Thesis - Quadruplex Housing

The poor deserve no less than the best – and that includes a beautiful design for their home. This is where responsible and good design can help make a difference. We may build a strong structure that towers over every structure in the world, but if it does not contribute to better humanity and to better individual lives, then we would make less of a real impact. The physical environment will influence how they live. If they live in a clean, efficiently designed and convenient community, then it would be a place of well-being for them.
First, the poor Filipino family deserves a decent, clean, and a beautifully designed home. Second, the proponents believe that a community, or its surroundings, must be safe, attractive, and pleasant, and must have the presence of cooperation and helpfulness among its neighbors. Most of our urban areas are filled with informal settlers which depict images of dilapidation, vandalism, and ruins that are reflected in the lifestyle and behavior of ordinary Filipinos.
Gone are the days when architecture students spent their whole college life inside the drafting rooms. Students are needed out into the field to let them see and think of creative ways of what and how they can contribute to nation building. Through their community immersion, based on reflections written on their reports, the students developed a sense of responsibility and a deeper understanding of the conditions of the poor. They have learned to discover their role as citizens of this country and enabled themselves to explore a lot of things that they can possibly do to help.
Architecture students should erase the borders that define art and design as something only few can enjoy by making the best designs for the poor. Before, the frame of mind was that architects should build the best designs for the rich, but the best challenge is for the minds that will create masterpieces for the least of society. The proponents are hoping to plant seeds in the minds of upcoming architects and together, they hope to bring new meaning to architecture.