Here are the honorees of the second Haligi ng Dangal Awards
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, development, and promotion of Philippine arts and culture, revealed this year’s recipients of the Haligi ng Dangal Awards last Saturday, November 24, 2018, at the Marble Hall, Ayuntamiento de Manila. All the awards were formally conferred to both professional and their respective built structures.
The Haligi ng Dangal is a biennial award granted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts through the National Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts, which recognizes “completed/executed works in Architecture and the Allied Professions, namely: Landscape Architecture, Interior Design, and Environmental Planning.” It is bestowed upon works which embodies the Filipino cultural identity, and unceasingly encourages the subsistence of the Filipino spirit, all the while cultivating the improvement of the Filipino built environment.
Apart from the three major categories, a separate citation for the People’s Choice Award, which allowed public participation in the nomination and decision process through online voting.
The award aims to reinforce the awareness of the position taken by design and designers, specifically that of architecture and its integrated profession in the social, economic, and environmental development of the Philippines.
The panel of Jurors for the 2018 Haligi ng Dangal Awards included Arch. Rogelio D. Caringal, head of NCCA-National Committee on Architecture and the Allied Arts; LArch. Jose Antonio P. Bimbao, PALA president; IDr. Lilia C. De Jesus, PIID president; and Arch. Joel V. Rico, UAP deputy executive director.
Here are the four honorees of the Haligi ng Dangal 2018:
ARCHITECTURE
Streetlight Tagpuro by Leandro V. Locsin Partners
Designed through participatory planning initiatives in the company of the local community, the Streetlight Tagpuro project underlines and integrates the bayanihan, a Filipino custom that stands for “being in a bayan,” which denotes the spirit of shared unity in achieving a particular goal. This project recognizes the pride of place and generation of significance through the articulation of local identity. An architecture crafted in harmony with culture, context, and climate, the Steetlight Tagpuro provides a lightweight yet resilient typhoon-resistant structure.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Iloilo River Esplanade by PGAA Creative Design
The Iloilo River Esplanade, which extends for more than a kilometer, produces an effervescent space, a revolutionary landscape work with the aim to enliven the once neglected riverbank. The esplanade recovered a major thoroughfare for the benefit of pedestrians, forming a space of public empowerment. Along with the program’s goal to rehabilitate the Iloilo river is the creation of a space for leisure and tranquility, a conversation between river, city, and its people.
INTERIOR DESIGN
The Henry Hotel by IDr. Eric Paras
A transformed mid-century residence, it outlines modernist aesthetics with period accurate vintage pieces, supplemented by dashes of contemporary facilities. The Henry Hotel captures the Filipino nostalgia through its form, and expresses the Filipino identity through its use of local design and art within a remarkable space.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Valenzuela People Park By LArch. Renato A. Heray
Attending to the impulse for open area within the highly urbanized place, the Valenzuela City People’s Park supplies a space for recreation. It carefully incorporates endemic trees and local flora in its 1.5 hectare greenfield development, presenting a tropical sanctuary amongst the industrialized locality. This community-centric multifunctional park is crafted to cater and respond to the needs of Valenzuelanos who long for alfresco spaces. The Valenzuela People’s Park has received 18,498 online votes from the netizens.
The Haligi ng Dangal Awards is brought to you by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, with its institutional partners, United Architects of the Philippines, Philippine Institute of Interior Designers, Philippine Association of Landscape Architects, and the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners. Its media partners include Real Living PH and BluPrint. 
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Photos from Haligi ng Dangal Awards via Facebook
