Everyone thinks of their house as “home”, the most beautiful place to be.

Most of housing designs have been modeled after European and American exemplars which are incongruous with our tropical climate. The resultant living conditions in these houses would then necessitate high energy and operating costs. The organizers feel it is time to challenge the aspirations of people through a redefinition of the concept of beauty in houses.

The competition aims to redefine the ideal of “beauty” or what is beautiful about a house to include sustainable concepts that will speak about how a house is lived in and how a house attuned to the tropical climate can be a beautiful place to live in.

For this year’s competition entitled “Ang Pinakamagandang Bahay Sa Balat ng Lupa (the most beautiful house on the face of the earth)” is a national quest for most beautiful Filipino home. The first prize in the national competition held by the UP College of Architecture (UPCA) went to John Patrick “Jason” Buensalido, lead architect of Buensalido+Architects, and his team composed of Marie Veronique Boncan, Emereauldine Eliseo, Nathan Fabe, Ysrael Guy, Raymond John Balmes, Ernesto Medrano Jr. III, and Bayani dela Pasion.

Other winners in the professional category, Second place went to Nestor Arabejo, Rowena Ramos, and Bert Peeters.

Third place went to Jose Eduardo G. Calma with Sherwin Abad, Sarah Canlas, and Benjamin Mendoza.

Honorable mention went to Roger Magsakay.

In the student category, first place went to UP-Diliman graduates Laurence Angelo Angeles, Norbert Cornelius Batangan, and Jaycee Gopez.

Second place went to UP-Diliman undergraduate students Kim Patrick Pullante, Dean Michael Ramos, Don Joseph Sebastian, and Marc Angelo Virtucio.

Third place went to UP-Diliman graduate Deniece Yusun and Zada S. Ong, a graduate of the National University of Singapore.

Honorable mention went to Aristotle O. Santiago, a graduate of the Technological Institute of the Philippines-Manila.

As a competition designed to encourage the creation of truly Filipino and truly environmentally sustainable middle-class homes, PMBBL is a pioneering joint undertaking of the UP College of Architecture (UPCA) and Lafarge Cement Services Philippines Inc. (LCSPI).

The competition’s two categories yielded many innovative and outstanding designs. Ma. Cristina V. Turalba, jury chairman for the competition, said that “the jury was challenged with the variety of solutions, both in the professionals’ and students’ works. But in the end, the entries that manifested creativity, a deep understanding of sustainability and our culture, and inspiring aesthetic sensibility literally captured the jury unanimously.”

To be a member please visit and register at http://geocities.com/pmbbl_2008.