DESIGN CONCEPT:

in imitation of the nests of swallows and the way they built, made places of
refuge out of mud and twigs
-Vitruvius
In the 10 books of Architecture that was written by Vitruvius, he describe that
mans first shelter was imitated from nature. And as time goes by, as they add more
details, they finally built a hut.
It clearly shows that mans first shelter was an imitation of what he see from
his surroundings. It was based on what he observed, experienced and felt from
nature. Then as time goes by, improvements in constructions and designing came.
And as improvement became innovations, man is already, not only imitating
nature, but also destroying nature. Effects are already being felt by man. Therefore,
the innovations has to undergo some adjustments. Mans work must fit to the
natures catastrophe and no longer imitate.
However, in the view of an architect, natures catastrophe can be lessen by,
not only fitting into nature, but also imitating it and getting inspired by it.
Thus, nature must be present in all aspects of design of the development.
The Eusociality of ants:
The ant colony is the basic unit of family for ants. The ant colony is a
eusocial, which has the characteristics of; (1) cooperative brood care
(including brood care of offspring from other individuals), (2) overlapping
generations within a colony of adults, and (3) a division of labor into
reproductive and non-reproductive groups.
Most of the time, the colony is composed of 1 or more egg-laying
queen, hundreds of workers and winged female and male ants. The ant
colony dig up soil to create an ant hill for their own. They dig soil and build up
the material at the entrance of the hill. Most of the time, the ant hill is
compose of hundreds or thousands of ant colony.
Sometimes, these ant hills are being poured with molten aluminum and
dig them up and make them as a decorative piece or sometimes as a study
material for architecture.
For the housing development project, the ant hill is an essential and
appropriate concept. Since the analogy of the ant hill and the housing
development is almost the same. The housing development is composed of
multiple family dwellings.
The model that an anthill can provide, will benefit us on how the ants
manage their spaces, how the ants have their own hierarchy of spaces, and
how they manage their vertical circulations.
Avians Airfoil
An Airfoil is the shape of a wing as seen in cross-section. An airfoilshaped body moved through a fluid produces an aerodynamic force and it
has two component force; (1) Lift, and (2) Drag. The lift is the force
perpendicular to the airfoil, while the drag is the force parallel to the airfoil.
The lift on an airfoil is primarily the result of its angle of attack and
shape. When oriented at a suitable angle, the airfoil deflects the oncoming

air, resulting in a force on the airfoil in the direction opposite to the

deflection.
As a design concept, we want to adapt components of an airfoil to
achieve a wind catcher design for the housing project. If this became a
possibility, then a natural ventilation with stack effect of cooling will be
achieved.
The Helianthus
The Helianthus or, also known as, Sunflower came from two Greek
words; Helios, which means, sun; and Anthos, which means, flower.
The genus is one of many in the Asteraceae that are known as
sunflowers. It is distinguished technically by the fact that the ray flowers,
when present, are sterile, and by the presence on the disk flowers of a
pappus that is of two awn-like scales that are caducous (that is, easily
detached and falling at maturity). Some species also have additional shorter
scales in the pappus, and there is one species that lacks a pappus entirely.
Another technical feature that distinguishes the genus more reliably, but
requires a microscope to see, is the presence of a prominent, multicellular
appendage at the apex of the style. Sunflowers are especially well known for
their symmetry based on Fibonacci numbers and the Golden angle.
One of the mechanism of a sunflower is its ability to move its head
towards the direction of the sun. Applying it as a concept to a housing
development, we can achieve a design which generates its electricity from
the sun while having natural lighting all though out the building.
The mechanism may also give us an idea in designing a development
which has a dynamic component, i.e.; meeting the desire and needs of the
users, and providing an aesthetic while meeting the efficiency for the
structure.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY:
As the nature produces majestic trees and attest its strength, so do we, with
our buildings...