Yazon, Robert Christian V.

4AR-14
Thesis Introduction
Casa Techno: Smart Building Automation Research and Development Facility
At present day, technological innovations towards smart automation steadily increases
at a fast pace. Exploring smart architecture and the innovations in this era, the
emergence of smart cities in first world countries have helped in the environmental and
economical sustainability of their society and built environment. The Philippines, on the
other hand, is still stuck in a certain notion that architecture isn’t seen as something
essential but rather a luxury for those who can afford. Smart technology in a micro-scale
being at reach of the middle to lower class makes smart architecture not as far as we
think it is. It could only be a matter of time when the integration of smart technology to
architecture be available at a wider scale here in the Philippines.

Research-Based Thesis Topic

The Use of Bamboo as a Modern Material for Neo-Futuristic Architecture

Vernacular architecture has been an interest of innovation in the recent years in the Southeast Asian
region. Countries such as Indonesia has taken bamboo architecture subject to scientific and engineering
innovations, utilizing it to produce from structural to architectural aspects. Although bamboo
architecture still doesn’t seem to fit in the urban setting. It still has the look of traditional vernacular
architecture that would be ideal for modern resorts in coastal areas. As a country with abundant
resources, bamboo which can be easily treated, cultivated and engineered for architectural uses and
technology readily available, the next innovation for bamboo is still in question. How can it be integrated
to modern architecture? In what way can it be the material of the future? In a sense, using bamboo for
sustainability purposes would be ideal. The reduction in carbon footprint emissions could be massive if
used in a wider scale and we’ve still yet to see skyscrapers and urban jungles filled with bamboo
architecture.