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The quintessential Filipino home, the humble nipa hut or bahay kubo is quickly becoming a design inspiration because of its sensible and eco-friendly features
Nothing else can better symbolize rich Filipino history than the humble bahay kubo or nipa hut, which has evidently transcended, grown, and evolved throughout the years. During the pre-Spanish era, it was our ancestors’ most popular dwelling type. Today, design concepts of modern structures have adopted the unique elements the bahay kubo constitutes.
The unique characteristics of the traditional bahay kubo include mobility and its appropriateness to the tropical climate we have here in the Philippines. Made from lightweight materials, the small huts were carried through temporary bamboo stilts installed by volunteer townsfolk to help out a family who wished to move to another location. This tradition echoed through the succeeding generations and was the origin of the bayanihan concept, which is defined as the communal spirit that desires to achieve one common objective.
This custom has been carried on through generations, particularly when Filipinos face trying times. Moreover, this long-standing architectural structure displays how practical and resourceful our forefathers were as they utilized indigenous flora like the anahaw, nipa, and bamboo for construction. It is also symbolic of the Filipino hospitality that everyone in the world so admires—a virtue that we have also carried on up to the present.
Fast forward to the Spanish occupation, the architecture of the bahay kubo has changed dramatically when homes were built on more permanent grounds, and were built with materials that facilitated a sturdier design that incorporated both Filipino and European architectural traditions. Strictly speaking, the bahay kubo has evolved into a drastically different form, as it has been transformed to bahay na bato (stone house) that we can see in heritage or ancestral villages that survive today.
Nevertheless, the traditional nipa house has clearly survived in the rural areas where it originated, and is appreciated by many today.
The Modern Bahay Kubo
Philippine real estate has come a long way. Although skyscrapers and tall glass-and-concrete buildings line our cities now, our bahay kubo has not been forgotten.
Calma-Lazo Clan’s Modern Bahay Kubo
In some modern house designs, such as one 800-sqm house situated inside the University of the Philippines Los Baños campus, the bahay kubo design has been fully tempered into the property’s architecture.
Built in the 1950s, the Calma-Lazaro clan managed to build said home that can house more than eight people with few resources but a huge amount of creativity, utilizing nipa, bamboo, and wood from the santol (Sandoricum koetjape) tree. Today, this bamboo house still stands, with one of the original owners’ brood still living here, proving that the seemingly fragile bahay kubo can withstand the test of time.
Zamora Architects’ Tiny House Modern Bahay Kubo
The Bohol-based firm, Zamora Architects, went viral because of their fusion of a tiny house and the modern bahay kubo. The firm states that the construction of this tiny house-modern bahay kubo may cost around PhP 18,000 to PhP 30,000 per square meter, not including professional fees, permit fees, and other costs.
This tiny home projected to be around 35 square meters combines wood, stone, and glass materials with touches of sawali. It may not stand on stilts, but at first glance, this house model looks elevated, and a few rows of stairs upwards will bring you to the front door. Inside, the design is minimal, with plenty of wood and touches of green thanks to indoor plants. Combining modern with traditional, this home will fit not only in the province but in the metro as well.
Mikko Borja’s Modern Balai
Another approach to the modern bahay kubo is the designs of Mikko Borja, who believes that property buyers will be interested in the modern bahay kubo because of “its character, durability, and sustainability.”
The modern bahay kubo he designs are often bungalows with spacious interiors and sleek minimal designs. These homes embrace a semi-industrial style for cost efficiency. Bamboo is one of the main materials he would like to use on his modern bahay kubo projects.
Architect Carby Jason Osorio’s “Tropical Modern Home”
Cebu-based Filipino architect Carby Jason Osorio also designed his own take on what a modern bahay kubo can look like. His combination of amakan (woven bamboo) and plain concrete allows this house to be a sophisticated yet refreshing home. Osorio’s house plan is designed for single occupants, couples, and up to a family of four.
This house is inspired by an amakan house Osorio saw during his trip to El Nido. However, to cater to the taste of more modern home buyers, Osorio saw the need to combine the amakan concept with modern touch and architectural design.
Francisco Mañosa’s Coconut Palace, Amanpulo Resort, and Pearl Farm Resort
The modern bahay kubo’s design is not confined to the traditional cubic house, but has also found its way in fusion with modern architecture when architects and interior design professionals saw its practicality in our tropical climate. Since most of the architectural elements used in modern buildings’ glass-lined enclosed spaces prove to be unsuitable in the Philippines’ tropical weather, many builders and designers were quick to remedy this using technological solutions that are not exactly eco-friendly (e.g., costly air-conditioning systems).
In recent years, there has been a move to incorporate the bahay kubo design and its eco-friendly features into modern design and architecture. The most prominent of these architects and designers is national artist Francisco Mañosa, whose most lauded works include the Coconut Palace, the luxurious Amanpulo Resort, and Pearl Farm Resort—all of which were designed to be energy-efficient.
Materials like coconut lumber, rattan, sawali, banig, capiz, santol wood, and bamboo were used in Mañosa’s designs and are deeply integrated into these structures. Notably, these sensible design elements of the modern bahay kubo are also used in the national artist’s very own residence, the famous Bahay Kubo mansion. Situated in Ayala Alabang Village, the mansion has three haligi (posts), a silong that can be described as a sort of basement, and a master’s bedroom that is as breathtaking as the mansion itself.
While Mañosa is credited in pioneering the fusion of traditional Filipino design into modern architecture, other architects have followed suit in constantly reinventing a national symbol that is the bahay kubo into something that is practical and relevant to us Filipinos today.
Main photo: Coconut Palace, Manila. Photo by Stefan Krasowski via Flickr
