Rooted in Bamboo: How Kawayan Ecopark Reclaims Cultural Identity Through Architecture and Craft

Once seen as a modest building material, bamboo is experiencing a revival in the Philippines—as a cornerstone of sustainable design and a renewed expression of Filipino identity.

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In General Trias, Cavite, a bold vision has taken shape through Kaway’an EcoPark, where Luzon’s largest bamboo structure now rises among fields and walkways.

Designed with reverence and ambition, the Pavilion is more than an architectural feat. It is a statement—about who we are, where we come from, and how we move forward.

For developer Rosie Tsai, CEO of Citihomes Builder and Development, Inc. (CBDI), the journey began not with bamboo, but with a question: how can we create something that uplifts communities, respects nature, and offers something lasting?

“We’ve built homes for decades, but Kaway’an gave us a chance to build something deeper,” she shares. “It’s not just an eco-park—it’s a space that reconnects people with the land and with each other.”

At the core of that reconnection is bamboo. Long present in Filipino homes and ancestral structures, it was once taken for granted—too common to be considered elegant, too fragile to be deemed lasting. But in Kaway’an, bamboo is reimagined as both structure and symbol. “I’ve always loved bamboo,” Tsai says. “It grows fast, it bends with the wind, and when treated right, it lasts. It reminds me of the Filipino spirit.”