DAVAO CITY – Learning Philippine architecture can now be fun. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts together with Swito Designs, a subsidiary of Swito Twins, Inc., a Davao-based social enterprise, is exhibiting playable prototypes of the BALAY-BALAY 3D Architecture Puzzles from August 28 to September 5, 2015 at the Ground Floor of Abreeza Mall, Davao City.

The interactive exhibit entitled “BALAY-BALAY Ta!” (Let’s Play House!) invites the public to learn more about Philippine architecture by building the 3D architecture puzzles of the first BALAY-BALAY 3D model, the Maranao torogan. The torogan is the ancestral communal house of the Maranao royalty known for its intricately carved panolong (beam-ends) with okir designs.

The 3D model of the torogan BALAY-BALAY architecture puzzle was designed by Kim Vale, a Fine Arts graduate of the Ford Academy of the Arts in Davao City. The BALAY-BALAY 3D Architecture Puzzles torogan design was based on published studies of the torogan, including Dr. Abdullah T. Madale’s book “The Maranaw Torogan”. The architecture thesis of Henna S. Dazo, which includes architectural drawings of the existing torogan in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur also served as a basis for the puzzle design. Dazo recently graduated from BS Architecture at the University of the Philippines-Mindanao.

BALAY-BALAY 3D Architecture Puzzles project head Architect Gloryrose A. Dy, another alumna of UP-Mindanao and president of the United Architects of the Philippines-North Davao chapter, proposed the project to The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) last year, with aims to create an educational toy that would engage children in learning and appreciating Filipino architecture.“My vision is that every Filipino child would know what a torogan is. When I was in first year BS Architecture, I did not know there were other Filipino traditional houses because we were taught that we only have the “bahay kubo” in high school and elementary. Now, I want to disprove this notion. With the BALAY-BALAY 3D Architectural Puzzles, I hope that Filipino children would know more of their local and traditional architecture and be proud of their Filipino heritage. This is how we can contribute to national building – by starting with the education of our young.” The project received funding from the NCCA for workshops and exhibitions this year. It is set to tour Marawi City, Cagayan de Oro City, and Manila after the Davao exhibit for a series of workshops and exhibits.

Through the workshops and exhibits, the BALAY-BALAY 3D Architectural Puzzles team also expects to gather significant information and feedback from the participants on the design of the torogan3D puzzle for further improvements on the prototype. The Team is targeting the commercial release of the BALAY-BALAY 3D Architectural Puzzles torogan design in 2016.

For more information about the upcoming Davao City exhibition and workshops, visit Balaybalay3D , email: balaybalay3darchitecturepuzzle@gmail.com or contact project coordinator Angely Chi at 0908-547-0950 and 321-4416.