Filipino fresh grad wins top prize at int’l contest for innovative bamboo house design

Forlales concluded that his “ultimate dream” is “a Philippines with no slums.” (File Photo: CUBO Co-Housing/Facebook)

Twenty-three-year-old Ateneo Chemistry and Material Science graduate Earl Patrick Forlales brought home the top prize at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) Cities for our Future competition, as he bested out 1,200 international entries with his bamboo house design, which targets solving the issue of overpopulation in the slums of Manila. For his project “CUBO,” Forlales bagged a total of around 3.3 million pesos.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Forlales shared, “CUBO started as nothing more than an idea, conceived while spending time at my grandparents’ house – it is incredible to think that it now will become a reality.” He reported on where his idea originated, saying, “So the question I asked myself when developing the concept was: Where would these people coming in live? If we’re to catch up with the demand, we need a solution that is fast and cheap to build, comfortable and familiar, and robust because the last thing we want is a band-aid solution.” 

Forlales’s idea came from the abundance of bamboos in the Philippines, creating a three-by-four meter studio for residents that would only cost around P4,200 per square meter. The bamboo material would be treated and laminated to last ten times longer. He further explained his design to Town and Country Homes, sharing, “Three units in every community would be allotted for a livelihood center, a daycare center, and a community office/clinic. The roof is designed to collect rainwater into storage tanks behind the community. In terms of facilities, a huge kitchen, dining, and laundry are located at the center.”

RICS President John Hughes explained the decision for choosing Forlales’ design as the winner, even if “there were many exciting, original designs among the submissions.” He said, “Earl’s idea stood out for its simple, yet well thought through solution to the world’s growing slum problem,” adding, “The world’s cities are growing all the time and there is a real need to make sure they are safe, clean and comfortable places to live for future generations.” Forlales added to that, concluding that his “ultimate dream” is “a Philippines with no slums.” In his words, “I really just want to do something that would impact peoples’ lives, and ideally that something would outlive me.”