CT TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE BY CONCIPIO TEKTURA
TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE BY CONCIPIO TEKTURA
Narrator: Welcome, this is Tropical Architecture by Concipio Tektura
Sam: Hi I’m Sam Coloso, an apprentice in Concipio Tektura and today, I’ll be interviewing the architect behind it all, Sir Eric.
Sam: So Sir Eric, Please tell us something about yourself.
Ar. Eric: Hi I’m Architect Eric Bano, I’m a Principal Architect of Concipio Tektura. I’m also part of the academe, I’ve been teaching for five years and been working also in various companies here in the Philippines and also abroad and I’m also an advocate of Tropical Architecture here in the Philippines.
Narrator: Now let’s talk about Tropical Architecture. What is Taropical Architecture? Tropical architecture( defined) is a branch of architecture, the study of the climate of the weather-oriented architecture in a position where the building mass or group of buildings, and the effect or effects on the environmental relationship or influence on the tropical environment. Source: Ong B.L. , (2006), Tropical Sustainable Architecture.
Narrator: In the Philippines, having a warm humid climate, there are a few basic design principles of natural ventilation to cool a home or a building.
Sam: So Sir, share to us a bit about your signature design style.
Ar. Eric: If you see some of my works in terms of residential architecture, is you will notice some horizontal blinds or some horizontal lines that you will see on the façade of the buildings, at the same time, this also serves as a ventilation, this also serves as the horizontal element that represent the wideness of the building, this also gives you a sense of modernism, not only for the aesthetic values but also for the functional values because this serves as a ventilation for the ceilings, for the walls or even from the roof. So these are the things that are very common in my design.
Narrator: The Golden Rule; Utilitas, Firmitas, Venustas. A good building should satisfy the three principles of Utilitas, Firmitas, Venustas, which translates roughly as Utility - It should be useful and function well for the people using it. Durability - It should stand up robustly and remain in good condition. Beauty - it should delight people and raise their spirits. Source: Vitruvius, De Architectura
Sam: Sir how do you balance function with aesthetic appeal in connection to tropical architecture?
Ar. Eric: So personally, when I do my design, I normally start with the question, what is the function? What is the purpose? Before I go on the aesthetic value or how it will become a beautiful building. Now the first one is what is the function? Now if I put these horizontal lines, these louvres, what is the purpose of that louvre? Now, as an architect and understanding the elements and principles of designs Horizontal lines can help me accentuate a certain wall. But the first question on my mind is what is the function of that one.
Narrator: For Architect Eric, above beauty and aesthetic, function and purpose always comes first.
Sam: So our next question Sir is, what is a weakness you’ve noticed some buildings have in common here in the Philippines?
Ar. Eric: Most of the time if you try to observe the buildings here in the Philippines, especially the recent buildings or even let’s say the last thirty years, you will notice that the buildings here really have bad specs. It means that the specifications of building materials used in these particular buildings or residential buildings are not appropriate for our climate. For example, we used to use G.I. roof sheets or roofings, which is not really originally intended for our climate. The original purpose of those is used for temperate climates, but because we adapted those from the American G.I.s, we use that in our residential buildings here in the Philippines. It is not appropriate. Also we tend to use and copy window design that’s not really good for our climate in terms of how the wind flows inside our buildings. So we normally have narrow windows, or if we have windows, this is also a fixed window or a sliding window which is not also good for our climate.
Narrator: Now let’s talk about Tropical Architecture’s functions and purpose. Cross-ventilation (also known as Wind Effect Ventilation) is a natural cooling process. The system relies on wind to force cool outside air into the building through an inlet (such as a wall louvre, a gable, or an open window) while outlet forces warm outdoor air (through a roof vent or higher opening of the window). Source: Elwan M., (2018),A Review on Wind - Driven Cross - Ventilation Techniques.
Sam: When did you become intentional in doing climatic design?
Ar. Eric: So being part of the academe and also establishing a small office, you have to create some identity, you have to create some focus and of course, Concipio’s working on a four-focus which is residential, commercial (Which is food and beverage) retail and also office design. And so when I start doing residential architecture, what will be the focal design. For residential architecture, I realized that I should be more pragmatic and because I’m doing designs here in the Philippines, our focus is on tropical architecture. Being part of the academe as well, and also teaching those subjects, in terms of the subject of tropical architecture, Then I need to develop and understand more about our climate and what are the strategies or techniques, details or technologies that I can incorporate with in my design and to come up with my own identity or to strengthen that type of architecture so I focused on climatic design because in particular it’s tropical architecture because it’s in the Philippines. So that’s the reason why I’ve become more intentional and that’s the reason why I’ve become more of an advocate in pushing this type of architecture because it is more appropriate in our condition here in the Philippines.
Narrator: So let’s go through climatic design and its factors. There are different climate factors that must be considered in building constructions and building designs. The most significant climate factors are as follows: weather temperature, soil temperature, angle and intensity of sunlight, relative humidity, direction and wind speed, rainfall and sunlight. Source: Zaeriean S., (2013), The Role of Climate Factors on Designing and Constructing Buildings (From Urbanization Architecture Approach)
Sam: and our last question Sir, What advice would you like to give to our younger generation of architects?
Ar Eric: For the young architects,, or architects in the future, your canvas would be the future and what we need right now is having more of sustainable architecture, something that is very pragmatic on the site or the place you’ll build with your architecture. At the same time to be intentional in understanding more of the details rather then the form of the building. Because at the end of the day, it’s the function and the people who use the space is more important than the look of the building which is just a sculpture. So this is what I can advise to the younger generation of architects.
Narrator: Thank you Ar. Eric, for the amazing advice you give to the younger generation of architects. To know more about Concipio Tektura, Like and Follow our Facebook Page, Follow our Instagram and subscribe to our Youtube channel. Once Again, Thank you for watching Tropical Architecture by Concipio Tektura
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