Tropical respite
By Arch’t. Karl A.E.F. Cabilao, UAP
It’s amusing how people seek contentment. For instance, most Filipinos often crave for things foreign…cold climate and snowflakes cascading from the sky (most especially when El Niño and brownouts visit us). On the contrary, most foreignersyearn for the tropical hot and humid weather that most of us locals seem to abhor.
This thought cropped up anew after a much-respected Cebu-based architect, Mari Cañizares, shared a short chronicle about one of his clients, a French businessman married to a Filipina. According to him, the couple spent many years combing the Asian region for a tropical location of their private beach house. Only when they came to a pristine enclave in the quiet northern town of Tabogon, Cebu did they come to a conclusion that “Cebu is it.”
This two-storey tropical hideaway, beautifully carved on the water’s edge overlooking the Camotes Sea, depicts a beautiful mix of tropical Asian and Filipino architecture. Large openings on sponge-painted concrete walls and provisions for open spaces, whichencourage efficient airflow inside, are very admirable characteristics of Filipino design. The roofing is made of asphalt shingles laid on top of marine plywood and the trusses are crafted out of treated lawaan wood. The owners added a few more Asian flavors withexotic furniture and decor they got from various trips in Southeast Asian countries.
With a total lot area of more than 3,000 square meters, this is a designer’s playground with opportunities aplenty to dot the beachfront with functional outdoor vigor. One of the prime outdoor features here is the infinity pool, which was designed and shaped with respect to existing coconut trees. This is such an inspiration to furthering asacred yet often neglected rule in architecture that I religiously picked up in my Tropical Design class in college: designing with the environment. There is also a meditation area where coral stones, similar to those in old churches, adorn the walls. These were given by the architect from his 1972 collection, prior to the ban of coral extraction in 1978.
The design of this beach house indeed enhanced the tropical elements, which the couple (and most other foreigners) came here for - the picturesque view of the ocean, the sea breeze, coconut trees and more importantly the comforting Filipino (and Asian)-inspired shelter peacefully nestled in a paradisiacal niche.
Okay, the “cool” snowy winters here may just remain pipedreams, but here’s one undeniable fact: our tropical climate redefines what is “cool”; it is a kind that allows one to relax because it does not engender frostbite. In Cebu, contentment may be as simple as sitting in our own backyards (or beach fronts).
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