibility, integrity, honesty and hard work
as well as the importance of its roots, its vision for
the future, and its legacy for generations to come.

Concepts
Having a strong foundation is one of the core
values of the company. Its roots and humble
beginnings serve as guiding principles and basis
for the future growth of the company. Roots speak
of success that comes from being faithful to ones
principles. They symbolize building a company
with integrity. Roots also act as a network of
interlocking arteries that send nutrients and
life to the whole structure. They act as lines
of communication vertically and horizontally,
embedded in the soil, creating a strong foundation.
This abstract concept of being rooted to ones
values is one of the core concepts for the design of
the project.
Another abstract concept we used is that of
a crystala structure created by elements in an
environment over time, that grows and evolves.
Transparent, process-oriented, a magnifier of
light, a crystal is multi-faceted, the same way that
the company is multi-dimensional. Its materiality,
transparency and composition show qualities that
magnify the histories that it holds, the system of
values that have formed its shape.
Conceptually, therefore, the roots are the
companys values, history and story of success;
and the crystal is the holder and magnifyer of these
values, aspirations and legacy. Since presenting
this concept in 2014, we have had mixed reviews.
Concerns were expressed regarding buildability
and optimization of spaces. The proposal was
purely conceptual, however, and we have yet to
hear further direction from the client.

De S I G N

CONCe pT

Translating the concept into the building, we start by placing the core or the roots in intervals
inside the structure. We then put in the functions of the building: office, public, amenity and
green areas. These functions placed in the building mass are seen as three-dimensional
spaces that branch horizontally and vertically. These spaces in between function then become
voids or atrium spaces that help the building breathe and contain green spaces as well as
vertical, horizontal and diagonal visual connections.

CORe VALUeS

CORe

FOUNDATION
ROOTS

FUNCTIONS

CRYSTALLIZATION
INTO SHApe
CRYSTAL

BR ANCHING

VOIDS

T H I S A B S T R AC T
CONCEPT OF BEING
ROOTE D TO O N E S
VA L U E S I S O N E O F
THE CORE CONCEPTS
FOR THE DESIGN OF
THE PROJECT.
Defining features and benefits
There were three things that were really
important for us. First was how to define a
company's identity using abstraction.
Second was rethinking the design of a vertical
structure. In tall buildings, there is little to almost
no communication between floors, which, more
often than not, are isolated horizontal plates.
As the headquarters of a dynamic company, we
thought it important that different departments
be able to communicate with each other visually.
We thought about how the spaces would work
and blended them in a three-dimensional way,
instead of working with horizontal floor plates
first, then applying a vertical faade.

C OR e
The core represents the main vertical passageways of
the building which go through the areas of voids and
mass. A series of cores pass through the building at
intervals that act as structural support and main arteries
for services and transport.

To expand the concept of transparency and the kinetic nature of the company, the building skin
is designed as panels of glass or openings with varying levels of transparency and permeability.
The faade openings allow the building to breathe.

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OFFICE

DeS I GN

CORe

C OMpONe NTS

eXOSKeLeTON

The building concept is further realized through the components that make up the tower. Each
of these components relate with each other, creating a composition of parts that make a legible
whole. The components also represent architectural features of the building that relate to space,
structure and faade.

CORe

BR ANCHING

VOIDS

eXOSKeLeTON

LIGHTWeIGHT
SLABS

eX O S K eL eTON

SKIN

GROUNDSCApe

ROOFSCApe

SUSTAINABILITY

The structural core and load-bearing exoskeleton allow

the building to be column-free inside. The engineering
would showcase the companys commitment to
technology and innovation.

W E WO U LD L I KE TO E N C O U R AG E ARC H I TE C T U RE S T U D E N T S
TO S E E D E S I G N AS A TH RE E -D I M E N S I O NAL PROC E SS .
We were able to create voids and double height
spaces with gardens and community spaces for
people to gather and for the building to breathe.
Third was the development of a structural
exoskeleton that would free up column spaces
in the building, providing more open areas for
work and play. We want to explore a system of
construction that, if effective, may develop new
typologies for tall buildings.
Getting it built
It would be necessary to work with a structural
engineer to develop the diagrid structure
for the exoskeleton and test its integrity. If
the tower were to be built, we would adjust
the design to align more with the company's
financial and organizational requirements,
and that is totally okay, as that is part of the
design process. If our unbuilt design story were
used as a case study for architecture students,
we would like to ask students to think out of
the box, explore new ways of working, and
develop typologies in design. We would also
like to encourage them to see design as a threedimensional process.

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Ho st e d by

J ud it h Torre s

issues
perspective

C O N V E R S A T I O N S

Ca tch ne w e pis ode s

every 2 0t h of t he m o nt h
excl u s iv e ly on t he
Bl uPri n t F ac e b o ok page
Joi n the conv e rs at io ns no w

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#BluPrintConversations

OFFICE

WRITTEN BY MARIA CECILIA CADIZ-VEGA

THE
SILHOUETTE

01

Designed by Cadiz International

n 2003, with a
booming business
and tourism
economy in Dubai, the
majority of our Emirati
clients were positioning their
investments into residential
and office developments.
One of our clients, Juma
Al Ghurair, surveyed the
opportunities of future
growth centers, and one of
the largest was a waterfront
mixed-use community called
the Jumeirah Lake Towers,
a masterplan development
of over 70 towers of varying
heights (35, 45 and 65 floors),
grouped in clusters of three,
to be constructed along the
edges of three artificial lakes
and an embankment facing
the Jumeirah Islands.
Al Ghurair was interested
in acquiring the central tower
site in Cluster U. He asked
Cadiz International to explore
two options: the planning
and design of a residential
tower and an office tower,
based on guidelines set by
JLT planning authorities. CIs
concept design for the two
options, together with the
clients business study, would
be the basis for his selection,
which would then be further
developed in subsequent
design stages.
At the time, the cityscape
of Dubai was changing so fast,
with towers sprouting left and
right, one taller than the other
and trying to outdo each other
in state-of-the-art amenities,
each vying to be the next
iconic tower along Sheikh
Zaeed Road, or to be The
Address. News of upcoming
developments were splashed

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in newspapers and billboards,

the towers given nicknames
like Twisting Torso, The
Taco Shell, The Sail, and
The Torch. Given this
context, designing a 45-storey
tower in JLT amidst 70
others that would be unique,
memorable and enduring
was challenging, scary and
exciting at the same time.
Al Ghurairs business and
marketing study indicated
that the residential tower
development option was
more viable. The market for
office spaces in the next 5
to 10 years would be oversaturated, he told us, and so
he went for the residential
tower. He said it was a pity
that the office tower design
scheme, The Silhouette
would not be realized, and
decided to show it to his
nephew, Majid Al Ghurair,
another client of CI. They were
in the process of creating a
joint real estate company, and
were looking for the right site
to build an 80-storey tower to
showcase their very first joint
and introductory real estate
venture. It looked like The
Silhouette might be built after
all, then the 2008 crisis hit.
A projects realization
does not rest solely on the
design and concept. Factors
such as the timing and
market conditions are beyond
the designers and clients
control. When a proposed
project design doesnt get
built, it does not invalidate
the design. It may be shelved
but not forgotten by client. It
could be just waiting for the
right opportunity to realize
the vision.

02
01 The unchosen design for
the office tower is defined
by its forma simple,
compelling and identifiable
statement amidst all the
clusters of towers that would
be built around it. We called it
The Silhouettean outline
that is simple, dynamic and
memorable; a mysterious
glass tower perched at
the edge of the lake, rising
gracefully from the water. At
day, it would be a tall glass
sculpture glistening and
mirroring its surroundings
under the clear Dubai sun.
02 At night, it would appear
to be wearing a crystal
garment, draped and flowing
against the evening stars.

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AS NARRATED TO JUDITH TORRES BY CARLOS ARNAIZ

ASSEMBLY

01

POPE
PAVILION
Designed by Carlos Arnaiz, Alex Tseng
and Xiaoyu Wang of CAZA

e were contacted last year by the priests

of a parish in Leyte that had lost their
community center to Typhoon Haiyan
(Yolanda). They wanted us to rebuild the community
center, and at the same time design it so that Pope
Benedict in his visit to the Philippines could come
and say mass there. If you think about it, that is a
challenge because wherever the Pope goes, youre
going to have millions of people. The community
center that the parish needed, however, was not for a
million people but for 200 to 250 people.
So we created a modular design that could be
built in two phases. The first phase was essentially a
little bandshell consisting of these curved, laminated
wood beams that would be glued together. The

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bandshell would cover a small stage where the Pope

could give mass. Everything else in front would be an
open field where one could host the people from the
town and all the guests from out of town.
After the Popes visit, for the second phase,
the idea was that you could extend that modular
system, close the pavilion, and it would become
more of a community center the size of a basketball
courta multi-purpose hall where they could have
mass, basketball games, town meetings, or dances
during Christmas, that sort of thingand it would
be completely covered.
Unfortunately, it didnt get built because the
Pope changed his travel plans and did not go
anymore to this part of Leyte.

01 The pavilion, after the

second phase, would look
almost like a cocoon. The
two ends of the cocoon are
big openings, and then on
the sides, we also created
partial openings for cross
ventilation. Fully-built, the
structure would occupy
1,058 sqm of the 2,015 sqm
property. 02 The pavilion
would be made of wood
and polycarbonate panels
theyre very durable and
translucent. The first phase
would only be a bandshell
to house the Pope while
saying mass.

02

DR A I NA G E

S Y S TE M

The drawings below show the direction of the drainage and the distribution of the modules along the main axis.

Roof plan showing direction of drainage

PAV I L I O N

Axonometric view showing direction

of drainage

Roof drainage
system detail

DE S I G N

Our design goal for this pavilion was to create an extremely efficient structure that would not need interior columns
(so that more people could gather inside) while being open to the outside (so that we would not need to install airconditioning). Therefore, a linear vault was the simplest and the most appropriate structure. However, we also wanted
natural light inside the pavilion while keeping the iconicity that a civic building should have. By corrugating the exterior
skin, we solved both problems without complicating the assembly process. In fact, the openness of the structure
would be able to incorporate future expansions very easily.
3m

38cm

m
R=2.9
R=2
.5m

SIMPLICITY
Efficient and strong
structural system
allows wind to come
through

Laminated wood beam

Repeatable modular unit with measurements

Corrugated steel
Cross bracing
Laminated
wood beam

S K I N

S Y S TE M

The skin of the pavilion consists

of a series of modules that are
repeated a certain number of
times depending on the size of
the pavilion. The laminated wood
beams that are the main structural
element are also integrated into
each module. We would only need
to include cross bracing elements
to add stability to the whole
pavilion. The exterior skin is made
out of corrugated steel in order to
help with drainage.

ICONICITY
Alternating
corrugations allow
light to enter

COMMUNITY
Expansion at two
sides to create social
spaces

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ASSEMBLY

WRITTEN BY SUDARSHAN V. KHADKA JR.

SITIO MALAYA
Designed by Sudarshan V. Khadka Jr. of ii.ncite

carpenter whom I have known

and worked with for a long time
came up to me with a request.
He was part of a team planning to build a
chapel for their village. The chapel would
replace the makeshift structure they have on
1,400-square meter lot, which can no longer
accommodate their growing number and
serve their communitys needs. The village
needs a simple gathering space where a
traveling priest could hold mass every other
week. When mass is not being celebrated,
the new chapel would serve as a place of
assembly for community functions and
public gatherings.
Having worked with this carpenter on a
number of our familys home improvement

With this design, I went

back to the primitive notion
of shelter, represented
in this case by a 250-square
meter lean-to shed.
I wanted to explore how
this simple typology could
be appropriated for a
semiotic purpose.

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and furniture projects, he has become a

family friend, and I happily accepted
his request to design their village chapel
pro bono.
The intention from the start was to use
simple materials and forms to not only
minimize cost but also to build something
authentic and not contrived. I wanted a
humble and guileless form yet one that would
pique peoples interest and curiosity, and
invite them to form personal interpretations
about the chapel.
The project is temporarily on hold as
the community is still sourcing funds for
construction, and is taking much longer than
expected. There were supposed to be funds
coming in from donors abroad, but nothing

has panned out yet. I think the least I can

do is to help the community find alternative
sources of funds to build it.
This is a relatively simple project, but
designers and students need to learn how
to design something of quality from simple
materials. Quality does not have to cost
much. Expensive does not equal beautiful;
conversely, cheap does not equal ugly. We
should rethink materiality and explore its
potential to convey beauty and meaning.

T H E I N TE N T I O N F RO M T H E S TART WA S
TO U S E S I M PLE M AT E RIAL S A N D FO R M S
TO N OT O N LY M I N I M IZE C OS T B U T AL S O
B U I LD S O M E T H I N G T HAT I S AU T H E N T I C
A N D H O N E S T WIT H OUT BEI NG CONT RIVED.
01

02

01 I thought of using a
stabilized rammed earth wall
which curves gently in plan,
as a symbol for gathering,
and at the same time, to
provide structural stability.
We already got the
preliminary soil tests done
to determine the correct
soil mix. 02 A Latin cross
cut in the rammed earth
wall extends vertically from
the floor and allows light to
enter from behind the altar.
This calls to mind Tadao
Andos Church of the Light
in Osaka, Japan.

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WRITTEN BY JOSEPH ADG JAVIER

RESIDENTIAL

THE CANTILEVER HOUSE

Designed By Javier Design Studio Manila

01

01 Had it not been for the corruption of local government, the owner would be
enjoying this 360-degree view of the island, an amenity no other hotel property can
match. Had it not been for the corruption of local government, the owner would be
enjoying this 360-degree view of the island, an amenity no other hotel property can
match. Four standard villas accompany the main villa, one by one cascading down
the steel slope of the property, all soil bermed structures. This design gesture allows
for the return of ground cover to the island while initiating development.
02 An organic, tubular gazebo punctuates the predominantly rectilinear pool
pavilion, framing views of Boracays famed White Beach
02

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he house was
commissioned back in
2010 by a successful
businessman bachelor who
made it big in the wave of the IT
industry during the first decade
of the new millennium. He was
in his late forties, high-flying
and popular; and the brief was
to design a holiday house in
Boracay Island that was to be
the Ferrari of his collection of
properties. We were naturally
excited as opportunities like this
rarely come, and because it was
in Boracay.
The intention was to design
a main villa, and four other villas
he would sell to his foreigner
friends. The lot was at the highest
point of the island, overlooking
both White and Bolabog beaches,

with a commanding view of the

golf course of Fairways and Blue
Waters. He planned on operating
it as a serviced residence when
he is not on the island. While
the budget was not limitless, it
gave us a lot of freedom to be
imaginative.
We wanted this project to
respond to the environment of
the island by preserving as much
of the ground cover as possible.
Since the land was steeply
sloping, the design strategy then
was to perch the main villa on a
trunk to limit the plan print on
grade. This strategy necessitated
the cantilevering of the whole
mass of the house on both sides,
at 9 and 17 meters respectively.
The unsupported length of the
cantilever was so extreme we had

03

W H AT S T U D E N T S C A N L E A R N F RO M O U R C A S E I S T H AT I N
DESIGN, THERE IS POLITICS, AND IN POLITICS, DESIGN.
the structural design audited by
no less than Engineer Servando
Aromin, who happened to be the
clients uncle.
The four standard villas
are inversely bermed earth
shelters that will give back
ground cover to the island
right after construction. Every
measure was taken to minimize
the environmental impact of
the project.
The defining feature of
the project is its precarious
cantilever, which at 9 and
17 meters may have been
unprecedented in the country for
this building type. We designed
this around the time JDSM had
begun to use embedded tropical
design devices for enhanced
comfort levels. Such devices
included Venturi channels,
light shelves, stack chases,
extended canopies and high floorto-ceiling heights.
The project was not built
because the owner got sick and
tired of government corruption
both at the national and local
levels. After agreeing to pay a
sum of money to the environment

bureau, the local government

demanded a sum of money to
expedite his permits. After the
client obliged, the officials asked
for more, stalling the project.
He refused, and after eight
months of waiting, the client
decided he had had enough and
stopped the project.
If there were a surefire
way of removing the culture
(and people) of corruption in
government, Id do it, peacefully
or revolutionarily. What students
can learn from our case is that
in design, there is politics, and
in politics, design. An architect
needs to learn how to manage
both simultaneously, especially
politics. How far dancing to
this complex art of addition
will get you depends on the
values you hold for yourself
and your practice.
05

04

03 The 1,200-square meter

property uniquely has only a
frontage of 6 meters, presenting a
challenge to designing for the transit
of people and goods. Eventually,
the owner insisted that a carriage lift
be added to easily convey inebriated
residents back into their villas without
incident. 04 A collection of mid-20th
century furniture sit in the living room with
select pieces by Filipino designers. The
owner stressed his preference for space
without the clutter of furniture and dcor typical
of Filipino homes. 05 The project had a special
requirement of being appreciated not only from
the vertical axes of faades, but more so from the
very rare horizontal axis of the bottom. From the golf
course valley below, one can see the strong allusion
to the paraw sail. The triangle shapes are not out of
whim but rather to achieve the Venturi Effect.

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WRITTEN BY JOSE VICENTE AOANAN

RESIDENTIAL

THE S HOUSE

Designed by JV Aoanan, IV

Above The house occupies 305 sqm of

the 373-sqm lot. The front faade faces
northeast, making the living room and
bedrooms upstairs the coolest areas of
the house.

WEST
AFTERNOON
SUN

SOUTH
AFTERNOON
SUN

EAST
MORNING
SUN

OPEN SPACE
(PLANTS)

DINING
AREA

Cutting out spaces for a koi pond

and garden provide all the upstairs
rooms with opportunities for cross
ventilation, which is especially
needed by the rooms at the back of
the house facing southwest.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

NORTH
MORNING
SUN

HALLWAY

he site is in one of the better

subdivisions in Tagaytay,
which has wide sidewalks and
trees, and is bordered at the
back with rolling hills planted
with pineapples. The clients,
who are based abroad, wanted
a vacation home to stay in
when visiting the country.
Unfortunately, they opted to
buy a condo unit in Manila
instead, seeing it as a wiser
investment.
The house has great views
of the subdivision and the
pineapple plantation, but
I designed two additional
views for them to enjoy inside
the property: a fishpond on
the right, and a garden on the
left. The house is designed with
sustainable features such as
rainwater collection, recycling
of gray water, solar panels, high
ceilings, generous canopies
to shade windows and doors,
and space planning that takes
advantage of orientation.

01 We start with a typical twostorey block.

02 Then cut into two sides to create
open spaces within the block.

OPEN SPACE
(FISH POND)

03 We now have two main volumes

connected by a hallway.

LIVING
AREA

04 Add balconies to each of the

faades so that occupants of each
space may enjoy views.
5

05 Add canopies over the balconies

and windows to shade against sun
and rain.
06 Skew the canopies to enhance
protection against sun and rain.

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RESIDENTIAL

WRITTEN BY OSCAR PEASALES

01

YELLOW
FARMHOUSE
Designed by Oscar J. Peasales

02

was commissioned
by a client to design
a farmhouse for
his lot, which he envisioned
to be an organic farm with a
house featuring sustainable
design solutions. With all
the working drawings and
permit requirements already
submitted at the municipal
engineering office, my client
discovered that the adjacent
lot was bought by a developer
who had already started
building a memorial park.
Unwilling for his organic farm
to be a neighbor to the dead,
my client shelved the project,
a decision I dont have any
argument against.

The design is a house

on stilts to keep it safe from
flooding. It also features a
rainwater cistern and would be
provided with wind turbines
for additional power and solar
powered heaters, but what I
like most is its overall aesthetic
appearance. Actually, my client
really likes the design and
promised me he would build it
when he can find another place.
I think he has offered his farm
lot to the developer.
Lesson learned?
Thorough site investigation
is needed. Investigate not
only site orientation but
also the condition or use of
adjacent lots.

03

01 A house is a cocoon for people. The design is an abstraction of a

caterpillar which builds itself into cocoon where it morphs into a butterfly.
Being raised on stilts protects it against flooding and in hot, dry weather,
gives shelter to farm workers underneath. 02 The top view shows the
roof, which is a combination of a lean-to and hip and gable styles. The
house occupies only 230 sqm of the 13,278-sqm property. 03 The side
of the house where the master bedroom with terrace is located. The
rounded structure with the wind turbine on top is the stairwell.

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WRITTEN BY JOEL ONG

RESIDENTIAL

RAMP HOUSE
Designed by urbanshiftstudio

amp House was supposed to be our

entry for the Metrobank MADE 2012
competition. The brief called for the design
of a house for a middle-class Filipino family, which
projects a universal human and aesthetic appeal that
transcends time and location. The use of innovative
and appropriate technology, and sustainable
measures were also required in the design.
We were unable to meet the deadline for
the competition, but we saw the potential of our
design so we continued to develop it. Through
the Ramp House, we were able to integrate our
obsessions in designinterconnection, openness
and juxtaposition. As a young practice, we feel that
we have to develop our design language so we
can properly express our obsessions into tangible
design solutions.
The site is located in Batangas, with a view
of Taal Lake and Balayan Bay. The site is steep,
sloping down from the main road. At the outset,

The entrance is flanked by

three ramps: one going down
to the main entry, another
going further down to the
parking area, and one that
gently slopes up to the roof
deck made of continuous turf
to blend in with the existing
vegetation. The glazing frames
the view of the lake, and opens
up views inside and outside
the house. Pocket gardens
laid out in specific areas of the
site bring in more light into
the interior. A reflecting pool
in the interior court cools the
surrounding area.

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we envisioned the Ramp House to be part of the

existing landscape, where it would appear to have
developed organically. We wanted to convey the
impression that the architecture has been there
all along.
To achieve this, we tried to blur vertical
connections through the use of ramps, split-levels
and lower floor-to-floor heights. We also blurred
the boundaries between exterior and interior, so
that one could see through transparent partitions
and feel part of the surroundings. The spaces are
continuous so one can move around, into and over
spaces seamlessly.
What we like about the design of the Ramp
House is the way it relates to the site, and how
unconventional spaces are created through
the juxtaposition of volumes. This design
exercise helped us understand how spaces are
perceived and experienced as one goes through
them. Residential design has always been very
interesting to tackle, since there are myriad
ways to go about it. We are always emboldened
to be more experimental in our approach and
to introduce something new in our residential
projects, because of the personal relationship we
form with the client.

01

WE ENVISIONED THE
R A M P H O U S E T O B E PA R T
OF THE EXISTING LANDSCAPE.
SERVICE
AREA

COMMON
AREA

SERVICE
AREA

PRIVATE
AREA
BUFFER
ZONE

COMMON
AREA
PRIVATE
AREA
BUFFER
ZONE

02 Service area is extended to act as buffer

against the sun path.
03 Private area is extended to maximize
views and cross ventilation.

SERVICE
AREA
COMMON
AREA
PRIVATE
AREA

SERVICE
AREA

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
01 Basic zoning of the three major areas:
service area, common area and private area.

SERVICE
AREA

BUFFER
ZONE

04 Voids are created in each area for stack

ventilation.
3

SERVICE COMMON
AREA
AREA

COMMON
AREA
PRIVATE
AREA
BUFFER
ZONE

COMMON
AREA
PRIVATE
AREA

BUFFER
ZONE

PRIVATE
AREA
RAMP

05 To mitigate solar heat gain, the roof area

is converted into a green roof deck. The
sloped access to the roof deck can be used
as a jogging path as well.
06 The areas are laid out in relation to the
slope of the site, creating split levels. The
negative spaces are converted to service
and parking areas. A pool deck is added at
the rear of the house to enhance cooling.

01 Aerial view of the Ramp House. The building footprint is only 440 sqm, although we utilized 5,133 sqm of lot area. The continuous turf and the low elevation
integrate the house into its context. The material palette consisting of concrete, natural stone and glass gives the house the appearance of a rock formation. The ramp
leading up to the roof deck follows the universal standard gradient of 1:12 with a 2-meter landing, making it accessible for PWDs and the elderly. 02 The massing of
the master bedroom area. The juxtaposition and overlapping of boxes create interesting nooks utilized as small balconies. We like to work with contrasts: light and
dark, linear and non-linear, and right and acute angles. These make for interesting ways to perceive space, and for unexpected yet controlled experiences.
02

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RESIDENTIAL

WRITTEN BY SUDARSHAN V. KHADKA JR.

02

01 Permeable sliding doors

and wooden screens for
maximum cross ventilation
bound the open plan living
and dining spaces on the
ground floor. 02 The houses
frontage features a series of
large concrete planter boxes,
and a semi-permeable gate.
I wanted the house to be
oriented inward towards an
expanse of greenery and
away from the street.

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14 peter
street
Designed by
Sudarshan V. Khadka Jr. of ii.ncite

any houses in middle class villages

are designed without regard to
site and context. This attempt is
specifically for a highly urbanized tropical
environment. It is one of the early iterations
of my concept of an urban tropical house, a
typology Ive been developing and actively
promoting for four years now. Five principles
guided me in designing it: structural logic,
passive cooling, integrated building technology,
open plan layout and centrifugal orientation.
The house is L-shape in plan, with one wing
parallel to the road, leaving space for an inner
courtyard with a garden and pool. I kept the
frontage simple and placed a solid concrete
shear wall to fence off the house interiors from
the street. Instead, I oriented the interior spaces
towards the courtyard, to heighten the sense of
connection between nature outdoors and the
spaces indoors.
The performative and operable aspects of a
tropical houses enclosures are important. Our
context requires that a structures openings can
be fully opened and closed, to allow for natural
light and ventilation, or shut out heavy wind and
rain during typhoon season. The wooden vertical
louvered screens serve as storm shutters when
closed and vertical sunshades when open.

01

OUR CONTEXT REQUIRES

T H AT A S T R U C T U R E S
O P E N I N G S C A N B E F U L LY
OPE N E D AN D C LOS E D, TO
A L L O W F O R N AT U R A L L I G H T
A N D V E N T I L AT I O N , O R S H U T
O U T H E AV Y W I N D A N D R A I N
DURING TYPHOON SEASON.

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RESIDENTIAL

01

02

03

01 Upon entering the main door, a large living room opens out to a lush outdoor garden and swimming pool. To the west is the staircase beside an atrium garden.
02 Ascending the stairs, there are three equally sized bedrooms within the southern solid block connected by a small common area. From this space, crossing the
steel bridge cutting through the double-volume living space, the solid master bedroom block opens up to the garden. 03 The structural system of the house employs
a modular grid, which rationalizes the dimensions of the house to minimize waste and simplify construction.

These work best in conjunction with the operable

transom windows that may be left open to keep
the house cool even when the wooden screens are
shut. They also emphasize the separation between
the steel columns and the roof, making the roof
seem to float.
The relationship between the garden and the
open plan living spaces, and the permeable design of
the window and door elements encourage a lifestyle
appropriate to our tropical climate. The inward

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orientation and sensible modular design add

to the houses urban character.
The house will eventually get built, but
with substantial revisions because the original
parameters, program and material palette
have changed significantly. It would still be an
urban tropical house but smaller, and will use
more concrete than steel. We are in the process
of downsizing the program and adjusting the
specifications.

Opposite page I learned

that sometimes we have to
make the house smaller so
that it will feel bigger. The site
is 800 square meters, but by
building only on 350 square
meters, we had more space
for the outdoors. By opening
up the interior to embrace
the exterior views, one
gets a tropical home that is
comfortable and maaliwalas.

14

15

2
2

12

13
11
1

10

GrOUND FLOOr

2
1

5
6

2
1

seCOND FLOOr

GrOUND FLOOr pLAN

1 Garage
2 Toilet
3 Drivers room
4 Workshop
5 Office
6 Powder room
7 Guest bedroom
8 Covered deck
9 Living room
10 Dining room
11 Kitchen
12 Maids room
13 Cold room
14 Laundry room
15 Pump room

1
2
3
4

seCOND FLOOr pLAN

Bedroom
Toilet
Family room
Walk-in closet

WRITTEN BY SUDARSHAN V. KHADKA JR.

RESIDENTIAL

01

PROJECT NEPAL
Designed by Sudarshan V. Khadka Jr. of ii.ncite
wanted to challenge our indiscriminate
use of concrete by designing something
primarily of wood. Why is there a
prevalent anxiety over using wood structurally,
when some of our oldest, most beautiful structures
use it? I got the opportunity to design with wood
for a residential project I call Project Nepal. I love
how the houses design was modulated by the
natural limits of the material.
Project Nepal was inspired by Mies van der
Rohes Farnsworth House in the way it lifts off
the ground and relates to the horizontality of the
landscape. The intent was to orient the house
along with all its bedrooms, bathrooms and the
open plan living-dining-kitchen space to a view

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of the majestic mountain on the southwest. This

parti was complemented by a prominent roof
sloping upward towards the view to heighten the
sense of connection to the mountain.
However, we had difficulty finding an
engineer knowledgeable in timber construction.
It may be similar to steel construction but
wood joints behave differently from steel.
Nevertheless, we pushed forward to the bidding
phase. Another difficulty was that the contractor
did not know where to source the required
quantities of wood. Because of scarcity, the unit
cost of our wood elements jacked up. We couldnt
even find enough people with experience in
structural wood construction.

01 The house hovers lightly

above the slightly undulating
terrain, its angled shed roof
serving as a counterpoint
to its horizontality. 02 The
wooden structural elements
follow a logical hierarchy in
terms of height and stacking,
leading the eyes to a large
window that frames the view
of the mountain. The timber
posts are built on concrete
pedestals embedded in the
ground. 03 The wooden
structure is clearly expressed
and the enclosing elements
of the house seem to
dissolve and open up towards
the mountain.

E LE V A TI O N S

NORTH WEST

NORTH EAST

SOUTH WEST

SOUTH EAST

02

W H Y I S T H E R E A P R E VA L E N T A N X I E T Y O V E R U S I N G W O O D
S T R U C T U R A L LY, W H E N S O M E O F O U R O L D E S T S T R U C T U R E S U S E I T ?
03

We considered other optionssteel, concrete,

and even container vans! In the end, I had to
concede that concrete is still the most efficient,
thats why people are partial to it. Nevertheless,
save for the change in material, the original
designs spirit and orientation towards the
mountain were kept.
Still, wood possesses tactility and warmth no
other material could give. It is a renewable resource,
if sourced properly. My hope is that sustainable
forestry would be practiced in the Philippines as
in other countries, to reduce the cost and augment
our supply of timber and even bamboo. We are
making headway into processing coconut lumber
for structural applications. If successful, I would
readily advocate structural wood construction.

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WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER MAYORALGO

RESIDENTIAL

01

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE

TO SEE YOURSELF LIVE?
Designed by Alexander Mayoralgo
01 My house should
accommodate my partner,
visitors, a weekly cleaning
lady and a gardener. The
finishes would largely be
textured concrete, stucco
and wood veneer. 02 The
entrance porch, where I wait
for my parents as they pull
up in front of the gate. I could
spend afternoons in this space
waiting to buy a cup of taho,
talking to my gardener over
coffee, or reading a book.
02

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ach architects work reflects how

they feel life should be lived. With
every line we draw, the question
begged of us architects may well be, What are
you trying to say? Architecture is more than
just proposing spaces but also moments and
values. If space can be likened to an oration,
how can we make our architecture linger in the
hearts of occupants, like the lasting effect of
a good speech? What is our proposal of good
architecture?

Being young, I felt it would be meaningful to

sit down and reflect on these questions at this
stage of my life. I put myself through a three-part
design concept esquisse. This was partly inspired
by an esquisse my mentor, Sir Ed Ledesma, put me
through in 2012, which landed me a job at Leandro
V. Locsin Partners. My personal esquisse revolves
around three questions that allow me to revisit
my design values. I plan to do this every five years.
The three questions are: How would you like to
see yourself live? How would you like to see others
live? How would you like to be remembered?
The scale, budget, location, complexity and
nature of the project proposals are up to me. The
questions are open-ended, making the exercise
more difficult from project selection to concept
creation. It forces me to weed out the fluff, and
dial in on what I really want to express. The
overarching question is, How is your architecture
an extension of who you are? These three projects
are my responses at this point in my life.
The first question makes designers think about
what they believe constitutes a good life, which in
turn makes them strive to create the environment
for it. As I thought of the activities and spaces my
home would cater to, I grasped the kind of life

03

The landing from the stairs leads to a mini-office that contains a small library, desktop and work areas.
A sliding door opens up to my happy space, a large multi-purpose area for exercise and all-nighters
for work sessions. The thought of waking every morning, rolling up my mat, and morning coffee
before doing gymnastic rings while facing a garden truly gives me delight. 03 Sketches showing the
layout of spaces in the ground and second floors 04 The high-ceiling dining area has a large view of
the bamboo garden to the east. A full height window on the stair landing frames part of the north
garden. I wanted it to feel like a seamless space where meals or light work meetings can take place.

04

I wanted to live, in terms of work and play, personal

fulfillment and empowerment.
My house would be a place of quiet leisure,
where I can think. I want a small office where I can
do architecture, write books and edit videos, all
in line with my dream to be an architect, educator
and entrepreneur. At the same time, I need a place
where I can move, train and thrive in the joys of
nature and exercise because I believe in investing
in my health.
I considered numerous ideas, like a 3D
printable tent-house I could take backpacking with
me, or an extravagant set of tree houses connected
by bridges. In the end, I concluded that at this stage
in my life, I want experience over innovation.
I chose a pragmatic residence that I could see
myself living in for the next five years. Instead
of designing a Utopian house, I chose to stay
grounded and thought about the economy, my
personal finances, and what a person with drive,
perseverance and the right opportunities could
plausibly achieve in five years.
I picked a modest 12 x 20 meter lot
a significant exercise in itself. The ground floor
will contain the social spaces and service areas.
All utilities are tucked in the western side of the
house, and the living areas are open to views of the
east and northern gardens. The second floor will
be my sanctuary for creative work and leisure, and
a collaboration space with a few people.
The design process made me realize I tend
to design in layers of emotion and atmosphere.
I determined that to a large extent, my creative
process is not so much about the outward form,
but the creation of meaningful moments. Because
of this, I can say that the work I strive to produce
is an architecture of moments, not an architecture
of spaces.

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99

WRITTEN BY ALExANdER MAYORALGO

MEMORIAL

HOW WOULD YOU

LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED?
Designed by Alexander Mayoralgo
01

hen I die, I want my memorial to be

simple and experiential. My preferred
site is away from the road (cars and
neighbors must seem not to exist), and near the
edge of a cliff overlooking Laguna de Bay.
The approach towards the memorial leads
the visitor to a concrete mass blocking the view
of the landscape ahead. Taking up 40 square
meters, the monument is triangular in shape
and stands 3.3 meters high with a narrow
opening at the vertex. Two perpendicular walls
open out towards Laguna de Bay, with ledges
for visitors to sit on. A small columbarium
occupies a niche in one of the walls.
Stepping into the narrow opening shifts
the visitors focus from the monument to the
view of the landscape, imparting the idea of
hope, life after mourning, and life after death.
The memorial is a place of contemplation,
where the visitor can bask in the beauty of
nature before him.

03

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01 The memorial will be oriented to the east, to catch the morning sun and allow a long sliver of
light to pass through the opening. Users will then be shaded by the walls during the afternoon.
02 Upon approach, one sees only the concrete monument. Only a sliver of the landscape beyond
can be seen through the narrow opening. The walls are engraved with quotes and messages for
visitors to reflect upon. 03 & 04 The narrow opening at the vertex of the monument funnels
visitors to the other side and releases them to the view, which represents the bigger picture
that life must go on. 05 Sketch showing the parts of the memorial
02

05

04

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lable
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nationwid
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In celebration of MyHomes 15 years of making

beautiful homes, we continue to inspire as we
walk you through some of the best modern
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Be the first to own a copy of this special
coffee table book.

FUTURE PROJECTS

WRITTEN BY JUDITH TORRES

A HOME OF
MANY MOONS
Designed by CAZA

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View from the pool toward the living room and study

"Binoculars hang from her neck. She looks

up to the heavens. Her conscience explodes
with visions of celestial bodies falling in the
garden. She walks, quietly tending to each
plant, smelling the herbs and cutting a few
vegetables for her next meal. She is a lady of
the stars and of the earth.

Ones first sighting of the

house is a pair of stone
structures. The rudimentary
shapes of the twin pitched
volumes recall various
houses indigenous to the
tropics. The lot is 11,000
square meters, and the
footprint of the house,
almost 600.

With these poetic words, Carlos Arnaiz

introduces his project, A Home of Many
Moons. It is shortlisted at the 2015 World
Architecture Festival (WAF), in the Future
Projects, House Category. Three other
Filipino architects are shortlisted as well,
and we are at an intimate gathering of
architects organized by BluPrint and Grohe
to celebrate their success. The event is like
a dress rehearsal for the WAF, with the
four presenting their projects to the small
crowd. Arnaiz is up first, and my hope for
him to win is reinforced as I listen to his
narration. Not just for Filipino pride, but
because Arnaiz for me is an anti-Roark. That
outdated Ayn Rand novel, The Fountainhead,
which romanticizes ego and individualism,
still exerts undue influence today. Too many
moody young architects fancy themselves as
Howard Roarkbrilliant, ahead of his time,
and uncompromising. All his buildings are
the embodiment of himselflong, hard, lean,
strong, angular and arrogantincluding the
house he designs for his lover (and clients
wife). For inexplicable (somewhat perverse)
reasons, the woman welcomes Roarks act of

domination and control over her. When she

moves into the house, she thinks: "I belong to
him here as I've never belonged to him."
In contrast, while one might fancy a lovers
tone in Arnaizs dreamy description of his
design for the lady of the stars and of the
earth, one gets no sense of him imposing
his ego on the project, nor his will on her. If
young Modernists must idolize someone, then
let it be Arnaiz, a man of fluent forms, and
stirring speech, but whose earnest positivity,
attentive and thoughtful mien make him
nothing like the contemptuous Roark.
This is a home for her. We knew it had to
be part ground, part sky. It could not dominate
its surroundings with Modernist certainty.
This is a home with two ways of seeing. It looks
out timidly with a slanted horizon and gazes
upwards with eyelids clipped by the phases of
the moon. Its geometry comes from a marriage
of these two kinds of spaces. They tunnel down
and project up. Intersections are the areas of
solidity. The home appears to be excavated
from alien monoliths. The house is built on an
understanding that dualities are inevitable.
When Arnaiz talks of dualities, he can
empathize. Born of a Filipino father and
Colombian mother, he was educated in Manila
and then in New York. He double-majored in
Philosophy and Literature before taking his
master's in Architecture and now practices
out of offices in three different continents.

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FUTURE PROJECTS

01

" T H E H O U S E WA N T E D T O B E C L O S E D A N D I N WA R D L O O K I N G ;
B U T AT T H E S A M E T I M E T H E GA R D E N A N D S U R RO U N D I N G A R E A
H A D T O B E V E RY M U C H PA R T O F T H E H O U S E . - A R N A I Z
02

The Home of Many Moons, Arnaiz modestly

confesses, could not have been conceived without
the bizarre and fascinating brief of the client.
She wanted a house that was very private, very
austere, very monastic, while at the same time very
connected to the landscape, Arnaiz recounts. The
brief proposed a contradiction, Arnaiz relates. "The
house wanted to be closed and inward looking; but
at the same time the garden and surrounding area,
which are much larger than the house, had to be
very much part of the house. And so the insideoutside relationship became the main design
concept, and the big idea that emerged was House
as Device to relate to the sky and earth. The initial
concept diagrams show the house functioning as
both terrascope and telescope, framing horizontal
panoramic vistas and scenes of the sky.
Our first view is a pair of stone homes rendered
in elemental purity as pitched volumes in the
landscape. As we approach, the stone walls and
garden paths open out like the tentacles of a giant
squid angling its body towards the sky. Built into

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03

the ground with surgical precision, the house is a

kind of somnambulist apparition: enigmatic in its
combination of unfamiliar forms and assaulting
us with the veracity of hand-made materials
such as stone, poured-in-place concrete, and
glazed ceramics.

01 In the public spaces

like the living room, dining
room, and kitchen, one
has horizontal vistas of the
landscape. 02 A light well
connects the monastic
darkness of the sunken
garden and cloistered
bedroom with the heavens.
03 View of the courtyard
from the foyer, with the
living room to the left, dining
room in the center, and
kitchen to the right

The two stone structures are not so alien to

Filipinos; they have the look of the indigenous
Ivatan houses of Batanes. Viewed from the bamboo
thicket of the property, the use of stone and the
archetypal form make them appear ancient
and ageless. Thanks to one large opening on
the otherwise solid faades, the inscrutable
feels knowable. The plan is a pentagon, and every
room is one side of the pentagon. Every room looks
out with a horizontal way of seeing to one side of
the one-hectare grounds. The bedrooms, on the
other hand, are each cloistered in a courtyard; and
ones only contact with the outside world is to look
up at the sky through an oculus or a skylight in
some shape of the moon.
Who is this client? Tell us more about her!
several members of the audience ask Arnaiz
when he is done presenting his concept. They
are convinced that the design is in response to
this Lady of the Stars and of the Earth, and not
mere whim. To know her is to understand his
inspiration and the design decisions Arnaiz has

made. He declines to share personal information,

however, and reveals only that she is single, and the
idiosyncratic rumpus room in the basement is for
visiting young relatives.
This home prescribes a paradigm that resists
simple singularities. It is based on the idea of the
crossbreed. The top floor clusters inwards then
extends out. The bottom floor tunnels downwards
then bulges up. The solid parts are peeled
open, revealing soft surfaces while the interiors
consist of an open pentagon framed by marble
parallelograms.
What the Home of Many Moons and its
architect have in common is resistance to simple
singularities. Arnaiz avers that he observes no
particular style and favors no single aesthetic. He
pays obeisance to no dogma, and will not espouse
Modernist, progressive or transformative
agendas either.
We dont have an answer to everything, he
says. My style is just to ask questions. Every project
is a new inquiry; a new quest to discover what
can be unique to it. To have a style is to shackle or
straightjacket the possibilities of a project. Instead,
his approach to projects is the Socratic method
continually asking probing questions to illumine
ideas and quicken critical thinking.

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FUTURE PROJECTS

Rumpus room with a dome ceiling and oculus

One of the aspirations I have for projects is

I dont want them to look like anything Ive ever
seen. If it looks like a Modern house or something
that Ive seen in magazines, then Ive already lost
the game, he confesses.
Producing something new under the sun is
too shallow a motivation for Arnaiz, however.
While a junior at Williams College where he
graduated magna cum laude, he took a Literature
class called Space, Place and Fiction, which
would influence the direction of his life. The
class would read and analyze novels where
the setting is critical to the development of the
plot. This made him ponder deeply about how
environments impact people, and indeed, shape
the development of our lives plots. It wasnt
long before he made the jump from Philosophy
and Literature to Architecture at Harvard
Universitys Graduate School of Design, where he
graduated with honors.
Each room of the home connects the
traditional idea of domesticity with a specific way
of relating to our environment. Like her, the home
is comfortable with dualities: a devotion to the
horizontality of the landscape and an insistence
to look up towards the stars. She walks through
her home both present and detached, measuring
herself against this new earth.

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Arnaiz has answered the questions in the time

allotted for himthe same length of time the WAF
gives its finalists. He leaves the audience both satisfied
and wanting more. There is a sense of relief that he
knows what he is talking about and will do well at the
WAF. I also get a sense of anticipation of great things
to come. The Home of Many Moons
has begun construction. How will
this singular setting with its dual
ways of seeing impact the owners
life? We may never know, as the
Lady of the Stars and of the Earth
insists on her anonymity. I hope
it marks a significant moment
in the trajectory of Philippine
architecture. Then maybe there
will be less moody railing against
iniquities and stupidities in our selfsatisfied architectural blogosphere.
May there instead be more of the
earnest positivity and probing
inquisitiveness of Arnaiz.
The World Architecture Festival 2015 takes
place on November 4-6 at the Marina Bay
Sands in Singapore. Grohe is a founding
sponsor of the WAF. BluPrint thanks Grohe
Philippines for supporting the four Filipino
shortlisted architects, and for making this
feature possible.

Private spaces like master

bedroom have their private
gardens. In these sequestered
spaces, one connects with
the outside world by looking
up at the sky.

SITE PLAN

VIEW DIAGRAM

LOWER LEVEL FLOORPLAN

The house as an instrument to relate to

the sky and landscape.

FR AGMENT MODEL SHOWING THE SUNKEN DOME

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Part of the brief was to make the house one of the most sustainable
homes designed in the Philippines and to utilize all types of the latest
environmental strategies, from passive cooling to solar panels. Says
Arnaiz: One of the reasons for the up-down relationship between the
house where the upper floors are shaded by a large overhang roof, and
the lower floors are partially sunken in the ground, is that that creates a
heat chimney that cycles the hot air upwards through the courtyard and
utilizes the cool thermal mass from the ground to cool the house. We
are working with Mathias Schuler, a German environmental engineer
who teaches at Harvard, recognized as one of the most ground breaking
environmental engineers working with architects in the world. He created
a huge number of computer models to study heat flow and the circulation
of air in the house. The data that he factors into the models are incredibly
detailed, including, for example, whether a room will use carpeting. The
result of our collaboration is this house for eight months out of the year
won't have to use air conditioning. And it will be 80% less expensive
to maintain than a typical house of this size in this environment.

VARIOUS VIEWS OF THE FR AGMENT MODEL

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FUTURE PROJECTS

WRITTEN BY MIGUEL R. LLONA

THE URBAN
BLOCK

Designed by
WTA Architecture & Design Studio

illiam Ti Jr. says his firm, WTA

Architecture & Design Studio, is
composed not only of designers but
also thinkers. What he means is, as architects,
they solve problems first before focusing on
aesthetics. The Urban Block, their shortlisted
entry to the World Architecture Festival,
demonstrates this thinking, yet the design
shows they did not skimp on visual appeal
during the process.
WTAs client wanted a commercial center
with as much space as possible for offices and
retail stores. Occupying 8,229 square meters in
Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the lot is square in
shape, allowing the designers many possibilities.
During the schematic phase, WTA considered

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different massingsa skyscraper, twin towers,

a building with a courtyard. Ti recalls: We asked
ourselves: What would differentiate our building
from the forest of high-rises in BGC? Everyone
wants to be iconic, but because all the buildings
have the same shape, they resort to adornment,
which people can't see at street level because the
adornment is almost always up top.
The answer was to use the simplest, most
basic of formsa block. Topping out at a mere
18 storeys, one might think the structure would
be dwarfed by neighbors twice or thrice as high.
Not at all. With the building eating up almost
the entire block with little setback from the
street, the Urban Block will be massive and most
assuredly iconic.

01 The Urban Block maxes out the lot area, with

its walls right up to the property line. Entrances
in the northwest and southeast corners of the
Block lead to plazas that cut diagonally through the
center of the building. Access to the basement and
upper parking floors is along 10th Avenue, with
exits along 25th Street, and drop-off areas along
11th Avenue and 25th Street. 05 ETFE or ethylene
tetrafluoroethylene, the tensile plastic membrane
specified for the skin of the building, is lightweight
(1% the weight of glass), smooth and has antiadhesive properties that make it resistant to dirt and
discoloration, and therefore low maintenance. It is
durable enough to last for 50 years. ETFE film can
come in two or three layers, and can be manipulated
to reduce or control light transmission through
fritting, tinting, and radiation treatments. The G value
(or solar gain) of ETFE film can be reduced to as low
as 0.35% when using the three-layer system, a
better performance than the 0.46% of treated glass.

01

02

02 & 03 Floor plates that measure

6,500 up to 7,000 sqm afford great
flexibility for office and retail planning.
The first six levels are dedicated to
retail, event and parking spaces,
and the remaining 12 to offices.
04 In a district where most buildings
strive to be memorable, the Urban
Block's form is so basic it stands out.
The building will go up on McKinley
Parkway cor. 11th Ave. in Bonifacio
Global City, though the project is on hold
and will resume in two years' time.

03

04

W H AT W O U L D
D I F F E R E N T I AT E O U R
B U I LD I N G F ROM
THE FOREST OF
HIGH -RISES IN BGC?
E V E RYO N E W A N T S
TO BE ICONIC .
- WILLIAM TI JR.
05

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FUTURE PROJECTS

F LOOR

P L ANS

OPEN
TO BELOW

OPEN
TO BELOW

LANDSCAPE

RETAIL
RETAIL

RETAIL

RETAIL

RETAIL

SUPERMARKET

DEPT. STORE
RETAIL

OPEN
TO BELOW

FOOD SHOW
ANCHOR

OPEN
TO BELOW

FOOD SHOW

OPEN
TO BELOW

RETAIL FLOOR

PARKING
143 SLOTS

FLEXIBLE SPACE
(BASKETBALL,
VOLLEYBALL AND
BADMINTON COURT)
PARKING 106 SLOTS

EXECUTIVE
DINING
GYM

FOOD COURT
EVENTS

5F PARKING SPACE

The Urban Block's roof garden has picnic grounds

and communal space divided into lower and upper
roof decks. In the middle of the roof garden
is an opening that looks down into
the central atrium.

6F PARKING SPACE

The Block's translucent ETFE membrane

(think Beijing National Aquatics Center)
with its puffy honeycomb pattern
contributes to its iconicity. That and the
intriguing openings that allow one to see
inside rescue the hefty box from being brash
like some aggressively self-asserting malls in
the metro.
As for green space, there is a park inside
the Urban Block on the ground level and up
on the roof. The building's footprint is 4,837
square meters only, leaving more than 40%
of the lot open for greenery and pedestrian
pathways. These paths cut through the
middle of the base and extend up three more
floors where the retail areas are, creating
a strong core centrality that visually
connects the areas for users.

DEPT. STORE
LEASABLE
SPACE

SERVICE SHOPS

PARKING
126 SLOTS
PARKING
129 SLOTS

3F PARKING SPACE

4F PARKING SPACE

OPEN PLAN
OFFICE SPACE

OPEN
TO BELOW

ROOF GARDEN

TYPICAL OFFICE FLOOR

ELEVATION
ROOF GARDEN

ROOF GARDEN

OFFICE
SPACE

OFFICE
SPACE

PARKING
+ EVENT

PARKING
+ EVENT

PARKING
+ RETAIL

PARKING
+ RETAIL

PARKING +
FOODSHOW

PARKING +
FOODSHOW

PARKING
SPACE

PARKING
SPACE

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111

FUTURE PROJECTS

WRITTEN BY ADRIAN TUMANG

AMA BANK
FINANCIAL CENTER
Designed by Villegas-Roxas Consultants

The modular outdoor green wall system softens the hard edges of the
building and provides an interesting accent.

ooking at the
lineup of finalists
of this years World
Architecture Festival, its hard
to second-guess what the
jury was looking for. On one
hand are trophy buildings
with voluptuous forms, and
on the other are the results of
pragmatic decisions based on
economy of resources. Connie
Roxas AMA Bank Financial
Center belongs to the latter.
During the testimonial
dinner and practice
presentation BluPrint and
Grohe organized for the four
Filipino finalists, Roxas cited
the limited area of design as her
biggest challenge. With a modest
320-square meter inside lot to
work on, Roxas had to build
right up to the property line, and
put up firewalls on three sides
of the building. The front faade
is the buildings only chance to
make an aesthetic statement.
For this, she used a layering of
materialstwo-tone double
pane curtain wall, angular
mullions and ceramic frit.

Roxas designed a 12-storey building that will house 1,108 square meters of
bank office spaces with conference rooms, 831 square meters of rentable
spaces, and 1,532 square meters of parking and support spaces. The use
of acid-etched glass, animated LED lighting and vertical landscaping give
distinguishing character to the building.

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A modular green wall system

on the lower floors softens the
buildings edges while animated
LED light strips add life and
character. Capping the faades
abstract composition is AMA's
corporate logo at the crown.
The faade may appear
whimsical (like a computer
motherboard) but Roxas says the
design allows controlled sunlight
to penetrate into the building
and communicate a certain
level of transparency, which she
believes the financial institution
should exude.
Inside, the spatial layout
accommodates an open plan
suited for todays collaborative
and flexible work environments.
A narrow central light well
brings in much-needed natural
light. A smart parking system
that employs hydraulic car lifts
allows almost twice as many cars
in place of parking ramps. This
technology, Roxas boasts, is the
defining feature of the building.
After all, technology runs deep in
the DNA of AMA, the computer
education pioneer.

F L O O R
09
10

06

07

09

07

03
07

07
02

04

05

06
04

01

03
02

06

04

06

04

08

08

05
09

07

10

08

03

05

01

01

02

02

01

PRIVATE AREA

C ROSS

GROUND
FLOOR

FIFTH
FLOOR

1 Parking
2 Foyer
3 Lobby
4 Vault
5 Office
6 Pump room
7 Lift lobby
8 STP room
9 Motor court
10 Car elevator

1 Meeting room
2 EVP office
3 Ante room
4 Lobby
5 Comptroller
6 Offices
7 Lift lobby
8 Pantry
9 Toilet
10 Roof deck

MEZZANINE

SEVENTH
FLOOR

1 Offices
2 Lift lobby
3 Client
conference
4 Storage area
5 Building admin
6 Car elevator
7 Roof deck

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

03

05

GROUND FLOOR

P LA N S

MEZZANINE

SEMI-PUBLIC SPACE

SE CTION

AND

FIFTH FLOOR

PUBLIC AREA

SEVENTH FLOOR

CIRCULATION

L O N G I TUDI N A L

OPEN SPACE

S E C TI O N

Function room
Mini gym
Lounge area
Dining area
Lift lobby
Kitchen
Toilet
Roof deck

The Smart Parking System allows

for 32 parking slots on three levels of
parking space, instead of 27 slots on
five levels if ramps were used.

BluPrint

107
113

FUTURE PROJECTS

WRITTEN BY ANGELO RAY SERRANO AND JC SAN LUIS

CLARK PODSCAPES

Designed by Angelo Ray Serrano and JC San Luis of 1/0 design collective

arlier this year, the Bases Conversion

and Development Authority (BCDA)
held the Building Accessible and
Livable Ecologies (BALE) two-stage design
competition that called for a conceptual
masterplan and design of a 30-hectare
mixed-income housing development in Clark
Green City, Tarlac. Our entry, Clark Podscapes,
was one of the five shortlisted during the
first stage, and we were asked to refine our
submissions for the second stage based on the
jurys feedback.
One of the judges said our buildings look
like one large wall from the street and appear
uninviting. So we reduced the lengths of the
residential blocks, made room for parks and
activated the open spaces. Our final output
was eventually chosen as grand winner and is

114

BluPrint

02

01

ALL THE BUILDINGS

ARE CONNECTED ON TOP
B Y T H E " C YC / L I N E , " A N
E L E VAT E D N E T W O R K O F
L AN DSCAPE D PROM E NAD E S
AND BIKE LANES.
slated to be built and integrated with AECOMs
overall masterplan for Clark Green City in 2016.
Clark Podscapes is composed of three lowrise building types: high-density blocks with
double loaded corridors; low-density blocks with
single-loaded corridors; and pods that are also
single-loaded, but with a semi-circular footprint
and a courtyard at the center. All building types
are modular with a mix of studios, one-bedroom
units and two-bedroom units. The residential
buildings are lined up along four major splines
following the sites contours. Our idea was to
work with the existing topography, preserve the
natural waterways, create pedestrian corridors,
and minimize the need for mass grading.
All the buildings are connected on top by the
CYC/line, an elevated network of landscaped
promenades and bike lanes. Approximately
2.4 kilometers long, it runs from the southwest
end to the center of the development. Both
ends of the CYC/line gradually descends to the
ground with a gradient of 1:17.5much gentler
than the universal standard of 1:12. While
the grounds below are public, the CYC/line is
accessible only by residents with RFID (radio
frequency identification) cards.

01 Situated within a Special

Economic Zone and near
an international airport
and seaport, Clark Green
City is expected to attract
businesses and generate
employment. The Concept
Master Plan projects an
employee ratio of 50 to 80%
of the population in the next
50 years, hence the need for
affordable housing.
02 Pocket parks and amenity
spaces are distributed
around the development,
ensuring that open spaces
are within easy reach by
residents. 03 The Esplanade
is the development's main
communal space, a public
plaza where people can
lounge, play and gather for
social events.
03

FUTURE PROJECTS

01

02

03

01 Retail zones are integrated in the residential community. The income generated from the rent of retail spaces will augment the maintenance cost of the open
spaces, and reduce the monthly association fees collected from the residents. 02 For walkability, building entrances are situated within a 400-meter radius of
major modes of public transportation. The presence of dedicated bike lanes lessens the need for cars and promotes a healthier lifestyle. 03 BCDA proposes
to buy out private properties affected by the ongoing development, and relocate displaced residents within this new residential community. We allotted nine
structures with a total of 504 units, to be constructed in two phases.

The intent was to balance permeability and

security. Because the green rooftops form
part of the open space, the whole development
can be considered one large open park.
Covered walkways allow people to move
around the property with ease. There are
clear demarcations between pedestrian,
bicycle and car lanes. We followed a hierarchy
of open spaces. The Civic Park and the
Underground at the entrance serve as retail

116

BluPrint

anchors to bring people into the development.

At the heart of the residential community is
the Town Hall, where services like spas,
gyms and multi-purpose halls are available.
The developments main social space, the
Esplanade, contains a public park and
playground. The Podscape Grounds within
each cluster of residential blocks has retail
spaces, pocket parks, and a pool at the
ground level.

B E C A U S E T H E G R E E N R O O F T O P S F O R M PA R T O F T H E O P E N S PA C E ,
T H E D E V E L O P M E N T C A N B E C O N S I D E R E D O N E L A R G E O P E N PA R K .

I S OM ETR I C PLA N S O F B UI LD I N G M OD UL E S

HI GH-D E N SI T Y B UI LD I N G

M E D IUM -D E N S ITY BUIL D IN G

POD

BluPrint

107
117

ADVERTORIAL

11
10
3

4
1

12
6

7a
7

8
13

14

Fittings & Fixtures

New products at MC Home Depot

aking everyone a champion builderthat is what MC Home Depot stands

for. To help you realize this dream, MC Home provides everything you need for
the construction of your dream project, from fittings and fixtures to cement and
waterproofing solutions from brands such as Mariwasa, Hornitex, American
Standard, HCG, Royal Tern, Delta, Dr. Seal, Super Thoroseal and Omni. For more
info, call or visit their branches listed here: MC Home Dept Fort Bonifacio 32nd St. cor. Bonifacio
Boulevard, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig Phone (02) 815 4759 Website mchomedepot.com;
MC Home Depot Ortigas 168 Ortigas Avenue cor. Meralco Avenue, Pasig City Phone (02) 636 6944;
MC Home Depot Pampanga Jose Abad Santos, Barangay Dolores, San Fernando City, Pampanga
Phone (045) 445 4408.

118

BluPrint

1 In-wall tub/shower faucet (model no. 2287/153801

Camellia) by Moen, P6,499.75, 2 Water heater SGL point
(SMART18E) by Alpha, P7,200, 3-6 3.0mm 3D Wood
Vinyl-Mimicri Embossed series (from left: embossed
walnut, grey ash, classic brown, embossed winter grey)
by APO, 6 x 36 in, P106.25/pc, 7 1-way switch 16A
(WWS-213) by Omni, P49.75/pc, 7a 2 gang plate
(WWP-112) by Omni, P24.75/pc, 8 1-way illuminated
switch (#WEG5151/6801) by Panasonic, P 243.00,
9 Water closet dual flush push button (C4520T ETON
white) by HCG, P20,000, 10 LED Bulb E27 by GES, 7
watts, P199.75, 11 LED Lite A60 Bulb E27 by Omni, 9
watts, P199.75, 12 LED Bulb A55 E27 6500K by Philips,
7-60 watts, P377.50, 13 Handleset (F60V CAM/GEO619)
by Schlage, P8,350

15

18
19

16

17

21
22

20

24

23

25a

25

26a

26

14 Entrance lockset (HL-8500B) by Hyundae, P675, 15 Digital floor tile (Murillo Matte) by Mariwasa,
16 x 16 in, P61.25/pc, 16 Digital floor tile (Amalfi) by Mariwasa, 16 x 16 in, P61.25/pc, 17 Digital floor tile
(Primea) by Mariwasa, 16 x 16 in, P61.25/pc, 18 Aqua flooring (beige) by Hornitex, P3,247.25, 19 Aqua
flooring (walnut) by Hornitex, P3,247.25, 20 Premium waterproofing (white) by Castle, 1 liter, P819.75,
21 Waterproofing (white) by Super Thoroseal, 1 gallon, P636.75, 22 Water plug by Jardine, 1 liter, P282,
23 Acrylic waterproofing membrane (white) by Dr. Seal, 1 quart, P600, 24 Concrete protector oil base by
Dr. Seal, 1 quart, P400, 25 Lavatory wash basin (L-3303 EAGLE, white) by Royal Tern, P3,151.50,
25a Single lever lavatory faucet (25225-P) by Delta, P5,250, 26 Lavatory above counter (0950 ACTIVE
VESSEL, white) by American Standard, P4,999, 26a Extended lavatory faucet (703 NEO MODERN) by
American Standard, P5,899

SOURCES

REVITALIZING A
HISTORIC DISTRICT
Edson Cabalfin, PhD
School of Architecture and Interior
Design, University of Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, Ohio
<[email protected]>
<brownworkshop.net >

SHEARES ISLAND
OOZN Studio
35b Pagoda St., Singapore
<[email protected]>
<oozndesign.com>

THE FORT TOWERS

RAINTREE HOTEL
Budji+Royal Architecture + Design
GF W Tower, 1117 39th St.,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
(02) 403 5502 to 03
<[email protected]>
<budjiroyal.com>

SERVITA CIVIC CENTER

COSTA RICA CONGRESS HALL
POPE PAVILION
HOME WITH MANY MOONS
CAZA (Carlos Arnaiz Architects)
10F Rufino Bldg., 6784
Ayala Ave., Makati
(0927) 887 6440
<[email protected]>
<cazarch.com>

SIBOL
Joson Design
21 Mt. Fairweather St., Filinvest 1,
Quezon City
(02) 932 2603
<[email protected]>
<josondesign.com>

BAMBOO TELLS
Jelda May O. Cabardo
408 Bacay Tulay, Minglanilla, Cebu
<[email protected]>

SOUTH LAGUNA PRIME

CLARK PODSCAPES
1/0 design collective
<[email protected]>

TANIKALA
HANDStudio Co.
1816 Cityland 10 Tower 2, 154 HV Dela
Costa St., Ayala North, Makati
(02) 831 2102 or 666 3155
<[email protected]>
<handesignstudio.com>

CELEBRITY HOTEL

CLOUDSCAPE
THE URBAN BLOCK
WTA Architecture & Design Studio
302 Metrosquare Bldg., 224 Ortigas
Ave., Greenhills, San Juan
(02) 570 4148 or 570 3169
<[email protected]>
<wtadesignstudio.com>

FJ HOTEL
Zubu Design Associates
242 Magallanes St., Cebu
(032) 255 0138 or 418 4698
<[email protected]>
<zubu-zscape.com>>

VIEWFINDER CLUBHOUSE
L.A. Poco Architects & Associates
335-8, 337, 346 Mile Long Building,
Amorsolo cor. Rufino Sts., Makati
(02) 894 3980
<[email protected]>
<laparchitects.com>

Javier Design Studio - Manila

<[email protected]>

RIZAL THEATER

TALUKAB

MB Architecture Studio
70D 18th Ave. Cubao, Quezon City
(02) 709 2097
<[email protected]>
<micaelabenedicto.com>

Kurt Cleon Yu
<[email protected]>
(0917) 836 1947

SAGAY: THE TUBBATAHA

MARINE LIFE SANCTUARY
AMA BANK FINANCIAL CENTER

SpaceFabrik
(02) 880 9593
<[email protected]>
<spacefabrik.com>

Villegas-Roxas Consultants
8a Engineering Street, GSIS Village,
Project 8, Quezon City
(02) 929 0527
<[email protected]>
<www.vrcmanila.com>

HELSINKI MUSEUM
Bryan Andrew Gabaldon and
John Patricio
<[email protected]>
<[email protected]>

SOLOMON R.
GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM

Leandro V. Locsin Partners

18F Locsin Building, 6752 Ayala Ave. cor.
Makati Ave., Makati
(02) 816 7927 or 816 7928
<[email protected]>
<www.locsinarchitecture.com>

T.I. Vasquez Architects & Planners, Inc.

25F Cityland 10 Tower 1, 6815 HV Dela
Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati
(02) 890 0477 or 817 7058
<[email protected]>
<tvapartners.com>

JEBEL JAIS MOUNTAIN HOTEL

THE SILHOUETTE

THE RIZAL CENTER

Cadiz International Architects

Unit 1202 Liberty Center Bldg., 104 HV
Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati
(02) 887 2075 or 68
<[email protected]>
<cadizinternational.net>

THE CANTILEVER HOUSE

ARCONiC Architects,
Planners, Interior Designers
Unit 903-905, Centerpoint Bldg., Garnet
Rd. cor. Julia Vargas Ave., Ortigas
Center, Pasig
(02) 706 6134 to 35
<[email protected]>

VOLUMES THAT SPEAK

CRYSTALIZING ROOTS

SITIO MALAYA
14 PETER STREET
PROJECT NEPAL
Sudarshan V. Khadka, Jr.
<[email protected]>

THE S HOUSE
Aoanan Arkitektos Studio
Dapitan St., Sampaloc, Manila
(0927) 222 3890
<[email protected]>
<designa2studio.blogspot.com>

YELLOW FARMHOUSE
Pen Works Architecture & Interiors
249 Luna St., La Paz, Iloilo
(33) 320 8008

RAMP HOUSE
urbanshift studio
<[email protected]>

HOW DO YOU LIKE TO SEE

YOURSELF LIVE?
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE
REMEMBERED?
Alexander Mayoralgo
<[email protected]>

A Home of Many Moons by CAZA