MANILA, Philippines -- People may readily think that most of the modern residences constellate in Manila and other bustling cities. But there are actually houses-tucked within the solace of provincial life-that prominently assert their identity: clean lines, white walls, geometric shapes against an expansive greenery and blue sky. Iligan City, for one, is an example.
Archt. James Jao is leading the pack in introducing to Iligan City a new kind of modern. Based in Cebu City (but with an office in Manila), Archt. Jao has designed a number of evocative modern spaces in Iligan City. One of his works is situated in one of the communities located near the city proper, accessible to a thriving urban life. "A very modern interpretation of a Filipino bahay na bato," the house enjoys the company of a vast garden (another house can easily fit inside it) highlighted by a lone hundred-year old acacia tree that still extends its branches toward the sky.
Though the bi-level house still bears Archt. Jao's signature style, it varies from the architect's other projects in that it has a high-pitched tiled roof (as opposed to Archt. Jao's trademark white parabolic roof), cantilevered balconies with glass railings and the "jigsaw" wall fixture that occupies an entire surface in the living room area, introducing a surprising texture and pattern amid the immaculately white walls. With three bedrooms, a dining room with kitchen, a living room and a curious workout nook, the house has a total floor area of 300 square meters.
"The space plan was determined by the lifestyle of this young family," says Archt. Jao. "They needed a family room that is readily accessible, a dining room that has a kitchen with island nook so the lola can cook up a storm, opening into a lanai for outdoor dining with the view of the garden designed by Oscar Villanueva." For impromptu or planned family get-togethers and presentations, a gazebo is added as venue.
With the owner being one of the more active patrons of Filipino contemporary visual arts in the South, Archt. Jao felt the need to highlight and position the artworks prominently in the space. "It was effortless for me to place and mount these masterpieces in the interiors, each corner and wall having an artwork to create a point of interest. There were a few pieces which I created, particularly the wall sculpture at the master's bedroom called Urban Zone."
From the outside, one can easily see why this house is in conversation with the garden beside it. Imposing rectangles of glass panels offer the family a constant view of the garden-not just the massive acacia but the eight species of bamboo that perimeter the property and the changing light of sky. Because of this, the line between the inside and the outside is dissolved. At night, the house looks like a lamp lit from within.
It would not have been thoroughly a Jao house if it didn't feature a measure of sustainable design solutions integrated into it. Archt. Jao offers a more conscientious alternative to how we plan, create and realize the built environment. The owner, who was open-minded about the eco innovations, welcomed the use of solar water heater, energy-saving light fixtures in most of the rooms and pockets of open spaces offering efficient ventilation, therefore minimizing the house's reliance on air-conditioning.
With this project, Archt. Jao believes that he has made a leap of faith by creating a "new direction into a new dimension of sustainable cutting-edge design." For him, modernism still offers limitless possibilities, not only with how we create the good life within the context of a reliable and design-inflected shelter but how we relate, and inevitably respect, the living world at large.
