Slater Young's new real estate project elicits mixed reactions from social media users
Slater Young has been a hot topic online since he unveiled his new real estate project.
In a vlog posted on YouTube on Aug. 24, the engineer and content creator shared how he thought of the concept of the residential condominium that will be nestled on the side of a mountain in Cebu.
"We had three pillars in mind when we were designing this. We wanted to be architecturally forward, something that Cebu or the Philippines has never seen before," he said.
"We wanted it to be not just maganda tignan but very, very useable din and may added benefit to the user," he continued, adding that they want it to be "as sustainable as possible" since they are building it on a mountainside.
According to the TV personality, the project was inspired by the Banaue Rice Terraces. "The biggest inspiration for us was how us, Filipinos, worked with nature in the past. We got inspired by the Banaue Rice Terraces. So instead of a normal building which is typically straight up and down, we kind of like worked with the terrain," he shared.
“We pushed everything towards the mountain and just worked with the terrain. Each and every space was pushed towards the back. With that, we were able to create this free-flowing design. But not only that—this whole structure is now spread out across the mountain, making it a whole lot safer and less 'yung environmental impact natin,” added Young.
Young's latest project was met with mixed reactions from Internet users, with some pointing out the beauty of the soon-to-rise establishment.
"The transition, the render, the montage, the actual model, I cannot express how amazed I am by this development. We rarely get to see developments like this where they truly embraced nature and creativity + function," a social media user commented.
Another one described it as "nothing short of glorious." A YouTube user said: "Such a beautiful organic yet modern-looking work. This is what the future should look like. Also, a good demonstration of why design is and should always be an iterative process."
Other social media users, meanwhile, found the green building agenda conflicting as it would supposedly destroy the natural environment for its construction.
"I hope people who are advocating against Sierra Madre being destroyed are also seeing the picture re: Slater Young's project. It's just the same thing: kakabulhin ang kalikasan. This isn't something people should take lightly considering Cebu was greatly devastated during Odette," a user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"The 'Banaue inspired' design of Slater Young is breathtaking, but the irony of having a green architecture agenda while destroying the natural environment. In exchange for what? A luxury condo hotel. It's a no for me," another one wrote.
"Truly amazing yet terrifying. Once destroyed, nature's beauty cannot be repurchased at any price," an X user said.
PhilSTAR L!fe has reached out to Slater Young for comment, but has yet to receive a reply.