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B’faluy Restoration & Green Tourism in the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
By Raymond Aquino Macapagal Aquino Macapagal
Published on 7 May 2024
Architecture, Cultural Tourism
The so-called b’faluy is one of the very few enduring styles of Philippine Cordillera montane architecture. Its environmentally-responsive design makes it a prime example of vernacular architecture which evolved with the rice-growing cultural landscape. However, the advent of modern architecture, climate change, and landscape conversion threatens the existence of these traditional granary houses. With growing families and little buildable land, people in the area opt to knock down their b’faluys and replace them with typical cement houses. Variations in weather patterns and the clearing of forests for agriculture have also resulted in shortages of materials used for constructing these traditional wooden houses. The speaker’s research and advocacy work since 2007 at the Batad Kadangyan Ethnic Lodges Project in the town of Banaue has brought about several successful adaptive b’faluy restorations and many learned lessons. The rethinking of the b’faluy demonstrates how vernacular architecture continues to evolve with a cultural landscape that is constantly modified by social movements and climate change.