Earl Forlales won Britain's Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) Cities for our Future competition's grand prize of £50,000 (US$64,000) for creating a bamboo house that could be built in four hours, called Cubo. The 23-year-old material science engineering graduate aimed to solve the housing problems and lack of affordable homes in the Philippines.
RICS chose Forlales' design for using "low-cost and sustainable material" that can easily build. "The world's cities are growing all the time," competition head judge and president of the Institute John Hughes said, per the South China Morning Post. "There is a real need to make sure they are safe, clean and comfortable places to live for future generations."
Hughes admitted that there were a lot of "exciting, original designs" that joined RICS. But, Forlales' invention was far more the best because of its simplicity, well-thought design, and aim to solve the growing house problem in the world. He continued to say that the organization is looking for entrants that could be the next generation of leaders who show concern about "world's biggest issues."
Forlales took inspiration to build Cubo from the bamboo house his grandparents lived in outside Manila. The home could be manufactured in one week, built in four hours, and only costs £60 per square meter. The judges also commended his idea to use bamboo, which releases 35 percent more oxygen in the environment than trees. It could also be constructed in areas that produce bamboo.
Reuters added that the first plan to use Forlales' Cubo is to house "incoming worker population" in the short term. It would be then utilized to the city's slums. The RICS's grand winner also plans to teach residents with new skills so that they could have a job.
Forlales told the publication that the "affordable housing solution" should be low-cost, sustainable, strong, and durable. They couldn't solve the housing problem with just "band-aid solutions."
Providing proper housing gives opportunities to its new residents. Hence, it should be "decent and dignified" to give people access to all the important facilities and services that could help improve their lives.
Cubo is not only available in the Philippines. It can be built anywhere around the world where there is available bamboo, like most of Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa and Latin America.
RICS runs the first Cities for our Future competition, supported by the United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. This year, it had over 1,200 entries.
