A PROPOSED SPIRITUAL RETREAT CENTER Gumaca, Quezon

The Philippines prides itself as the only Christian nation in Asia. More than 86% of the population is Roman Catholic while 6% belongs to various nationalized Christian cults, and another 2% belong to well over 100 Protestant denominations (Asia Society, 2019). This makes the country a melting pot for different cultures and religion. Moreover, Quezon Province also has its own fair share of historical-religious architecture since the land was traditionally developed by the Spaniards who brought Catholicism to the country. A total 2.49% of the country’s Catholic population belongs to Quezon Province (Rappler, 2015). The province is dominated by the Catholic population but it also has other different religious sectors such as Jehova’s Witness, Iglesia ni Kristo, The Church of Jesus and Latter Day Saints, and different churches composed of Born Again Christians. The Proposed Spiritual Retreat Center will be located at the Municipality of Gumaca in Quezon Province. Since Gumaca is a small coastal area that is far from the busy city, (PhilAtlas, 2019) the location is considered ideal for the project which is a retreat center that requires to be built in a quiet and serene place an attribute that the town of Gumaca has. The nearest retreat center within the area of Gumaca is at the towns of Malicboy and Pagbilao. This project therefore is beneficial for the people of Gumaca including the locals from nearby towns who need have to travel far for spiritual rejuvenation. The retreat center will be open to all religious sectors. The vision of this project is to offer a place that connects people to nature. It is a place where one can relax the mind, body and soul. It offers serenity and calmness brought by nature through the proposed concept of the project. This is about a building designed that paid sufficient attention to the natural rhythms of human neurobiology which can result into conscious joy. There are many examples of how physical form, properly attuned to natural structure that can evoke a human response everywhere along the continuum of conscious to subconscious emotion (Salingaros, 2015). The target proponent of the project is the Catholic Diocese of Gumaca but as previously mentioned, the retreat center will also encourage the participation of people from other religious sectors. The retreat center will guarantee that the adults, teens and children who seek spiritual intervention can be helped. Overall the project will be beneficial to all of those who need counseling and other types of spiritual therapy.