Palafox pushes ‘green architecture’
ARCHITECT-Urban Planner Felino “Jun” Palafox Jr. has pushed for “green architecture” — projects that create buildings that have minimal impact on human health and the environment.
At The Manila Times’ Philippine Model Cities and Municipalities Business Forum held on Thursday in Manila, Palafox said “green architecture” had started to sprout, citing masterplans in Siargao and Corregidor.
“Many tourists now, especially the younger ones, prefer environment-friendly, green sustainable tourism, buildings and facilities,” he said.
The urban planner emphasized that sustainable tourism is part of their advocacy in building structure designs, noting that architects should go beyond designing structures and should include caring for the environment.
On the use of roads, Palafox said those without wheels should have more space.
“One-third for people, pedestrians and bicycles. One-third for trees and landscaping. And one-third for moving traffic lanes or vehicles. It takes about 10 trees to recover the oxygen out of the carbon monoxide per car,” he explained.
He reiterated that pedestrians should be given top priority, followed by bicycles, public transport and private cars.
The architect observed that Metro Manila lacks space and parks because it is fragmented.
He proposed the building of elevated walkways on the central business districts along EDSA to solve traffic congestion.
“EDSA is designed for 60 kilometers per hour. Today, it’s only 11 kilometers per hour. We have been promoting elevated walkways, bicycles and different kinds of transportation,” he said.
Palafox said he had pushed for the building of bridges and tunnels to interconnect Philippine islands since the 1970s.
“Now, it is starting to be done. From Laoag, Ilocos Norte to Davao in Mindanao. It would take only three hours in a fast train,” he said.
Palafox also proposed 10 circumferential roads, bridges and tunnels to connect Bataan, Pampanga, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon and other areas in Central Luzon.