(Photo from Christian Salandanan’s Facebook page)
September 21, 2015, 8:50p.m. – A THOMASIAN architect was the
sole Filipino to bag an award in an international bamboo design contest in
South Korea.
Architecture alumnus Christian Salandanan bested 125 other
entries to win the “encouragement award” in the World Bamboo Design
Contest, a competition under the 10th World Bamboo Congress held in Damyang,
South Korea.
Salandanan, who placed fifth in the June 2015 architectural
boards, said his entry proposed a government-initiated project that “showcases buildings to [encourage] the
production [and] utilization of bamboo products in the construction industry.”
Salandanan said he wanted to popularize the use of bamboo as
a construction material.
“My winning piece is my undergraduate thesis. I have been an
avid fan of bamboo architecture since second-year college. I [conducted]
research for three years before I did my thesis,” Salandanan told the
Varsitarian.
Architecture Dean John Joseph Fernandez said Salandanan’s
feat was proof that UST architecture graduates were globally competitive.
“We have been producing [and will continue] to produce the
best architects in the land,” Fernandez said.
Salandanan’s work was named “Thesis of the Year”
in the First National Architectural Thesis Competition last April. The same
entry also won an award during the Archi-World Academy Awards 2 held in Munich,
Germany last February.
The World Bamboo Design Competition was organized by the
World Bamboo Organization, an international coordinating body for the bamboo
industry.
The contest had three categories: household goods,
transportation and architecture. It seeks to encourage innovations in bamboo
product design and initiatives to sustain the utilization of bamboo. Jerome
P. Villanueva
