Plowing through Obstacles, and Soaring to New Heights

Akin to a white egret’s chronicle of swift ascent from lush green plains, and vigorous flight through the challenging blue skies, the Central Mindanao Airport in Tawan-Tawan, M’lang, Cotabato, Philippines stands as a humble emulation of such perseverance and magnificence. Through the theme: “Liparan: Creating gateways that connect cultures”, this proposed project aims to be an enlivened model that pays tribute to the very land, culture, and people that mold and provide identity for the chosen site, as well as materialize as a host for the fulfillment of the goal of economic progress, community empowerment, culture enrichment, and sustainability. Following this, the proponents take inspiration from the agricultural scene of M’lang, Cotabato, as an identified glue that binds the municipal to the regional quintessence of region 12: SOCCSKSARGEN or Central Mindanao.

M’lang’s agriculture is the municipality’s hallmark of pride, and harbinger of progress, and in the aspect of this project, it is utilized as a blueprint for the airport’s identity, and expression of its purpose. Moreover, the project is specifically inspired by scenes in the rice fields where the blades of mechanical plows that rummage through the soil, and wetland birds, such as the egret, that lay perched in the puddled plain, paint a picture of endurance, adaptability, and progress. Aside from this, the municipality’s namesake, M’lang taken from the word “Tamlang” meaning bamboo, is also considered as the focal adornment for the interior of the airport where its abundance serves as a reminder to the users of its relevance to the municipality’s identity and origin as the users socialize and explore the terminal. With this, the proposed airport greatly values designing in harmony with its surroundings rather than dominating and rearing away from the terrain that cloaks the land in which it sits, as well as serving as a monumental gateway that can be distinguishable from other

Through such endeavor and approach, the proponents aim to establish Central Mindanao Airport as a unique and competent gateway to M’lang and the region’s culture, people, and economy; and following the prospects of technological integration 50 years from now, the proposed airport hopes to stand as a reminder of M’lang’s economic driver, its agriculture, as a way to juxtapose its relevance to technological advancement.