Slater Young's Banaue Rice Terraces-inspired condo project draws mixed reactions

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 29) — Netizens are divided over actor and engineer Slater Young's latest real estate project dubbed, "The Rise at Monterrazas," which will be built beside a mountain in Cebu.

In his vlog uploaded last Thursday, Young said it took them 300 different versions before coming up with an idea of a Banaue Rice Terraces-inspired condominium.

"We got inspired by working with nature and the biggest inspiration for us was how us Filipinos worked with nature in the past," he said.

"We got inspired by the Banaue Rice Terraces. So instead of a normal building which is typically straight up and down. We kind of worked with the terrain. We just pushed everything towards the terrain and just followed the flow of the mountain," Young added.

The engineer also said he wanted the mountainside project to be "as sustainable as possible."

Young's project was quickly met with criticisms on social media, pointing out serious environmental risks of the soon-to-be-built condominium.

"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," a social media user said.

"I hope people who are advocating against Sierra Madre being destroyed are also seeing the picture regarding Slater Young's project. This isn't something people should take lightly considering Cebu was greatly devastated during Odette," another user said.

Some netizens, however, praised Young for his innovative agricultural design.

"A smart, genius, unique, and brilliant idea on this project… first in the Philippines to have this condo design on the mountain," a Facebook user said.

"Magnificent architectural design, so proud of this creative Filipino behind this project. Very sophisticated," another user wrote.

Young has yet to comment on the issue.