Symbolic Bahay Kubo

People have got to change their traditional view of what the Philippines is, which is often associated with the rustic and underdeveloped bahay kubo. While at the same time, it isn't timely yet to get rid of the symbolic bahay kubo totally because in truth, we are yet underdeveloped as a nation. 

The bahay kubo is reflective of the rustic Filipino simple dream of home convenience and amenities. It is of light materials readily available in his milieu, easy to construct, easy to move around, and refreshingly cool even in the fierce heat of summer. These Filipino housing principles should never be left aside even in modern day Pinoy architecture ideas. 

Light Materials

I know we have the propensity to borrow foreign architecture ideas, and it's good to explore as many possibilities, but we should never forget to go realistically back home and remember that we're building in the Philippines. Light materials are always the best for our context because of the fact that our geographical reality is complicated with thousands of crisscrossing seismic faults which experts say could trigger major earthquakes anytime. 

We are in the so-called pacific ream of fire which is dotted with a systematic lineage of major volcanic activities. The symbolic bahay kubo is powerfully resistant against major tremors, with its tensile strength ever an effective anti-earthquake feature. Not only so, but the light material is also the best counter measure against tropical weather disturbances. The light materials may be easily swayed and destroyed by gusty winds but they are as easily re-constructed after. Unlike heavy concrete materials which are costly to re-construct and dangerous during destruction.

Light materials with due consideration for durability should be designed for the modern Filipino dwelling, still holding fast to the symbolic bahay kubo principles while exploring more possibilities with modern construction technology. 

Easy to Construct

Let's not forget that majority of Filipinos still live within the poverty line. We should conceptualize a kind of modern Philippine architecture that is easy to construct with locally available materials. And I'm not referring to the squatter-shanty type that was once adapted by the housing authority that was later trashed due to its impracticality. And this easy-to-construct Pinoy architecture ideas should be closely tied up with a much more affordable government financing like PAGIBIG to be affordable to the largest segment of the populace. A bahay kubo is easy to construct. We should take hints from that and develop construction principles from the same.

Easy to Move Around

The symbolic bahay kubo principle of being easily moved around is this: it should be easy to re-design or re-model and extend. Filipino families are naturally extendable, and in fact most families are extended. That's how we are. We should develop Pinoy architecture ideas that make it easy for people to adjust their dwellings for future expansion, preferably, vertically. Steel construction coupled with wooden finishes is a welcome development here.

Refreshingly Cool

Without resorting to air-conditioning, we should develop a tropical design that maximizes on what natural ventilating refreshment is afforded by our climate. We should develop more our open space designs and principles of building openings. For instance, how can we let in more air into our rooms without compromising security? 

If only we can devise an effective community security system that can considerably reduce burglary and create more open spaces (like interspersing mini gardens) for making more windows and openings possible, we can create refreshingly cool abodes with the symbolic bahay kubo concept, and make homes more Filipino, and the Philippines more Filipinistic.