The Design Against the Elements (DAtE) Global Competition is inviting entrants, students of architecture and professionals to the Exhibition of all the Entries Submitted to the Design Against the Elements (DATE) Competition.

All submitted designs are available for public viewing beginning December 13-17, 2010,
9am-5pm, at the 14th floor of the Quezon City Hall, Quezon City, Philippines.

A Preliminary judging of all eligible entries was conducted on 9 December 2010 in Quezon City, Philippines. Announcement of the winning designs will be made after the January 12-13 Final Judging.

Thank you.
Competition Secretariat

The Quezon City Government and the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) signed today a Memorandum of Understanding to form

ally launch Design Against the Elements (DAtE), a global architectural design competition for low-cost, disaster-resilient housing units.

The DAtE challenge is to design a complete housing community that is sustainable to build and can withstand the rigors of Philippine typhoons and massive flooding. Thus, the permanent dwelling units will provide not only shelter to its occupants but will also give them a sense of security and hope in times of disasters.

The competition has attracted the attention of architects and architectural students around the world, that a historic number of entries w

ere submitted by 282 participating teams from 50 countries. Out of the 282 entries, 160 are from abroad.

Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista believes the project will help address the problem of informal settlements in Quezon City and the consequent poor quality of life of families living there. “The winning design will be used as a prototype for socialized housing communities in Quezon City,” he said.

Bautista, on his first 100 days in office, announced his administration’s priority program on housing and resettlement which is also anchored on disaster-risk reduction and environment management.

The competition is divided into two categories: the Open Category (Category 1) which is open to registered and licensed architects, and the Student Category (Category 2) which shall be for senior students and graduate of an architecture course. A total prize of US$24,000 will be awarded to up to four winning entries in the first category, and US$8,000 for the second category.
The village to be patterned after the winning design will be built in Quezon City. It will be the first green and disaster-resilient community in the country and will provide an archetypal model that can be replicated in other areas.

The opening ceremonies of the competition will be held on December 9, 2010, at the multi-purpose hall on the 14/F City Hall Main Building, Quezon City.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• December 9 – 11, 2010   Preliminary Judging – 14th Floor Quezon City Hall Main Building
• January 12 -14, 2010   Final judging   - (venue to be announced)
• February  (date to be announced) Awarding Ceremonies   – Malacañang Palace
• February  Exhibit of Winners   - (date and venue to be announced)
  

While the DAtE project may sound daunting, the Philippines has a track record of successfully organizing similar competitions. DAtE’s forerunners are actually two global architectural design competitions for low-cost and innovative design, one dating back as long as over 30 years ago. Both competitions were conceived and implemented in the Philippines, where the winning designs were constructed.

The first competition was held back in 1976, the Manila-Tondo Foreshore International Architectural Competition, The competition was held parallel to the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements held in Vancouver, Canada that same year.

The competition’s challenge was to design low-cost housing for around 17,000 families from the informal sector or the squatters, as called in the Philippines. The families were to be moved from the Tondo foreshore to another area, Dagat-dagatan. The designer had to go beyond the usual relocation or resettlement paradigm and consider other issues such as the families’ income, living conditions and community in the new area.

More than 3,000 architects registered all over the world, and 500 submitted formal entries. The winning design was from Ian Athfield from New Zealand, who would later garner other awards for his architectural projects, among them an award for a low-cost housing design competition in Fiji.

Athfield made work and access to jobs central to his design theme for the Manila-Tondo Foreshore Competition as he believed that work and continued income was important to each family’s resettlement. His proposed design plan included workplaces and areas which can be leased to other businesses that can then provide jobs for the community.

A more recent competition held from 2007-2008, the Millennium Schools Competition, was inspired by the Manila-Tondo Foreshore Competition. This time around, the global challenge was to design a school that was both sustainable and resistant to disasters like typhoons and earthquakes. The pioneering organization behind Millennium Schools, MyShelter Foundation, is the same pioneering force behind DAtE.

Illac Diaz, executive director of MyShelter Foundation, emphasized the importance of building sustainable and disaster-resistant schools also because schools have a secondary purpose of being used as evacuation centers by displaced families during typhoons and other disasters.

The winning entry was a bamboo school designed by architect Eleena Jamil from Malaysia. True to the requirements of sustainability and disaster resistance, Jamil chose a material that is both rapidly renewable in the Philippines and other countries in Asia, and is durable, proving to be strong against winds from typhoons. The bamboo school was constructed in Camarines Sur, a province south of Luzon.

Now, shaken by Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) which afflicted around two million people and incurred 240 million US dollars worth of damages, and becoming more aware of the ever-growing threat of climate change, the Philippines has risen up to a new challenge. Drawing wisdom from the Tondo Forehore and the Millennium Schools competitions, DAtE calls on architects worldwide to design a housing community that is low-cost, sustainable, disaster-resistant and on the overall, climate change-resilient.

Over 40 countries sign DAtE manifesto for climate adaptability

Nations around the world, developed or developing, big or small, east or west, have stood up and responded to the Design Against the Elements’ (DAtE) call for global climate change adaptation and disaster resilience.

At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks in Bonn, Germany last May 31 to June 11, representatives from more than 40 countries around the world, international organizations and civil society groups signed DAtE’s proposal called “A Global Manifesto for Climate Adaptability and Resilient communities.”

The signatory countries span across the globe, from major continents Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America, as well as Australia. Among some of the developed countries who expressed their support are USA, Germany, France, and Italy. Civil society groups and international organizations like Conservation International also signed their support.

DAtE initiator and MyShelter Foundation Executive Director Illac Diaz, together with the Philippine Climate Change Commission (CCC) and other Philippine representatives, called on other UNFCCC representatives to sign the DAtE manifesto.

The manifesto underscores the urgency of climate change adaptation and the need to immediately establish climate change-resilient and disaster-resistant communities in developing countries.

It explains that developing countries are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as typhoons, droughts, landslides, food and water shortage, as founded by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Fourth Assessment Report.

The manifesto further pushes for zero climate risk and casualty among vulnerable communities and calls for the sharing of innovative solutions in architecture, engineering and urban planning to increase these communities’ capacities for adaptation. The manifesto also particularly asked for support for initiatives like the DAtE global architectural competition.

Diaz was enthusiastic with the response of the UNFCCC country representatives. “This is just the beginning for DAtE in the world,” he said, adding that he is positive other countries will be receptive to the DAtE campaign.

CCC country negotiator Loraine Gatlabayan was happy with the country representatives’ understanding on climate change adaptability, but noted that signatory developing countries in the manifesto especially understood the implications of climate change for them. “They know and want to disaster-proof themselves,” Gatlabayan said.

Diaz, the CCC, and other DAtE proponents like the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), are currently on an information campaign for DAtE to encourage architects around the world to participate in the competition. “We want the brightest and most innovative minds to design a community that is sustainable and climate change-resilient,” Diaz said emphatically.

MANILA, June 6 — A global architectural design competition which aims to share and mobilize innovative solutions towards climate-resilient and disaster-resistant communities needs help from countries involved in the ongoing climate talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany.

The Climate Change Commission (CCC), together with members of the Philippine Delegation led by former athlete Illac Diaz, launched a signature campaign to encourage international leaders to be part of the Design Against the Elements Global Challenge (DAtE).

CCC said DAtE is a global initiative pushing for zero climate casualty in developing countries through climate-resilient urban designs.

Diaz, founder of MyShelter Foundation and delegation leader, said “when super typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines in September last year, and destroyed in only a matter of six hours what took decades to build, climate adaptation has since established itself as an absolute priority for the country.”

Diaz pointed out “we set our eyes to a global solution for climate adaptability.”

In a proposal titled A Global Manifesto for Climate Adaptability and Resilient Communities, DAtE highlights the urgency of climate change adaptation and the immediate need to share innovative ideas towards establishing climate resilient and disaster-resistant communities in developing nations.

The manifesto is currently being circulated among participants in the Climate Change Conference where countries are currently struggling towards finalizing a new global deal to stop dangerous climate change. (PNA) LOR/JCA

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A global architectural design competition that aims to share and mobilize innovative solutions toward climate-resilient and disaster-resistant communities is seeking the support of countries in ongoing climate talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany.

Together with members of the Philippine delegation, Illac Diaz, the founder of MyShelter Foundation, launched a signature campaign to encourage international leaders to be part of the Design Against the Elements Global Challenge (DAtE)—a global initiative pushing for zero climate casualty in developing countries through climate-resilient urban designs.

The top three winning blueprints in the DAtE competition will receive $10,000, $5,000 and $3,000, respectively.

The winning design shall be constructed in a three-hectare plot in Taguig City, Metro Manila, that shall house 600 families currently living in environmental danger zones.

“When super Typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines in September last year, and destroyed in only a matter of six hours what took decades to build, climate adaptation has since established itself as an absolute priority for the country,” Diaz pointed out.

“We set our eyes on a global solution for climate adaptability,” he said.

In a proposal titled “A Global Manifesto for Climate Adaptability and Resilient Communities,” DAtE highlights the urgency of climate-change adaptation and the immediate need to share innovative ideas toward establishing climate resilient and disaster-resistant communities in developing nations.

The manifesto is being circulated among participants in the Climate Change Conference, where countries are struggling toward coming up with a new global deal to stop dangerous climatechange.

DAtE recognizes the Fourth Assessment report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change.

The report concluded that developing countries are most vulnerable to impacts of a changing climate and that climate-induced extreme weather events such as fierce typhoons, droughts, landslides, as well as food and water shortages, will affect most especially the poor in the developing countries such as the Philippines.

“While the international community earnestly negotiates a new climate agreement, action needs to happen on the ground now, and DAtE is the golden opportunity to bring in the best ideas the world has to offer toward concretizing climate adaptation,” said Lawrence Ang, co-leader of the project.

Launched in March this year, DAtE is a competition open to professionals and students of architecture and urban planning around the world.

It aims to design and build low-cost, climate-resilient structures that can withstand climate-induced extreme weather events and disasters such as floods, and landslides, as well as food and water shortages.

Earlier, Climate Change Commission (CCC) Vice Chairman Secretary Heherson Alvarez said that through the design competition, the Philippines is extending itself as a testing ground for the use of advanced design technologies and innovative housing materials that will provide the country the opportunity to translate low-carbon and low-cost housing plans into the country’s first “Green Building Codes.”

“We see this as an innovative way to harness the best and the brightest ideas the world has to offer toward concretizing the adaptation component of our National Framework Strategy and Program on Climate Change,” said Alvarez, who leads the Philippine delegation to the Climate Change Conference.

“This competition shall establish the Philippines as the premier hub for the exchange of ideas and the transfer of knowledge in the area of climate resilience, disaster resistance and climate change adaptation. It shall ultimately showcase Filipino and global talent as our country’s legacy in the fight against climate change,” he added.

DAtE is organized by the Philippines’ CCC in partnership with MyShelter Foundation, United Architects of the Philippines, the RP-United Nations White Helmets and the City of Taguig.

View original post on Manila Times

National government expresses commitment and support

It’s official. The Philippine government has now joined hands with Design Against the Elements (DAtE) in its global campaign for climate change-resilient communities.

The DAtE global architectural competition kicked off at the Presidential Palace on March 5, 2010. Heherson Alvarez, vice chair of the Philippines’ Climate Change Commission (CCC), said that the government is making a “public commitment” to working with proponents of the DAtE project. “[Together], this indeed will be the beginning of our efforts to manage the destructive impact of climate change,” he said emphatically.

Alvarez also said that the Philippines’ challenge with the problem of climate change was to “respond in a full-scale basis together with the rest of the world.” Through the DAtE global competition, Alvarez believes that the country is rising up to the challenge.

The CCC was formed through the Philippine Climate Change Act of 2009 signed into law by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The CCC, then headed by Macapagal-Arroyo, was tasked to mitigate climate change impact in the country.

More than 300 guests, among them international organizations, diplomats, national government officials, local government units, nongovernmental organizations, local celebrities, academe members, and the press, were present at the competition launch.

The DAtE launch program began with a solemn but spirited chorale performance of DAtE’s theme song Stand Up by the Gawad Kalinga Tatalon Performing Arts Group. Stand Up, a song that calls for climate change adaptation, was produced through the collaboration of more than 40 Filipino musical artists.

Illac Diaz, DAtE project lead and initiator, as well as MyShelter Foundation executive director, then talked about DAtE in the context of the loss of human life, possessions, and billions of pesos in Ondoy (Ketsana), and how similar future disasters can be readily addressed through climate change-resilient housing and communities.

Diaz underscored the urgent need for climate change adaptation over mitigation in the Philippines. “[Our country is] one of the greatest supporters of climate mitigation. We talk about lowering our carbon when in fact we are not a carbon emitter,” he said passionately. “But we are now hit by climate change. We are one of the top ten most vulnerable countries to climate change (Note: This is according to the Global Climate Risk Index and the UN human impact report on climate change), yet we are the least able to adapt.”

Also expressing their commitment to DAtE during the launch were representatives from the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), the Taguig City government, and the Philippine White Helmets.

UAP, the country’s prime professional organization of architects looking for “definitive green building solutions,” is working with Diaz in the organization and promotion of the DAtE competition to architects worldwide.

Taguig, nationally recognized for its socialized housing programs, will be providing the land and funding for the construction of the winning designs in the DAtE competition.

PWH, meanwhile, primarily provides humanitarian assistance during calamities like Ketsana.

At the end of the program, representatives from DAtE proponents MyShelter Foundation, UAP, Taguig and PWH signed a memorandum of agreement to signify their commitment and participation in the DAtE project.

The signing was followed by a lively photo shoot of DAtE proponents and guests holding cardboard messages about standing up and fighting climate change, part of DAtE’s information campaign.

Diaz expressed excitement with the successful launch at Malacañang, adding that it signifies national support and recognition for DAtE.

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To fully arrest the structural problems that may arise from the ill effects of extreme weather conditions, the Philippines urged on Saturday all architects around the world to support a global architectural design competition that will put forward the best structural design that will withstand onslaughts brought about by climate change.

Together with the Philippine delegation to the ongoing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany, Iliac Diaz, founder of MyShelter Foundation urged international leaders and architects to be part of the Design Against the Elements Global Challenge (DAtE).

DAtE is a global initiative pushing for zero-climate casualty in developing countries through climate-resilient urban designs.

It was launched last March for professionals and students of architecture and urban planning around the world.

It also aims to design and build low-cost, climate-resilient structures that can withstand climate-induced extreme weather events and disasters like floods, and landslides, as well as food and water shortage.

“When super typhoon ‘Ondoy’ hit the Philippines September last year and destroyed in only a matter of six hours what took decades to build, climate adaptation has since established itself as an absolute priority for the country. We set our eyes to a global solution for climate adaptability,” Diaz said.

In the group’s project called “A Global Manifesto for Climate Adaptability and Resilient Communities,” DAtE highlights the urgency of climate change adaptation and the immediate need to share innovative ideas towards establishing climate resilient and disaster-resistant communities in developing nations.

The manifesto is currently being circulated among participants in the Climate Change Conference, where 185 governments are currently gathered for another round of climate talks.

“While the international community earnestly negotiates for a new climate agreement, action needs to happen on the ground now, and DAtE is the golden opportunity to bring in the best ideas the world has to offer towards concretizing climate adaptation,” project co-leader Lawrence Ang said.

Philippine delegation head CCC vice chairman Secretary Heherson Alvarez said that through the design competition, the Philippines is extending itself as a testing ground for the use of advanced design technologies and innovative housing materials that will provide the country the opportunity to translate low-carbon and low-cost housing plans into the country’s first “Green Building Codes.”

“We see this as an innovative way to harness the best and the brightest ideas the world has to offer towards concretizing the adaptation component of our National Framework Strategy and Program on Climate Change,” Alvarez said.

This competition shall establish the Philippines as the premier hub for the exchange of ideas and the transfer of knowledge in the area of climate resilience, disaster resistance, and climate change adaptation. It shall ultimately showcase Filipino and global talent as our country’s legacy in the fight against climate change,” he added.

The top three winning blueprints in the DAtE competition will receive US$10,000, US$5,000 and US$3,000, respectively.

The winning design shall be constructed in a three-hectare plot in Taguig City, Metro Manila and shall house 600 families currently living in environmental danger zones.

View original post on Manila Bulletin

The Philippines is pitching calls for a zero climate-change casualty for developing countries through climate change-resilient urban designs in the ongoing climate talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany.

The initiative in the form of a global architectural design competition aims to share and mobilize innovative solutions toward climate-resilient and disaster-resistant communities.

Together with members of the Philippine delegation, Illac Diaz—founder of MyShelter Foundation—launched a signature campaign to encourage international leaders to be part of the Design Against the Elements Global Challenge (DAtE).

“When Typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines in September last year and destroyed in only a matter of six hours what took decades to build, climate adaptation has since established itself as an absolute priority for the country,” Diaz pointed out.  “We set our eyes to a global solution for climate adaptability.”

A proposal titled “A Global Manifesto for Climate Adaptability and Resilient Communities,” DAtE is being circulated among participants in the climate-change conference, where countries struggle toward finalizing a new global deal to combat climate change.

The proposal highlights the urgency of climate-change adaptation and the immediate need to share innovative ideas toward establishing climate-resilient and disaster-resistant communities in developing nations.

DAtE recognizes the Fourth Assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that concluded the developing countries are most vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate; and that climate-induced extreme weather events such as fierce typhoons, droughts, landslides, as well as food and water shortage, will affect most especially the poor in developing countries like the Philippines.

“While the international community earnestly negotiates for a new climate agreement, action needs to happen on the ground now, and DAtE is the golden opportunity to bring in the best ideas the world has to offer toward concretizing climate adaptation,” noted Lawrence Ang, project coleader.

Launched in March this year, DAtE is a competition open to professionals and students of architecture and urban-planning around the world. It aims to design and build low-cost, climate-resilient structures that can withstand climate-induced extreme weather events and disasters like floods and landslides, as well as food and water shortage.

View originl post on Business Mirror

Photographer Veejay Villafranca talks about his experience taking snapshots of Ondoy and underscores the importance lasting solutions like sustainable and disaster-resistant housing.

Can you tell us more about what you saw, felt and experienced as you took photos of the Ondoy aftermath?

It was quite intense actually. I’ve covered quite a few disasters and calamities but as they say it’s always different when it happens in the city where you live. The East area, where a lot of my friends live, was totally devastated and the day after the wrath of Ondoy I can’t help but think if they are safe. As the days went on and as I roamed the greater Manila area to cover the devastation, things like disaster relief, urban planning, proper housing and access to healthcare were running through my mind and I thought, how can the government address these issues? It was also when I entered ‘gated’ communities that it really hit me – communities that had millions of pesos in investment in their properties, communities that lived more comfortably than their neighbors weren’t spared as well. Ondoy was indeed a great equalizer of sorts.

What places in Manila, in the Philippines, did you particularly take pictures of in the Ondoy aftermath? What conditions did you see in each place (the people, the houses, etc.)?

I started shooting the Eastern part of Manila (Pasig, Cainta, Rizal). Thousands of families were relocated in temporary areas such as gyms with unhygienic toilets and cramped spaces for each family. In some areas tents from NGOs started coming but not to everyone. It was indeed helpful to most but to those families who have nowhere to go, they were more keen in returning to their houses, or what was left of it, and these was something that was hard to look at as we all know that the threat of repetition of a disaster won’t leave but these families weren’t given any other options but to take such a huge risk. Food distribution and medical support was ample, I think, while the evacuees were in the centers.

What was the most striking thing you saw as you took photos? What image impacted you most?

The most striking instance or image that affected me was the massive displacement of families and the issue on relocation. How sustainable will their relocation be and how ‘safe’ will the houses be in terms of withstanding another typhoon? There was no direct image that had a huge impact on me but more than anything else it’s the current state of the people living in precarious situations due to poor planning and building materials. And also how will the authorities address the issues of the marginalized community after this.

Among the conditions you saw, what did you feel were the consequences of climate change? What is your take on climate change in general?

Climate change is a very generic term for me. Realistically, do you think those who strive to make ends meet, put a meal in the table three times a day, would have time to think about climate change and how this impacts their lives? I bet they don’t. Life is hard enough already for them that they don’t need more problems to think of. For me, it is basically nature’s way of saying that we have exceeded our limit in taking natural resources. Due to this excessive or greedy attitude, there are now irreversible consequences we have to face. In this aspect we have to be ready, then there are also the polluters who need to be identified, and apprehended if need be.

What can you say about the Design Against the Elements (DAtE) challenge?

The challenge is huge, but it is very good that it has been presented to the public so everybody will know the consequences we are facing with regards to the extreme weather conditions in our country. The challenge should also be replicated in other municipalities that are prone (proven through time and research) to floods and landslides.

Anything else you would like to say about DAtE, climate change or your experiences on capturing disaster-related images?

Again, there should be replication and sustainable support from LGUs and partner organizations towards this. Ideas are always good, putting them to practice better, but the most important thing is how it is continuously practiced and developed so it becomes a way of life rather than a fad.