Banaue, Ifugao
View of West Facade from Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mountain Province Road
View from Banaue-Mayoyao Road
View from Banaue-Mayoyao Road at night
View from Entrance Drive
Covered Entrance Plaza opening out to View of Terraces ahead, with Main Lobby at right
Main Lobby
Main Lobby at Night with Allegorical Ifugao Ritual in Fireplace Ornamental Screen
Spa and Pool
Spa and Pool at night
Youth Hostel
Evening View of West Facade from Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mountain Province Road
Architectural Design Statement for the Proposed Banaue Hotel Renovation
February 19, 2017
The goal of our proposed renovation is to make Banaue Hotel
a meaningful and memorable instrument for the interpretation and understanding
of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Rice Terraces of the Philippine
Cordilleras.
We propose to open up the spaces to the views. Beginning
with the visitors’ arrival, we take them immediately to the purpose of their
visit, the view of the terraces. The Main Lobby is transformed from a dark
cavern into a steel, glass and wood abstraction of the Ifugao hut, with steel
elements that mimic the wood original.
Succeeding experiences will be opportunities to further
understand the culture and story of the Ifugao.
The rooms will be divided into four room clusters, named
Banaue, Hungduan, Kiangan, and Mayoyao, and their decoration will reflect the
colors and cultural specificity of their namesake terrace clusters. The
exteriors will be painted the color of Ifugao rice.
The ornament we use will derive from Ifugao ritual and
narrative. For example, the iron fireplace screen at the very center of the
Main Lobby will contain abstracted images of ritual dancers, whose shadows will
dance in response to the dance of the fire.
The wood screens in the public spaces will also carry Ifugao
narrative. In Tinawon Restaurant, named after the rice grown only in Ifugao, we
propose a continuous carved wooden screen at the transom level of the glass
wall that tells the story of early Ifugaos teaching the gods how to cook with
fire in exchange for the special rice called Tinawon.
For the name of the bar, we suggest Tapuy, the word for the
Ifugao wine made from rice. The ballroom/convention hall could be named Gotad-A
Pavilion, after the term used for great feast.
The over-all impact is to help the world understand and
appreciate the Ifugao and the unique culture that produced this unique and
world-class cultural landscape.
