Slater Young just unveiled his latest project, The Rise At Monterrazas aka "Skypod 3.0," and it's drawn mixed reactions from netizens.
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On August 25, Friday, the engineer-content creator uploaded a video on his YouTube channel wherein he went through the property in detail, explaining the thought process behind its concept and design.
The Rise At Monterrazas is situated in Cebu City's Guadalupe area, which Slater described as the city's biggest residential barangay. The project, which is built on a mountainside, takes inspiration from the Banaue rice terraces.
"We had three pillars in mind when we were designing this," Slater pointed out. "We want it to be architecturally forward, something that Cebu or the Philippines has never seen before; we wanted it to be not just magandang tingnan pero very, very usable din and may added benefit to the user; and lastly—because we’re building on a mountainside—we want the project to be as sustainable as possible."
Just like rice terraces, The Rise features similar strips of greenery, which Slater explained would be cultivated by a built-in irrigation system, similar to those used in farms.
"This entire building will be collecting all the rainwater to a tank down below and meron tayong irrigation system—it’s a drip irrigation system—that makes the entire strip of garden in front of you virtually maintenance-free," Slater said in the video. "That is one of the sustainable solutions na ginawa namin dito."
Slater described work on The Rise as "working with nature", "pushing the terrain", and "following the flow of the mountain".
As with any construction undertaking, it entails changing an area's natural landscape, something that Slater says they thought about carefully.
"Spread out across the mountain making it a whole lot safer and less yung environmental impact natin," he emphasized.
Other sustainability features that Slater highlighted were solar-powered amenities and charging facilities for electric cars.
While many netizens praised what appears to be an engineering marvel, others expressed concern. In spite of Slater's lengthy presentation, netizens—especially those based in Cebu City—weren't so keen on The Rise as they felt building it would require significant damage to the environment.
One netizen remarked, "I hope people who are advocating against Sierra Madre being destroyed are also seeing the picture re: Slater Young's project. It's just the same thing: Kakalbuhin ang kalikasan. This isn't something people should take lightly considering Cebu was greatly devastated during Odette."
Another netizen stated, "Not to be a hater, pero fully being a hater, does Slater Young and his team realize the irony of 'green architecture' while destroying a literal mountainside or are their [brain stems] incapable of critical thought?"
"That new project by Slater Young is an environmental disaster," yet another netizen commented. "Go ahead, keep cutting trees and deforesting mountains, when we already know the Philippines is disaster-prone and will only experience more storms and flooding i in the coming years due to climate change."
As of this posting, Slater has limited who may comment on his IG upload on The Rise At Monterrazas.
Watch Slater's video on The Rise here:
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