Several years ago, a friend talked to me about his plans to build a rest house and asked me for some inputs or ideas. While I have generally been known as a journalist and talk show host, not many know that I got my calloused hands working on job sites, operating small machinery and power tools more than I did working on a keyboard and computer. It was in the US that I became familiar with environmental management controls in relation to construction sites and brought a lot of my learning to Northern Palawan where I spent a good seven years helping build one major resort called Club Paradise which is now called Discovery Paradise by the new owners, and a smaller project that started out as a bed & breakfast and changed hands into a private vacation place for the current owner.
It was in that season of life when I observed nature, observed construction methods in the US and in the Philippines and during which I also learned that man always tries to build things based on wants, with little regard for what nature dictates or can add value to his work. Since the mid-80’s, my wife Karen and I have spent a lot of time and good money buying books and doing research on the architectural designs of Spanish-time Philippines, building styles of different continents and cultures and, if there is one thing we really wish we could do more of again, is to restore or remodel small homes.
Anyway, going back to my friend and his project, I asked the usual questions about needs, budgets, etc. and after all that I asked if he would consider building “a house that was there and was not there?” He went from puzzled to bewildered and so I explained. Most people build a box and then place a humongous crown on their box called a roof. Depending on the number of joints in your roof, you can count the number of potential leaks and headaches you’ll have in five to 15 years if you have a GI roof which is so common in the Philippines. Then the same metal roof requires so much money to insulate, to cool and to maintain.
What I was suggesting to him was to dig a hole and partially build his house below ground for cooling and constant temperature. Instead of a metal roof, build terraced planter boxes and earth mounds around the structure with only the necessary and strategically placed doors and windows in place. I visualized his above ground area like a “rice terraces” of flowers and vegetables so that you could only see a beautiful garden with an orchard and of course a koi pond. Aside from the non-descript location, reduced need for air conditioning, building such a structure proves to be quieter and, most of all, when done right, is typhoon proof and future proof for retirees who now curse stairs and tall buildings especially after earthquakes. It was a novel idea back then but has now become quite common and popular abroad.
In reality, the same could and should be done for classrooms and school buildings. Year in and year out, the DepEd is forced to spend hundreds of millions of pesos to build and rebuild shoddily built classrooms that are destroyed every other year by typhoons, floods or earthquakes. The tragedy is that it is not the DepEd that decides who builds the projects; it is the DPWH and these almost always fall into the hands of third-rate or corrupt contractors who cut out 30 percent of the requirements in the blueprints and design standards in order to cover SOP for corruption.
If we build classrooms midway or two thirds into the ground with safety corridors and build a concrete terrace over them as roof gardens, these would be so cool and low that strong winds would not slam into them and shred them. Children can study in comfort and great acoustics. Before calling me crazy, please check on some of the cool structures in Batanes province that have withstood so many direct hits from typhoons. I copied the same design and built it on top of a high hill in Palawan and it remains there to this day because, like Batanes homes, it was built like a bunker but with character!
Come to think of it, that is what the national government should seriously be looking into, finding or developing traditional or breakthrough designs for public buildings and government offices that are adaptable to the challenges of weather, temperature or, in other words ,suited for Climate Change and maintenance efficiency.
First and foremost, it has to address the comfort and safety of people. Public schools continue to have double purpose for education and refuge or shelter in disaster, thus these should not just be built better or higher, they should be as good as bunkers in the event of war like in Ukraine, where underground tunnels have been very helpful against bombing or in the event of a climate catastrophe. The designs to be submitted should address perennial concerns and expenses related to repairs and maintenance such as painting and utilities. Therefore, the design competition should require adoption of renewable energy and water recycling or water treatment.
As of now many buildings in Japan, Korea, the US and Europe already feature green or living walls where facades and inner areas feature plants instead of painted or tiled walls and use recycled water for the plants. Instead of creating or adding to the concrete jungle, architects and urban planners are now using more and more natural elements. Even better would be concepts that are designed to regional and cultural features, where these buildings are to be constructed in order to contribute to the heritage and identity of such regions. As they say in the market: Sample please!
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