Return to the Water

In this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, the Philippine Pavilion dives into a tenacious urban struggle, using the Estero de Tripa de Gallina as a portrait of a flawed ecology

- Franz Sorilla IV

Flowing to Manila Bay through the Pasig River, the 7.6-kilometrelong Tripa de Gallina is considered the longest estuary in the Philippine capital. Though it is a significant tributary running from Pasay to Makati, it ironically needs to work on mitigating flooding and drain water due to congestion of residents and trash. This longstanding concern and its effects on Metro Manila's urban living conditions prompted this year's Philippine Pavilion representatives at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale to propose an architectural solution grounded on empathy, collaboration, reflection and gathering.

The Architecture Collective (TAC)— composed of Bien Alvarez, Matthew Gan, Archt Lyle La Madrid, Noel Narciso, and Arnold Rañada— mounts at the Arsenale the exhibition titled Tripa de Gallina: Guts of Estuary, co-curated by Archt Choie Funk and Sam Domingo. It offers a diagnosis of the water’s condition and a prognosis of the people’s future.

“It’s one step to more action for our country to realise that water is a part of our lives more than most nations. Hopefully, it’s the thing that makes people realise that we should have a relationship with water,” says Narciso, the project coordinator for TAC. He reinforces: “I see it as a return to the water. Water is becoming less accessible every day. And I think if we don’t return to it, or put it as a guiding principle in design, which is the core resource of humanity, then it is of consequence.”