2019-03-01ReadersDigest_AUNZ

10 | March• 2019

News Worth Sharing

 C

heap and easily erected

bamboo houses are a

potential solution to the

current housing crisis in the

Philippines. Designed by material

science engineering graduate Earl

Forlales, 23, the Manila-based

inventor was inspired by his

grandparents’ rural bamboo cabin

to create the environmentally

friendly ‘CUBO’ house. Materials for

a small modular house are

estimated to cost just over A$

per square metre. Using bamboo

compared to trees could mean 35

per cent more oxygen released and

less degradation of soil. Forlales was

awarded a prestigious Cities

of Our Future prize from the

international Royal Institute of

Chartered Surveyors (RICS) for his

invention and is planning to begin

construction this year in an attempt

to help relieve housing pressures in

Manila. The houses are estimated to

take a week to manufacture and just

four hours to assemble – another

factor in the judges’ decision.

Low-Cost Bamboo House Takes Just Hours to Build

COMPILED BY KATHY BUCHANAN

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY EARL FORLALES; 3M NEWS CENTRE