Streetlight Tagpuro:
Tacloban, Philippines 2016
The rebuild of two orphanages, a study center, a park and an office with a vocational training center. The project was designed and built over a two-year long involvement with the resettled community in Tagpuro.
In November 2013, super-typhoon Haiyan destroyed the study center which was built through a collaboration between the Seawall community, three architects and the NGO Streetlight in 2010. A typhoon so strong, that the entire informal settlement of Seawall was flattened. Nevertheless, the community ties, confidence and pride built in the making of the study center survived and formed a strong platform for the families to come together and build back their lives. As the local government announced that the informal settlements along the coastline should be relocated, Streetlight decided to follow. Furunes, one of the architects that built the previous study center was invited back to lead the reconstruction of Streetlight’s facilities. Through workshops using drawings, model making and physical prototyping, concepts of ‘open and light’ or ‘closed and safe’ were identified as essential elements to respond to the trauma and experience of the typhoon. This informed the use of concrete volumes for refuge, and ventilated light timber structures that would allow strong winds to pass through. This was in fact a technique developed by the families in the informal settlements to cope with the disaster-prone climate. Under the supervision of the contractor, members of the community received TESDA training courses to become certified carpenters and masons during the construction. The buildings were completed in 2016 and are now in full use by the community and Streetlight.
