Filipino Architect is Runner Up in New York Design Competition

The Metropolis Magazine of New York, a leading Design and Architectural Magazine read by over 48,000 architects, designers, and structure aficionados in business, government, and education has recently conferred honors to two Filipinos who bested over 7,000 entries to win the runner-up prize for the Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition.

Local social-entrepreneur Illac Diaz and Arizona based architect Lira Luis came up with their Big Idea: The OFW Portable Transient Shelter Pod; a knockdown single occupancy living unit that provided comfort and sanitation for transients in the city of Manila. The product used readily available materials and water cooled systems to assure the occupant of maximum comfort, lighting, and living space.

"We began to collaborate on how Illac's’s Pier One Dormitory will help shelter over 35,000 transient seafarers in Manila in very affordable yet healthy conditions" says Lira, who is the first Filipino apprentice to the famous Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.

“We began a virtual partnership,” says Diaz “I had ideas on how to give seamen the best living conditions at the lowest cost, but I lacked the architectural knowledge. Lira had several structural solutions and found a good cause on which to apply her skills.”

Their final product is a ingenious and vertical version of what Habitat for Humanity is doing; the mariners themselves help with the construction of their own living spaces! Listening to Illac Diaz describe it makes one think of an adult version of building houses with LEGO.

“We are continuously targeting our efforts and services on seafarers because these 240,000 individuals bring in over 2.8 billion dollars to the economy. They deserve to be treated with dignity. Also, we wanted to target this segment because through their layovers in international ports, they are put at risk of being infected with sexually transmitted diseases that they may unknowingly pass on to their partners in the Philippines. At Pier One, we want to individualize the care of seamen, including voluntary testing to safeguard them and their families. The Shelter Pod concept that Lira and I have come up with can be mass produced to give more humane temporary living spaces to other segments such as the urban poor and disaster victims. Yet, what perhaps further caught the judges’ attention is the fact that we create support structures that make our areas social living environments.”