Senior architecture students at Foundation University in Dumaguete, Philippines get hands-on experience leading the design of a new daycare center for a remote village from community concept through construction.
Architecture is undervalued in the Philippines and largely overlooked at a time when extreme growth demands creative, sustainable solutions (the Philippines ranks fourth worldwide for population density and growth). To revive student interest in architecture and build appreciation for the craft, Foundation University has launched the first design-build studio of the Philippines. Architecture students will have hands-on experience leading a community project from design through construction.
In its first year, "Estudio Damgo" students are leading the design of a new daycare center for a remote village. Malaunay residents will gain a beautiful new classroom for 30 of their youngest students while ten college seniors gain invaluable job skills in design, community participation and construction. Both students and community benefit from the design-build studio: one achieves great career experience while the other learns the process and benefit of working with an architect.
Estudio Damgo will choose a new community project every year - engaging local community in good design through the provision of a structure that showcases cultural relevance, innovation, and sustainability. Our goal is for all architecture students to earn first-hand experience with construction and community design while providing the community a long-term, valuable asset they would never have gotten otherwise.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
