Blending Biophilic Design and Zen Architecture in a High-Rise Condominium

Greso, Sage G.
Manalo, Kenny Lloyd R.
Rosas, Ilonah Mica V.

Technological Institute of the Philippines

Quezon City

March 2022
 Blending Biophilic Design and Zen Architecture in a High-Rise Condominium

CHAPTER I: PROJECT BACKGROUND

A. THE PROJECT

The world is continuously facing enormous developments to enhance and innovate livelihood, however,
aside from this development, the world is dealing with a lot of issues such as the increase of urban
population. Approximately the world population is about 7.9 billion and is continuously increasing
annually. Rapid urbanization is one of the raging candidates to solve this problem where different
stakeholders support on developing a city and build different infrastructure projects, to cater to the rapid
growth of population that is being experienced by the whole world.

High-rise residential condominiums are one of the solutions to over-populated cities, as the land area of
the whole city is being occupied, the need for vertical buildings is arising. Thus, this Proposed High-Rise
Condominium will serve as a private shelter for the residents and visitors of the city, who wanted to have
a place to stay, inside the city, while also minimizing the risks of traffic congestion that is very relevant to
the country. This project aims to solve the problems associated with the city’s population growth by
catering to some of the population growth and with proper design and planning.

The Philippines is part of developing countries on which still lacks enough infrastructure to support the
needs of the whole population. The Philippines has over 100 million population, and annually the growth
rate of the country is continuously decreasing significantly since 1960, from 3.3% to 1.3%. The Philippines
is one of the most fastest urbanizing countries in the world, but also one of the countries with overcrowded
cities, with over 12 million population throughout Metro Manila, but swells up to 15 million during daytime.
Metro Manila is the working destination of the nearby provinces that adds up to the daytime population.

The city of Manila is the national capital, as well as the center of the National Capital Region of the
country. It is a highly coastal urbanized city that is part of the overcrowded cities of Metro Manila, that
has a total population of more than 1.8 million, and represented a 13.69% total of the population of the
NCR and is the target location for the project or the Proposed High-Rise Condominium.

B. PROJECT OBJECTIVES

• Provide shelter for the students, workers, residents, and visitors, or anybody who needs
a place to stay at in the city. Since the people from different areas outside Manila are travelling
to the city to find opportunities and as part of their daily lives, a residential project is needed to
arise to cater the said population.
• Generate job opportunities to both the residents and non-residents of the condominium.
As the project will acquire employees that will be needed to work for the condominium, while the
residents will be given more job opportunities to work inside Manila and nearby cities.
• Promote green architecture by incorporating sustainable designs inside the community.
Global warming is one of the relevant issues that the world needs to address.

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 Blending Biophilic Design and Zen Architecture in a High-Rise Condominium

C. THE CLIENT

The project client is the MEGAWORLD Corporation which is known for doing condominium projects along
Metro Manila, as well as leasing and marketing of real estate. This company established a reputation on
building a high-end residential condominium and is one of the country’s leading urban township
developer.
The intended users of this high-rise condominium are the students, workers, residents, and visitors, or
anybody who needs a place to stay at in the city of Manila. Manila is the center of the National Capital
Region of the Philippines and is one of the overcrowded cities, and a place that attracts people to new
opportunities. This project aims to target this people, as they are the ones who are currently residing and
visiting the city for different and personal activities that is connected, associated, and in line with their
daily lives.

D. PROJECT SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The following are the scope of the project:

1. The project only focuses on high-rise condominium design.
2. Provide Architectural drawings for the project such as floor plans, elevations, sections, and
perspectives.

The following are the Limitations of the project:

1. The project is for the city of Manila only.
2. Structural, Plumbing, Mechanical, and Electrical drawings were not included.
3. The given Architectural drawings are only for this project only.

E. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

The project completion requires stages or steps in order to process continuously the development of the
structure. This will also help the designers to keep in phase with the project and to maximize their time
throughout the planning and designing period up until the completion period.

• Conceptualization / Planning
• Conceptualizing the forms and design considerations of the project.

• Site Analysis
• Detailed study of the site location.

• Bubble Diagram
• Plotting the circulation and flow of each amenities.

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 Blending Biophilic Design and Zen Architecture in a High-Rise Condominium

• Matrix Diagram
• Diagram depicting the accessibilty of the given spaces.

• Space Programming
• Application of anthropometrics, ergonomics, and proxemics in each area.

• Architectural Drawings
• Drawings that includes floorplans, site development plan, elevations, sections, and
perspectives.

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