Remediating Baseco’s Coast

Baseco, Manila

In Manila, one of the most rapidly growing megacities, nearly one-third of its population suffers from poverty and the lowest employment rate in the Philippines. This lack of basic livelihood needs for low-income people is in contrast with the rising property values of Manila as a ‘global hub’. Situated on 57 hectares of reclaimed land off Manila Bay, which is only 5 km from the city center, Baseco has been regarded as home for 47,000 urban poor immigrants, includingthefirstofficialslumrelocationsiteunderanationalinitiative“OutofPoverty” that was established in 1986. Settlements are displaced as a result of the floodprone and polluted lands, and a lack of land resources give rise to a high degree of financial dependency along with limited social and economic opportunities.

The thesis is a response to the current planning and design strategies in postdisaster transitional houses in Japan in which only constructional and safety considerations are taken. This may lead to the extension and worsening of the emotional health of survivors after a disaster.

A prototype of a transitional temporary settlement is then projected for the northern region of Japan. The aim of the design proposal is to explore the potential of architecture and community planning to go beyond the provision of fourwallsforshelteringandstorageofpeople,hence,tobeadrivertomanipulate the environment and human sensation in order to enhance emotional recovery after a disaster.

Conflicting and difficult-to-measure aspects like soul-nourishing, emotional and psychological well-being, social interaction versus isolation, public and privacy perception, and healthy and healing spaces are core in the design process by the creation of a matrix which account for the type of family nucleus and their needs. However, other utilitarian considerations like the use of low technology, quick, efficient and cheap material and construction are also considered in the establishment of a catalogue of predesigned modules that can be configured for many different sites and needed programs.