A plan for sustainability

MANILA, Philippines - For local architecture, the evidence of intelligent design is how it goes back to the basics.

Though much has been said about the global evolution of architecture, in the Philippine setting, the recent trend is one that harkens back to one’s roots. As the local industry tries to keep pace with its counterparts abroad, it is also adamant on establishing its own identity in terms of construction planning.

“What is Filipino architecture? It has always been the question we’ve had ever since,” muses architect Anna Siao Ling, incoming president of the United Architect of the Philippines, the duly-recognized 23,500-strong professional architects’ organization in the country with members coming from Luzon to Zamboanga, and one of the partners of Jose Siao Ling & Associates, a prominent local architectural firm. “Especially now, with globalization stripping us away of the Filipino character, it’s all the more important for us to establish our own design identity globally.”

While it has only been recently that the growing environmental concern has influenced international architectural design to highlight eco-friendliness, Architect Siao Ling notes that elements of Filipino architecture have long promoted the incorporation of environmentally-sustainable features in its plans.

“Currently, the prime considerations of green architecture are minimal energy use as well as utilizing eco-friendly products – ideas which are already visible with Filipino designs in the past,” explains architect Siao Ling. “Sustainability is a trait which is very Filipino. Just by observing how local homes are insulated with nipa and make use of bamboo blinds and rolling windows, we can attest that green concepts aren’t foreign to us.”

With green architecture one of the prime thrusts of local design in its quest to establish identity, the local architectural industry is receptive to materials which promote environmental sustainability.

One might say that this move is merely jumping in the green bandwagon, but architect Siao Ling asserts that they’ve been doing it years back.

“We’ve always been receptive of new products,” says the architect. “And we’re happy that more materials are now available for architects in the country to use, with companies like Hunter Douglas bringing in innovations which we can utilize in our designs.”

Through Hunter Douglas’ 3form – the brand name for the different renewable design materials namely the ecoresin Varia, the cast acrylic Chroma, and the transparent Glass, local architects today have more choices of sustainable materials to incorporate in their designs - pushing forward the concept of Filipino architecture to contemporary times.