A 23-year-old Filipino inventor has just won a multi-thousand dollar prize for designing a cheap bamboo house that could be assembled in 4 hours.

Earl Forlales, who is from Manila, designed his "CUBO" housing as a means of solving the housing crisis in his home country. He drew inspiration for the innovative design from his grandparents' bamboo cabin outside the city.

This week, the engineering grad was given the top $64,000 prize by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) for their Cities for Our Future competition. Forlales plans on using money to begin construction on the houses during the coming year.

Materials for the modular CUBO homes cost just $64 (£50) to manufacture—and growing the sustainable material will release 35% more oxygen than trees would, without causing soil degradation. He estimates being able to rent the housing for 0.20£ per person per day.

"The world's cities are growing all the time and there is a real need to make sure they are safe, clean and comfortable places to live for future generations," said John Hughes, the competition's head judge and Rics president.

"There were many exciting, original designs among the submissions. However, Earl's idea stood out for its simple yet well thought through solution to the world's growing slum problem.

"As we look at our entrants, who are our next generation of leaders, I believe that real progress will be made in tackling the world's biggest issues."

See an overview video of how this design can serve as a great alternative for very low-income housing… (Note: The audio is only music, so you can turn speaker down.)

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