title	Design Against The Elements_“Protected by bamboo forests”
year	2010
location	Taguig city, Metro Manila, Philippines
status	competition
client	City of Taguig
architects	ggc+p a
program	social housing, day care center, market, café, library, multi-purpose hall, artisan and retail spaces, studios and spaces for art; total area: 300,000 sqm.
This new portion of the city is a junction between Taguig city in the north, and the University on the edge of the industrialized area in the south. This connection will be able to both create urban quality, making people’s life more pleasant and exciting, and generate Urbanity, by an “osmosis” and a “migration” process. The project is characterized by three main layers: 1.The outdoor pedestrian draining square, conceived as a meeting hub with sight, is the central element of the project, where “urban events” take place, such as: horticulture spaces, gardens, day care center, market, café, library, multi-purpose hall, artisan and retail spaces, studios and spaces for art, etc. The square overlooks the underneath “jungle” through a series of gaps. 2.The “Jungle” as the lower level of the project, is made of implanted autochthonous vegetation whose aim is to generate a fresh and pleasant microclimate during the humid season, when the south-west monsoon blows from the Ocean. 3.At the upper level, above the square, there are suspension housing “protected by bamboo forests”, safe, cosy, salubrious, pleasant and characterized by privacy; a natural ventilation brings fresh air from the beneath jungle to the living spaces; “forests” are east-opened and east-oriented in order to filter sun rays and to benefit from the north-east monsoon fresh air; west-oriented air tight “forests” mitigate the impact of south-west humid monsoon. Housing, conceived for an easy and economic management, are built with local bamboo and wood materials through a locally industrialized building process which will lower construction costs. We have also considered the opportunity of recovering and reutilizing roof rainwater throughout storing tanks and the opportunity of utilizing the monsoon wind energy by installing wind turbines at the edges of the square. That is the reason why the master plan will be able to develop a model of Sustainability and Urbanity characterized by the following elements: • Interaction, sociality, communication. • Pedestrian green square; various and spread facilities. • Pedestrian mobility, low use of vehicles. • Food insourcing production and waste recycling. • Housing bioclimatic performances; zero CO2 emissions. • Microclimate improvement; healthy outdoor spaces and healthy housing. • Electric energy insourcing production. • Rainwater recovery and reuse. • Maintaining and improvement of the ground drainage. • Building short supply chain based on industrialized local processes and on the employment of indigenous and recyclable resources. • Low costs of both the construction and the management of buildings. • Consciousness and development of the sustainable approach: participation of the community, the labour, the specialized workers and of the local enterprises to the entire realization and management process. The active participation of the entire community and of every other stakeholder will contribute to the success of this project.