Four Philippine architects have been short listed at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2015, to be held at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center in Singapore on Nov. 4-6.
Short listed architects were Jorge Yulo for Hacienda Community House (Completed projects—civic and community building category); William Ti for Urban Block (Future projects—commercial mixed-use category); Connie Roxas for AMA Bank Financial Centre (Future projects—office category); and Carlos Arnaiz for The Home of Many Moons (Future projects—house category).
Previously, only Manny Miñana made it to WAF for his project Villa Marina in 2013.
To honor this achievement, BluPrint magazine and GROHE Philippines organized an intimate cocktail dinner at Desigño Atelier, GROHE’s Libis showroom recently.
The four finalists were given ten minutes each—the same time allotment given to them on WAF—to explain their designs. (It was also an avenue for the other architects to provide feedback on how they could improve their presentation.)
“Participating at the WAF was an eye-opener as the world came together for a few days to view and celebrate the very best works from one another,” said Miñana.
“Short listed designers presented audacious design concepts and intents borne out of unique functional needs. Some introduced fresh paradigms in functional form, challenging one’s understanding of what constitutes design excellence, and how, most always, this is paired with cutting edge engineering, technology and building materials.”
Unique problems, designs
Designed by Arnaiz for a family, the House of Many Moons is an architectural statement on how the home can be a medium for perceiving the universe. The house takes into consideration two types of views: telescoping and periscopic.
The former is manifested through skylights and openings that give a view of the sky, some of which are positioned directly above the beds. The latter is composed of crescent-shaped windows, reminiscent of different phases of the moon. The windows to the landscape.
“Architecture is just a mere tool on how we see the universe,” said Arnaiz. “The client wanted the austerity of modernism and the lushness of the tropical environment. The landscape was meant to be fecund and fertile and out of control, with the center being the house.”
Meanwhile, Ti’s Urban block is a re-imagination of a mixed-use building. Situated in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the structure sets itself apart by having a cube-like form. The hexagonal cladding on the building gives it a futuristic look.
“If we decided to build high-rise, we would become ‘just another tower’ in BGC”, Ti said.
The architect said he also considered the adaptability of the building. The parking, for example, could be converted into a basketball court.
“We should always take into a consideration what a building would be for decades from now,” said Ti. “After a few decades, would the call center industry still be in-demand? Then what will be the use of the building by then?”
Challenging project
The third project, AMA Bank Financial Centre, is situated in a very narrow lot along Shaw Boulevard. Roxas encountered many challenges in designing the tower with the parking being the biggest dilemma. The lot was so small that the three sides of the building were all firewalls.
“The small lot and a flood-prone site made parking ramps and basement unfeasible,” said Roxas. “We had to resort to using car lifts with communication systems to provide ample parking to the preferred clients of AMA. Since most of the banking clients rode in SUVs, we had to take into consideration its dimensions in choosing the lift and designing the parking area.”
When it came to the façade, the building was made of two-toned double-paned curtain wall system with ceramic frit and modular green wall system for insulation, and animated LED light strips for lighting. A small light court in the middle was also placed to provide natural lighting for the deeper portion of the building.
Finally, Yulo’s Hacienda Community house strives to preserve the estate’s history by evoking a sense of place. The 17,863 square meter site, which was part of a sugar estate during the Spanish era, is dominated by four old mango trees which also serve as focal point for the structure and also as the inspiration of the building.
An L-shaped corridor links three multipurpose rooms of varying sizes and amenities. The plan encourages activity to spill into the central interstitial space containing the old mango trees. The trees are framed by vertical elements intersecting the broad horizontal roof lines. Vertical steel members are spaced variably, mimicking the filtering of sunlight through tree leaves.
“We rarely used any paints in the house to highlight the texture and the natural appeal of the wood and stone,” said Yulo. “Architecture is more than looks, but also the materials and the experience that it would impart to users.”