23-year-old Pinoy's bamboo house design wins ‘Cities for our Future’ top prize

A 23-year-old Filipino made a name in the international arena by bagging the top prize in the 'Cities for our Future' competition where he pitched his bamboo house design to solve Manila's slum housing crisis.

Earl Patrick Forlales's brainchild CUBO features low-cost and environment-friendly housing units using bamboos, an abundant plant in the Southeast Asian region, as well as in some parts of Africa and Latin America.

The design was inspired by his grandparents' bamboo house in the province.

"CUBO started as nothing more than an idea, conceived while spending time at my grandparent’s house – it is incredible to think that it now will become a reality," Earl said.

Judges from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) were captivated by Earl's ergonomic plan.

"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," Competition head judge and RICS President John Hughes said.

"There were many exciting, original designs among the submissions, however Earl’s idea stood out for its simple, yet well thought through solution to the world’s growing slum problem," he added.

The housing is pegged at a relatively affordable price of  £60 or around P4,000 per square meter.

It is also easy to build as each unit can be set up within four hours.

RICS noted that Bamboo is an ideal material because it releases 35 percent more oxygen than trees and can be grown on poor quality land and harvested annually without leading to soil degradation.

Earl's innovative bamboo house design upstaged 1,200 other entries around the globe, which were later shortlisted to 12.

He won a £50,000 or over P3.5 million prize money which will be utilized in bringing his idea into reality.

Earl has already identified a target area where he will begin constructing the award-winning design together with experts in the industry next year.

"I would like to thank RICS for the opportunity to develop the idea, and look forward to working with them to put this money to good use in Manila, and then hopefully elsewhere around the world,” he said. —Dona Magsino/ LDF, GMA News