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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Cultural Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and

what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both

irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration (UNESCO,1972).

Cultural Heritage Center The center includes cultural facilities such as

museums and theatres. Showcasing the traditions of indigenous cultural

communities (i.e. festivals, rituals), and their values and lifestyles. Cultural

Heritage: is a basic need (Sada Mire, 2014). The legacy of physical artifacts and

intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations,

maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. It is

a widely accepted fact that preservation of cultural heritage is important and it is

also used as a tool and a key factor in economic development and to increase the

level of tourism (Cuccia & Cellini, 2007).

South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre, South Dakota, opened in

1989 is the headquarters of the South Dakota State Historical Society. The center

houses the State Historical Society’s administrative, historic preservation,

and research and publishing offices, also the home of the State Archives and
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Museum. Its mission: to “collect, preserve, exhibit, and publish” materials on the

history of the state. The 63,000-square-foot underground building serves as a

reminder of the earth-berm lodges of the Arikara Indians that historically lived

throughout the Missouri River Valley. Most of the building is underground. It is as

long as two football fields. Native grasses grow outside. It has a museum, archives,

and library. The building’s construction provides optimum climate control, energy

efficiency, and minimum potential for damage to artifacts housed in the collections

of the Museum and Archives (history.sd.gov,2012).

Mangyan Heritage Center (MHC) is a library, archive, and research &

education center located in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. The MHC

promotes awareness of the indigenous peoples of the island of Mindoro. The idea

of building a heritage center for the Mangyans was born in the early 1960s, when

Antoon Postma, then a missionary priest, worked with Mangyan communities in

Mansalay. Postma was able to see, live, and feel the beauty of the Mangyan

culture, and started to document it. “If the environmental crises facing the world

today were simply a matter of information, knowledge, and skills, then we would

be heading out of these dangers” (Mangyan.org, 2016).

Lake Sebu is the most visited Municipality in South Cotabato by its own

Heavenly nature and people. Lang Dulay is a National Living Treasure Awardee

(Manlilikha ng Bayan) which is a prestigious award given to her in 1998 by her one

of a kind talent in weaving T’nalak cloth. The Department of Tourism (DOT) is

planning to invest starting next year on various eco-tourism ventures in the scenic
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lakeside town of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato through its livelihood grants initiative

for grassroots tourism entrepreneurs. (Sunstar. 2007).

The Lake Sebu officials focusing on the design strategies and develop

programs in order to protect and preserve the Cultural wealth. National Living

Tradition (SLT) of R.A. No. 7355, a program recognized for their work and

contribution to the creation, growth, and support of traditional arts in the

Philippines. This program needs a facility that will help them conduct the programs

effectively and efficiently. So, the researcher will consider to study and to provide

the most strategic building needs for the people of this community for their learning

and sustainable development.

Client

Municipality of Lake Sebu

Organization History. Lake Sebu is a 1st class municipality in the province

of South Cotabato, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population

of 87,442 people. It was declared a municipality on November 11, 1982. A

plebiscite was held on October 15, 1983, one year after the passage of BP 249,

an act creating Lake Sebu into a new municipality of South Cotabato. It is situation

at the southwestern part of the province, approximately 40 kilometers from the

regional center, Koronadal City, and capital of the province of South Cotabato. The

Summer and the Eco-Cultural Center of south Cotabato,

Client’s Visions. Paradise of Southern Philippines.

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Client’s Mission. To promote the total development of the constituent of

Lake Sebu especially the farmers, firshermen, indigenous people, and other

sectors of the community through the provision of the basic services, support local

initiative particularly entrepreneurship activities, involvement in the advocacy and

program implementation for environmental protection, preservation and

rehabilitation, adaption od participatory approach in development, strengthening

local network, NGO-GO Collaboration and support programs on Eco-Cultural

Tourism.

The Architectural Project

The project is a combination of museum, workshop classrooms, library, art

gallery, exhibit area, theater and crafts store displaying and selling the art work of

local artists as well as informing the visitors of the history and rich culture of T’boli.

The development will be composed of Cultural Heritage, Workshop Classrooms,

Restaurant and Store. Strategies applied access and circulation, parking, grading,

landscape, sustainability, infrastructure, maintenance and security and safety.

Green building practices used to enhance energy efficiency, indoor air quality and

natural daylighting. Natural building materials used to integrate the building with

the site. Materials may include wood, concrete, steel and other indigenous material

of the area. Consideration on to how these materials are used in each T’boli tribe

and obviously presented. The project is a Unified forms and elements representing

T’boli Culture, tradition and values.