Winning landscapes

Filipinos are well known for being excellent designers in the fields of architecture and interior design. Examples of their work are evident nationwide. Less known, but equally important in the building arts is landscape architecture. Landscape architects provide the outdoor settings and larger contexts for world-class architecture and interiors to shine.

Thankfully, the general public will be able to acquaint themselves with the wonderful work of Filipino landscape architects; this by way of the just concluded 2017 GantimPALA awards for excellence in Philippine Landscape Architecture. The awards were given last Sept. 23 at the National Conference of the Philippine Association of Landscape Architects (PALA).

PALA represents registered and licensed landscape architects in the Philippines. It just celebrated its 40th anniversary since pioneers IP Santos and Dolores Quimbo-Perez formed the group in 1977. From a handful of members the organization has grown to close to 400 members.

The GantimPALA Awards present the best of Filipino design in landscape architecture. The awards were given in conjunction with the launch of a book that features all the qualified entries and showcases the winning entries.

PALA invited a panel consisting of three ASEAN landscape architects and one Filipino judge, a past president of PALA, Elizabeth Hautea-Espino, who was the director of the National Parks Development Committee in the last administration. The other judges were Dr. Ariya Aruninta, a distinguished landscape architect from Thailand; Damian Tang, the regional president of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA); and Dr. Osman Mohd Tahir, the dean of the Faculty of Design and Architecture at the Universiti Putra Malaysia.

There were eight awards given in five categories: private residential spaces, community residential spaces, institutional spaces, retail landscape spaces, and leisure spaces.

The 38 qualified entries were judged according to design quality, approach to design, sustainability, collaboration with other disciplines, and innovation. Two types of awards were given, a Merit Award and an Excellence Award. The difference between the two is a matter of only five to 10 points, with the excellence awards requiring between 95 to 100 points in the judging. All the selected winners were exemplary by any standard.

Two Merit awards were given in the residential category. The first was for the Ramirez Residence in Muntinlupa, with a design by landscape architects Lou Vincent Licerio and Czarina Althea Esteban of Pracinos Inc. The second merit award was given to the Wack-Wack residence, with a design by Efren A. Aurelio, principal of EA Aurelio Landscape Architects. Both projects involved large properties and renovations of existing outdoor spaces. Care was given by both designers to conserve or re-use existing trees and plant material, while still addressing current needs and necessities of maintenance and functionality of outdoor spaces.

The Community Residential merit award was given to the Villa de Mercedes development, a high-end community in Toril district of Davao City. The designer was Efren A. Aurelio of EALA Landscape Architects. The sprawling development located in the highlands of the southern city provided grand views but also the opportunity for environmentally sensitive design. The project was lauded for its strategies for storm water management, habitat conservation and pollution control.

A merit award was given for institutional projects to the Batanes National Museum project designed by Joaquin Rodrigues of Lanarch Studio. The landscape architect had to design the 1.3-hectare grounds of the facility to weather the extreme conditions of Batanes. Endemic trees and planting was used extensively as well as hardscape materials in tune with the vernacular architecture of the island.

The Iloilo Esplanade (Phase 1) was given the Excellence Award. The design was crafted by PGAA Creative Design (a firm headed by this writer). The esplanade has become part of the identity of this booming city. It was an initiative of Senator Frank Drilon and implemented by the city under the guidance of Mayor Jed Mabilog and in collaboration with the DPWH.

The Excellence Award for retail spaces was given to L. Arch E. A. Aurelio for the design of Greenbelt Park 3. The oasis of greenery in the Makati CBD is blessed by well-designed outdoor spaces that took advantage of existing trees and melded these with the ever-evolving Greenbelt retail architecture that serves as perimeter. Of note is the fact that the area serves as a carbon sink to mitigate the pollution of the CBD, and the green area also helps to sop up storm water.

The Award of Merit for Leisure Spaces went to Munting Paraiso Resort in Dauin, Negros Oriental. The designer was L. Arch. Cecilia Herras-Tence. The resort is small in footprint — only 3,000 square meters — but deft handling of outdoor spaces and careful planting design served to imbue the place with character. The resort boasts eight garden villas and six additional rooms in a larger structure set organically into the landscape.

An Award of Merit was also given to the Be Grand Resort in Panglao Island, Bohol, designed by PGAA Creative Design. The three-hectare resort was laid out to take advantage of views of the sea. The main resort block and nineteen villas were laid out in a series of lagoon pools, which flowed naturally around these and formed a network of waterside spaces, decks and lanais covering over two hectares. The landscape architect was cited for keeping much of the exiting trees and palms in place while designing around them.

PALA also gave the first GantimPALA LGU Award to the local government unit that has understood the value of landscape architectural design and retained the services of professionals in the discipline to contribute to projects in the public realm in the last few years. The award went to Pasig City, which has improved its urban design and landscape architecture both in its historic core as well as the Ortigas CBD.

Congratulations to all the winners and to PALA. By the quality of all the entries and the winners, there’s no doubt that Filipino landscape architects and their work will soon gain the deserving attention of the Filipino public.

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Feedback is welcome. Please email the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.

The GantimPALA 2017 book is available directly from the Philippine Association of Landscape Architects. You can contact them at pala_org@yahoo.com or call Bea Reyes at 448-6389.