A first for the Philippines– architect Miñana gets on World Architecture shortlist

By: Glenna Aquino - 10 years ago

FOR this “open Filipino-Asian house,”Miñana was inspired by the sturdy Filipino mountainside tribal houses. Two amply pitched roofs with wide eaves on stilts in post and lintel fashion are connected by a horizontal slab-bridgeway. Another derivative, the bahay-na-bato, inspired ground floors of heavy adobe stone walls, creating contrastwith open, transparent second floors.Highlighting this openness, various layers of “skin” allow the house to “breathe” and have various levels of engagement with its environment. Layers of glass, screen and sunbreakers (in aluminum powdercoat wood finish) protect the home from extreme weather yet allow the panoramic landscape into the interiors. (From Villa Marina description by the architect)

t0709world architecture fest_feat2_1 — FOR this “open Filipino-Asian house,”Miñana was inspired by the sturdy Filipino mountainside tribal houses. Two amply pitched roofs with wide eaves on stilts in post and lintel fashion are connected by a horizontal slab-bridgeway. Another derivative, the bahay-na-bato, inspired ground floors of heavy adobe stone walls, creating contrastwith open, transparent second floors.Highlighting this openness, various layers of “skin” allow the house to “breathe” and have various levels of engagement with its environment. Layers of glass, screen and sunbreakers (in aluminum powdercoat wood finish) protect the home from extreme weather yet allow the panoramic landscape into the interiors. (From Villa Marina description by the architect)

A home designed by architect Emmanuel “Manny” Miñana, which was featured in Inquirer Lifestyle last June 18, has been selected on the shortlist for the 2014 awards of the World Architecture Festival.

There are almost 300 projects competing in the world’s largest architectural competition, considered the Oscars of architecture.

This is the first time a Filipino architect made it to the shortlist.

Miñana’s Villa Marina, the home of Rico and Nena Tantoco in Sta. Elena, Laguna, is among those chosen for the awards in the villa category, which has four on the shortlist.

The finalists will present their projects to the international panel of judges in October in Singapore.

Dedicated to celebrating and sharing architecture excellence from across the globe, the World Architecture Festival 2014 has 200 shortlisted projects competing for awards spanning 30 categories. It is one of the biggest and most awaited events in the global architectural community.

This year’s event will be held in Singapore on Oct. 1-3.

The shortlist includes architecture luminaries such as Zaha Hadid Architects, OMA, Foster + Partners, BIG, Woods Bagot, KPF, Farrells, Perkins + Will and Aedas, alongside many other smaller practices.

Although the shortlist includes practices from over 50 countries, this year saw a noticeable increase in entries from Asia.

The Miñana project, in the villa category, is described as a “Neo-Bahay-na-Bato.” The design strikes a perfect balance between the functionality of Philippine vernacular structures and the minimalism of modernist architecture. It is a fusion of local building traditions with modern forms and sensibility.

Minana describes it: “This house is a more organic home. It is rooted in the land, with a golf course just beside it, with lots of trees and open spaces. I took the cue from nature, seeing that this is where this home would belong. It is a contemporary Filipino dwelling. I used Filipino architectural idioms, like the balusters, but instead of stone or wood, I used glass panes; instead of the sliding capiz windows in the bahay-na-bato, I used louvers that wrap around the house.

“From the Ifugao vernacular idiom, I got the tapered wooden columns. The second floor has a very contemporary Filipino-Asian sensibility with some Japanese overtones, like the flat-glazed Japanese gray-colored tile on the roof. The adobe-clad concrete tiles on the ground floor are borrowed from the bahay-na-bato.”