Young designers’ competition third placer, Cyris, urges aspiring young architects to go sustainable
Cyris Joaquin B. Rigor, a student at Mapúa University, won third place out of 187 competitors from 29 schools in the ArchiNEXT: HCG Young Designers' Competition.
ArchiNEXT is a nationwide contest for architecture students in designing sound and sustainable masterpieces. This year’s competition theme was UGNAYAN: A community multiplex interactive space, where participants were tasked to design an ideal architectural area that nurtures learning, recreation, and play and allows people to breathe and appreciate nature, art, culture, and interpersonal communication.
The fourth year BS Architecture student was recognized for his entry that manifests a “reflective response,” an interaction between a built environment and nature. The concept highlights the social responsibility of technological innovation and its importance to architecture.
To Cyris, it is the designer’s job to help accelerate the transition of the society to a more sustainable future, considering how technology had improved various aspects of life, including architecture.“By integrating sustainability,we can show that it is possible to do this without compromising traditional concepts yet capturing the latest technology,”he says in an interview with Manila Bulletin Lifestyle. “The concept provocatively calls attention to the social responsibility of the technological innovations and (how they can be applied with) discipline in architecture.”
His design featured ecological techniques such as an undulating green roof canopy that harvests rainwater for flood protection as well as the extensive use of solar power and solar trees combined with a mist cooling system. Likewise, he added a glass flower dome, which he considers special for this design, as it improves the user’s overall experience by stimulating their senses.
This was the first time Cyris participated in an architectural competition, which is why it was a pleasant surprise for him to have made it to the top 10. “I would definitely not consider myself successful yet, but if I were to give a piece of advice about design, I believe it is important to advocate the idea of sustainability to every project we can get our hands on,” he says, sharing what he has learned from the contest with other young architecture students out there.
“I gave a portion of the money to my parents. I saw the prize as a chance to give back to them, even if it’s not much,” the achiever intimates, as he told us what he plans to do with the P30,000 cash prize. “I plan to save the remaining, and to give my computer some upgrades as it is my main tool in designing, other work-related tasks, and gaming too,”Cyria says, laughing.
Mapúa University has congratulated Cyris and expressed its pride of the student whose victory is indicative of the quality of its architecture program, which incorporates a “green” curriculum.
Mapúa School of Architecture, Industrial Design, and the Built Environment dean Gloria Teodoroexplains that the Universityhas included more sustainable development principles in their program after recognizing the impact of structures in the environment since Typhoon Ondoy in 2009.
ArchiNEXT Young Designers' Competition (AYDC) is a two-part program composed of competition and scholarship, in partnership with the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) and the Council of Deans and Heads of Architecture Schools in the Philippines (CODHASP).
Cyrishas realized that he enjoys architectural contests and he will continue to compete in the future. “There is something nice about proposing designs that people other than your professors would appreciate, or even criticize. I believe it gives me a better understandingof other areas of the practice,” he says.