Earl Patrick Forlales, a 23-year-old from Manila, won the Cities for our future competition with his project Cubo, low-cost, eco-compatible modular housing solutions for the less well-off families of his city.
Young designer Earl Patrick Forlales has received a major urban planning accolade for his low-cost modular housing solution that could bring relief to the poorest families in South-East Asia, Latin America and Africa, helping to address the housing crisis in the slums of the Philippines. The 23-year-old from Manila, a graduate in Materials Science Engineering, beat more than a thousand competitors from around the world to win the prestigious Cities for our future prize of £50,000, nearly €56,000. The competition is organised by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), the professional body for chartered surveyors in the United Kingdom, and supported by the national commission for Unesco and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
The Cubo project is made primarily from bamboo; its components can be built off-site in a week, while a single housing module takes just four hours to assemble, at a cost of around €55 per square metre.
The project, inspired by the bamboo home of Forlales's grandparents on the outskirts of Manila and conceived in the context of the material's abundance in the region, represents a fast and affordable modular housing solution: thanks to its simple design and low costs, Cubo homes can be produced and built quickly and rented out at €0.22 per day. Multiple units can be joined together to allow residents to share kitchens, bathrooms and offices, fostering a sense of community in the areas where they are built. The modular housing also incorporates elements of smart design, such as a sloping roof that captures rainwater and reduces heat, and elevated stilts that prevent rain from penetrating inside.
Cubo has been designed to be built almost entirely from bamboo, an ideal material because it releases 35 per cent more oxygen than trees, can be grown on poor-quality land and harvested every year without causing soil degradation. Bamboo grows in abundance in the poorest parts of the world, particularly in Asia and Latin America, and is considered one of the most sustainable materials in the world thanks to its capacity to capture 40 times more carbon dioxide than a forest of trees of equivalent size.
In Forlales's project, the material is treated and laminated, extending its lifespan tenfold. "Engineered bamboo is a resource of our territory that will remain here for a long time to come," says the young designer. "We know how to work with it and we can build our future cities around it." And it is precisely this innovative approach that caught the attention of the prize jury. "One of the reasons Earl's voice stood out from the other finalists was his use of traditional and sustainable technologies and materials to solve a problem that afflicts modern cities around the world," explained Dr Beth Taylor, judge of the competition and chair of the United Kingdom national commission for Unesco.
Read also: La Greenschool di Bali insegna la sostenibilità agli ambientalisti del futuro
Cubo can be easily deployed across all developing regions. "Cities around the world are constantly growing and there is a real need to ensure they are safe, clean and comfortable places for future generations," said John Hughes, judge of the competition and president of Rics. "Among the proposals, Earl's idea stood out for its simple solution that can be applied to any city where bamboo can be grown, including most of South-East Asia and regions of Africa and Latin America."
In Manila, for example, the very low rental cost would allow for considerable savings compared to available alternatives and would make the price accessible even to the city's lowest-paid workers. The capital of the Philippines has a population of 12 million people, four million of whom live in slums in conditions of poverty. It is estimated that around 2.5 million workers are expected to arrive over the next three years, placing increasing demographic pressure on the city. "This is a huge step forward in helping the people of Manila," says Forlales. "The state of housing in the city is in crisis and will undoubtedly worsen with this new influx. Cubo started out as nothing more than an idea, conceived while I was spending time at my grandparents' home: it is incredible to think that it will now become a reality. I would like to thank Rics for the opportunity to develop it and I look forward to working with them to put this money to use in Manila and then, hopefully, in other parts of the world."
Read also: Unequal Scenes. Le foto delle città tagliate in due dalle differenze tra ricchi e poveri
"Forlales's proposal for a low-cost housing solution to improve the lives of workers in the Philippines has significant potential for application across all emerging markets," explains Forlales's mentor, Will Kennedy-Cooke, South-East Asia director at Wt Partnership, a company operating in the construction sector. "It is a well-considered and feasible alternative that incorporates sustainable and environmental initiatives alongside improvements that have been developed within a solid and noteworthy business case. Earl has articulated a clear vision for investing the proceeds of this challenge to deliver a proposal that helps address a very significant and common problem in expanding cities."
Forlales will be supported by Rics experts and industry professionals to begin working on the project's implementation next year. In addition to the housing solutions, he has devised a business plan that will provide local people with not only homes but new skills, jobs and community spaces. He also proposes raising funds for the initiative by selling plastic waste to factories. All in the name of a holistic approach to the problem of urban overpopulation, with the wellbeing of citizens and their surrounding environment at its heart.