Interview about Ferdinand E Marcos Stadium Sports Facility, winner of the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award 2024
This is an open stadium that is an integral part of the community. A stadium that would extend the adjacent park and connect with the university. The southern end of the stadium incorporates a sloping lawn where people could walk up or have picnics and leads to an amphitheater with a magnificent backdrop. This expression of social architecture creates a barrier free stadium that is accessible to everyone. This is both a stadium and a park, a space that does not discriminate. It is social infrastructure that helps bond the community. It is a stadium for the people.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsSocial Architecture is the overall design agenda pushed by our studio. It began with the Book Stop Project 8 years ago and we have managed to develop and implement its various principles in our project. The very idea for the Marcos Stadium came from initial sketches we were doing of the bay sections. We realized that if we just kept these sections as the facade we would be able to create an open ended stadium that is open to all. To develop this further, we linked it with the Rizal Park in front and removed the road separating the stadium from the adjoining Mariano Marcos State University, allowing the students to access the stadium feely.
We wanted to reduce the visual scale of the stadium and allow people to see the pattern without seeing the whole building. While visiting the markets we noticed the prevalence of the inabel fabrics and the binakol patterns. The incorporation of this pattern with its traditional intent of breaking up solid colors allowed us to create a more human scale for the stadium exterior.
The sloping lawn allows us to extend the Rizal Park into the stadium itself and invites people to walk up and come visit the stadium as they pass by. The amphitheater acts as a public and free seating area that encourages people to mingle and rest when jogging around the track or just visiting the stadium. Together they provide a visually identifiable convenient and accessible space for everyone who comes by for a visit.
The main facade and roof element uses corrugated PVC panels which are used for warehouses and poultry farms in the region. This makes the material incredibly accessible and easy to use, allowing us to reduce the cost of the building envelope to 20% of what it could have cost. The early decision to use this material allowed us to explore how we would use color and mock up patterns throughout the early part of the construction period. It also shaped how we developed the connections and fastening joints for the stadium. In the end, this material allowed us to develop something that is both familiar and affordable for the community.
The removal of the dividing road was the first challenge. It meant we had to reroute traffic in the area to create a new connecting promenade. We also had to go through meetings with various stakeholders to convince them to remove the fences and barriers that segregated the spaces.
We believe that free and open access to public facilities encourages its usage. Its immediate visibility and free access makes for a less intimidating space especially for young people and encourages their curiosity to try it.
The first strategy was the decision to have it inside the city where people can easily go to the stadium without having to plan a trip to it. It allows the stadium to become a daily or weekly place for the community. The other strategy involves the removal or deletion of gates and barriers that would otherwise bar access to the stadium grounds. This social architecture creates a friendlier and more inviting atmosphere for young and old people alike.
We had to choose lightweight materials and minimize quantities to maximize the sustainability of the project. The project truly embraces the less is more ideal by incorporating less barriers and very little walls if any. We also looked at materials that would require less machinery and equipment and those that the local labor would be able to install effectively.
We've seen how the community takes pride in it and how they incorporate it into their daily or weekly exercise regimen. It has hosted the largest gatherings in the province twice already and has become the main social space for Ilocos Norte. The students from Mariano Marcos University have used it more often for school activities and unexpectedly people have been jogging around the perimeter of the stadium as well along the promenade and talking about the birdsong that they now here from the old trees that lie the promenade.
We hope that this stadium shows how social architecture can vastly improve our public buildings and create a more open and free approach to public facilities.In developing nations most especially, the underprivileged and undocumented population are often intimidated from accessing many of the public spaces that they need the most. This is a great first step to promoting how we can further develop social architecture as we continue to build upon ideas we have learned from this project.
Dive into a world of design excellence with our curated highlights. Each feature showcases outstanding creativity, innovation, and impact from the design world. Discover inspiration and learn more about these incredible achievements.
