DESIGN AGAINST the ELEMENTS COMPETITIONA Global Campaign for Climate Adaptability

PROJECT BRIEF

DESCRIPTION:

Design Against the Elements Competition is an international design competition for disaster-resilient, affordable urban communities that can be built in developing countries located in the tropics.  Launched with the initiative (proposed) of Mayor Freddie Tinga of the City of Taguig, Gawad Kalinga, United Architects of the Philippines, and consultancy of the Asian Development Bank shall initiate a global competition that shall bring together architects both local and international to find solutions to the problem of obsolete residential building designs in the developing world, especially those that constantly face climate change reinforced natural disasters like typhoons, and earthquakes.  The top three winning designs will receive $10,000.00, $5,000, $3,000.00 respectively. Gawad Kalinga, one of the largest self-help architecture and community organizing groups in Asia focused on transforming slums into peaceful and productive communities, shall build the winning master plan of 250 houses the City of Taguig. The design shall stand as the first green and disaster-resistant community in the Philippines. The My Shelter Foundation shall compile the most innovative, resourceful and environmentally sustainable designs in a publication that shall serve as an encyclopedia of solutions that shall be shared with civil society organizations, local governments, and other groups that seek to respond to the problem of adaptability in the climate-challenged developing world.

PREMISE:

Poverty has been the biggest concern in Philippine society for the past six decades. The problem of poverty opens up to a host of other problems, primary of which is shelter. Government statistics show that over 1.25 million families, accounting for approximately 30% of the total population, live in informal settlements or “squatter areas.” More than 20% of these families live in danger zones (bayside, riverside, under bridges, along railways, etc). According to the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010, the housing need is estimated to reach 3.75 million units by next year. In the period of 2001-2004, the government was only able to provide for 23% of the total housing backlog.

Given this situation, the destruction caused by natural disasters such as typhoons amplifies the suffering of poor communities. They are plunged deeper into poverty when they are faced with the economic burden of having to rebuild their homes and livelihood.

According to the Global Climate Risk Index, the Philippines is one of the ten most afflicted countries in the world in terms of the number of lives and property lost as a result of damage due

to climate, and these are mainly in the form of increasing intensities of typhoons visiting the islands annually. The nation is an island state where 20 out of 80 provincial cities are already exhibiting severe impacts to changes in the climate with growing recorded numbers of displaced communities needing assistance every year. This puts the country in one of the major predicaments of developing nations; having very little to do with creating greenhouse emissions, but having to face that the populations will probably be the hardest hit by global warming. This has proven to be a treacherous formula for those living in high vulnerability areas with very little capacity for adaptation.

The Design Against the Elements Competition is being held in response to the call for social and climate adaptation. There is a gap between the talk about the crisis of climate change, but very few working models and adaptation strategies being put forward. The need is urgent to arm those who are unprepared and at risk. Their way of life and very lives are under threat. Mitigation and prevention is not enough to shield the poor from the onslaught of disaster. The situation calls for radical and immediate adaptation.

BACKGROUND ON THE COMPETITION:

In January 2009, the Philippines' largest builders for poor communities, Gawad Kalinga, launched the Designer Village Challenge, a local design competition for 4 th – 5th year students in architecture and interior design to raise the bar of excellence for Gawad Kalinga communities around the country and the world by harnessing their talents and skills into building the most beautiful, environment-friendly and sustainable Gawad Kalinga villages for the poorest of the poor who otherwise cannot afford their services. May 8, 2009 was the last day of submission of entries and awarding was done in September. (http://gk1world.com/GkCms/Home)

Similarly and exactly the year before, The United Architects of the Philippines together with its partners, the National Disaster Coordinating Council, the Private Sector Disaster Management Network and the United Architects of the Phillippines mounted an international competition with the vision of culling emergent technologies from the world's architects who can create sustainable new design solutions for schools to improve the overall learning conditions of the children, and to revolutionize the blueprint in making the structure resilient to strong and typhoons. The winning design is a sustainable bamboo school by Eleena Jamil of Malaysia which began construction at the Nato Elementary School area last May 15, 2009 and was completed in January 15, 2010.

This year, the proponents of both competitions have brought forth a new challenge to local and international architects, designer and planners – to provide solutions to the problem of obsolete, low-cost residential building designs in the developing word in the midst of climate change. It is hoped that a broader international network base will bring in around 4,000 design entries to complete a full master plan of a climate resilient community for urban areas of the country. The scope of the design will be a master plan of a community composed of 250 houses based on affordability (<$5,000 USD per unit), typhoon and earthquake resistance, sustainable development, innovative construction technology, scalability and flexibility of use, and social relevance.

Other Information :

2008-09 Competition : Millenium Schools Challenge

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/articles/design-structures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaB73B4k6lc

 OBJECTIVES:

1) to foster local and global awareness on Climate Adaptability and its relevance to poverty alleviation. The main hypothesis of this project is that having safer structures "ahead of time" will not only lead to less injury, number of climate refugees, and loss of life and property, but will empower communities to uplift their quality of life. 2) to build the first green, affordable, disaster-resistant village in the Philippines that could serve as the blueprint of how families in vulnerable areas can successfully cope with the impacts of climate variability

3) to build an Encyclopedia of climate-resilient, affordable design solutions that can be used and repeatedly referred to in the near future, and that could help facilitate the development of policies that address these humanitarian challenges.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION:

The competition will call for a masterplan and design of an urban development for in the area of Taguig, Philippines. The main objective of this competition is to contribute to urban adaptability of climate change impacts, in the form of architectural and structural resiliency against strong typhoon winds and heavy rains, in addition to social/economic resiliency through livelihood sustainability. Thus, the competition calls not only for design of disaster-resistant and environmentally sensitive structures but also considerations for sustainable community planning.

Design Task:Building typhoon-resistant housing is only one part of the solution. To be fully adaptable to climate change, communities should be ready and equipped to survive through anticipated typhoons by becoming self-reliant and having the necessary facilities for post-disaster support.

1. Develop a masterplan for a community of 250 residential units that can be applied to other similar urban sites.

2. Integrate development that addresses the sustainability of the community by understanding the local demographic, economic, social, and environmental attributes.

3. Propose a design theme for the entire village to achieve a unified look, that can be applied to all structures within the community.

4. Provide a detailed design for a typical family residential unit, including interior space planning.

Design Criteria:

a. Innovative Construction Technology. To break the cycle of destruction-rebuilding-destruction, new building technologies or approaches have to be explored. We are seeking innovative construction solutions, both in materials (recycled, renewable,

engineered) and systems (structural, cladding, electrical, irrigation and plumbing, etc) that can withstand typhoon winds of around 200 kph.

b. Sustainability.

1. Sustainability of the Built Environment. The design should incorporate green building strategies for both community infrastructure and in housing. At a minimum, the design should include the following considerations:

Manage solar heat and natural light Utilize natural ventilation Water efficiency Energy efficiency Waste management and minimization Life-cycle of building Use of locally available materials Use of rapidly renewable materials

2. Sustainability of the Community. i. Economic Sustainability (Livelihood Component/ Self-Help). The design should include a program that promotes economic opportunities for residents with the creation of new integrated business enterprises, such as a bed & breakfast and/or other livelihood possibilities.

ii. Social Sustainability (Community Sensitivity). While the design should be adaptable to other sites (discussed below), it should be sensitive to the local culture and way of life of the beneficiary community.

c. Constructability. Construction techniques should take into account the Filipino Bayanihan spirit, wherein beneficiaries have the opportunity to participate in the construction. As extended families form part of the Filipino culture, provision for and construction of future expansion space should also be considered.

d. Adaptability to Other Sites. The resulting designs are intended to serve as prototypes to build an encyclopedia of solutions for disaster-resistant design and planning, hence, concepts utilized in the design should be adaptable to other urban communities in tropical regions.

Design Requirements:a. Minimum Unit Floor Areas

(20 sq.meters unit space)

b. Each unit should include: At least one bedroom, one bathroom, 1 kitchen counter , one living and dining area

Service area at the rear for laundry (clothesline)

c. Community Facilities should include the following: Community Center/ Multi-purpose Hall (≥ 60 sqm) Waste Management Facility (≥ 20 sqm)