ALAPAAP: Transitional Hydro-Collecting Community In Tagaytay City, Philippines

DE LA SALLE COLLEGE OF SAINT BENILDE

Project idea

Urbanization has become a common feature of the Philippine society. Growth of industries has contributed to the growth of cities. As a result of industrializations people have started moving towards more urbanized areas for opportunities, investments or attraction. This resulted to growth of towns and countries. The trend became widespread until it reached undiscovered areas; these areas were chosen due to its opportunities for development: for example its ambiance or scenery and etc. Elevated places like Baguio, Banaue and Tagaytay are one of the places wherein development is rising due to its elevation, the same time having“picturesque scenery”. The mounting urban jungle created adverse effects like: over population, environment degradation and etc.. One of this is “Water Scarcity”

One of which cities that are greatly affected by this issue is Cavite, specifically “Tagaytay City”: A magical place wherein people or tourist would go annually for family reunion or outings. It is very famous due to its cold weather and picturesque ambiance. Tagaytay city is considered to be the “recharge station” of the whole Cavity. Recharge station means it is where rainwater would be first collected straight to the aquifer and be directed into the lower elevations of the selected sites. The rapid urban development of Tagaytay City leads to the drastic need for water. There are possible different sources of water like: underground, spring, lakes and etc. yet we are not introduce to harvest from “atmospheric rivers”.

The aim of this thesis is to construct a prototype community wherein this community will sustain its own water, thru the introduction of "Hydro-technology". Hydro-technology will harvest: dew, fog and rainwater. The Technological and Architectural aspect of this proposal will work hand-in-hand that would construct the: “Transitional Hydro-Collecting Community”. Under that it will cater the communities’ housing, planning and the technology itself. This study will explore the conceptual approach on how to harvest from "atmospheric rivers"based on different theories of Architecture. The same time discuss the “Transitional Model” theory as a basis for sustainability. Thru this prototype community, it could be a visionary model for those elevated cities that are in dire need of water due to the effects of urbanization.

Project description

The scope of this study will be the community planning of the proposed hydro- collecting community in tagaytay city only. Specifically, will focus on the areas where water is capture like: residential area, commercial areas like: tuktok (commercial/educational hydro-technology facility), convention centers and the like and especially the FOG facility.

The project will focus on architectural design strategies and solutions based on green urbanism and architectural morphology thru the said climate of the site. Initial computations of water in liters or gallons will be projected per area and be compared to the need water in MLD (million liters per day).

The limit of this study will be in-depth engineering solutions, structural, electrical, plumbing, and sanitary of the whole community and also the said structures. Also, in-depth financial solutions for the community and also the project funding will not be discussed. This is also project is limited to one site which is: Tagaytay City, Philippines

SITE SELECTION
The selected site is Tagaytay, officially the City of Tagaytay or Tagaytay City, (Filipino: Lungsod ng Tagaytay), is a component city in the province of Cavite, in the Philippines. It is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations because of its outstanding scenery and cooler climate provided by its high altitude. Tagaytay overlooks Taal Lake in Batangas and provides one of the iconic views of the Philippines, the view of Taal Volcano Island in the middle of the lake, viewable from several vantage points in the city. Tagaytay is relatively close to the capital city of Manila, only 55 km (34 mi) away via Aguinaldo Highway, providing an easy escape for the locals from the heat of the big city. The selected barangay is Sungay South in Tagaytay City. The population of this barangay is 1,371 residents. This barangay has the highest peak in tagaytay which is 650 meters above sea level. The selected site is ideal for fog,rainwater and dew harvesting.

RECOMMENDATION
This project can be a prototype self-sustaining community in elevated places like Ifugao, Baguio or other remote places or community who are in dire need of water. This community would harvest a lot of water more than what is project; which is a good thing because it can be transformed or used as an agent of economy development. Water harvested can be supplied to other neighboring cities and equaled to a fair amount of money. Thru this the collected earning can be used for further expansions of research and also facilities.

Technical information

This research study will be conducting using qualitive and quantitive data analysis as the study will both dwell on the architecture as well as the industrial aspect of Hydrotechnology (fog, dew & rainwater).

A. Participants of the Study
The research will include the following participants:
• Residents living within Sungay South
• Tourists
• Planning with the government officials of Tagaytay City, Philippines (interview)

B. Deliverables
The research will include the following technical details and specification:
• Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
• Site Development Plan
• Technical Drawings/Architectural Drawings
• Computations
• Perspectives
• and Walkthrough video

Co-authors

Solo Research (Camille Lydell G. Detera)