HANDOUT 4

• From 1565 to 1898 the Philippines was a colony of Spain
• During the Spanish colonial period, Spanish-influenced architecture appeared, including the iglesia or simbahan (church) and its adjoining campanario (bell tower) and convento (residence of the parish priest), the escuela (school), the fuerza or fortaleza (fortification), the civic buildings like the casa realand tribunal, the farola (lighthouses), the bahay na bato (dwellings of wood and stone), and the puente (stone bridges)
• The expedition led by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi succeeded in establishing settlements in Cebu, Panay and Luzon


  1565
• The first structures were made of light materials- bamboo, wood, palm, and grass- which the natives used
• Arquitectura mestiza


  A term used by the Jesuit Ignacio Alzina as early as 1668 to describe a type of construction that was partly of wood and partly of stone
• The actual business of building was done by what were then known as the maestros de obras (master builders), who were natives with practical experience and additional skills learned from the friars, engineers, and other knowledgeable persons
• With the discovery of stone quarries in the 1580s by Bishop Salazar and Fr. Sedeño, the art of masonry slowly developed throughout the islands
• Buildings of cut stone, such as those in Manila, were described as de silleria or de cal y canto
• Building stone, better known as Mexican "adobe", abounded in many places in the vicinity of Manila
• The quarrying of stones and architectural treatment of these stone structures in Intramuros during the 17th Century were undertaken by the Sangleys
• Outside Manila the skill of cutting stone spread only gradually, and buildings were erected using variously shaped rocks and river stones, known as rubblework or de mamposteria
• The art of making bricks was also introduced at the same time as building in stone, producing ladrillos (bricks), tejas (roof tiles), and baldosas (floor tiles)
• Stones and bricks were cemented together using argamasa (mortar), a mixture of powdered lime and water
• Mortar was also used to protect masonry walls from erosion and moisture, and was sometimes carved to provide ornamentation for facades and entrances
• Mortar, applied over a screen of interwoven branches and wooden slats, produced a thin wall known as tabique pampango, which was used primarily for partitions between rooms but sometimes also as exterior walls
• Glass was rarely used, and window panes were made from the translucent capiz clam instead
• Modern materials, such as galvanized iron sheets and Portland cement, were introduced towards the last decades of the 19th century
• Under more than three centuries of Spanish initiative, buildings of wood, stone, and brick were constructed all over the archipelago, and can be classified into four main groups: military, religious, domestic, and civil
• Reduccíon


  An urbanizing program where the small, scattered clusters of native settlements were forced to consolidate into compact villages that could be reached easily by colonial authorities
• The Laws of the Indies, developed from Spain's urban planning experience in the Americas as well as theories of Classical and Renaissance urban design, encapsulated the building regulations and zoning stipulations for the new towns
• Plaza Complex


  • The main plaza or plaza mayor, with a gridiron pattern of streets, surrounded by prominent buildings of colonial governance, the marketplace, and residences of various social classes
• Spanish colonial architecture approximated European models to convey the material and technological superiority, and the power of the colonial institution that made it possible
• Bahay na Bato


  A strongly-built and more permanent house made of stone and wood, developed during the Spanish period, patterned after the sturdy stone-constructed, huge Antillian house
• Parts of the Bahay na Bato


  • Zaguan
  • Cuadra
  • Bodega
  • Entresuelo
  • Patio
  • Caida
  • Sala
  • Comedor
  • Cocina
  • Dispensa
  • Comun or latrina
  • Baño or Paliguan
  • Azotea
  • Cuarto, Alcoba and Dormitorio
  • Balcon
  • Aljibe
• Materials used in Bahay na Bato


  • Stonewalls using adobe, marble, volcanic tuff, granite slabs, and bricks from clay
  • Mortar made of lime, sand, and water
  • Wooden posts of molave and ipil
  • Yakal for floor joists and narra for floor boards
  • Clay tile and nipa for roof covering, later replaced by galvanized iron sheets
• Other elements of Bahay na Bato


  • Barandillas (carved wooden balusters of the stairs)
  • Persinas (wooden jalousies)
  • Ventanillas (small windows with grilles)
  • Tapancos or media aguas (window awnings)
  • Calado (tracery in the upper wall above the window)
• Ceilings were decorated with paintings directly on the wooden boards or on canvases, and mouldings were occasionally used on walls and ceilings
• European influenced furniture, draperies, tapestries, and carpets, as well as paintings, were used as decorative elements and furnishings
• Flooring


  • Wooden pegs, wood joinery works, wrought iron nails used as fasteners
  • Space below for food droppings to be swept down
• Roof covering


  • Clay tile and nipa used but later replaced by galvanized iron sheets due to weakness against earthquake and fire
• Other architectural elements


  • Barandillas- carved wooden balusters of the stairs
  • Persinas- wooden jalousies
  • Ventanillas- small windows beneath large window sills, often with grilles
  • Tapancos or media aguas- window awnings
  • Calado- tracery found in upper wall above window
• Ceilings


  • Decorated with paintings directly on wooden boards or on canvases
  • Mouldings occasionally used
• Furnishings in sala


  • European influenced furniture, draperies, tapestries, carpets, paintings, porcelain jars, piano
• Biombos


  • Free-standing partitions used to separate areas of different functions
• Caida


  • Receiving area for professional head of house, may have desk and kapiya (church pew-like furniture)
• Plateras


  • Glass-panelled cabinets used for display of silverware
• Mesa platera and trichante


  • Waist-high cabinets used as service tables for food from kitchen
• Punkah


  • Ceiling cloth fan placed lower than chandelier over table, used for driving away flies
• Kitchen furnishings


  • Paminggalan- for storing leftover food
  • Dapogan- cooking apparatus
  • Horno- brick oven
  • Banggera- where wet utensils are left to dry
• Bedrooms


  • Four-poster bed as most ornate piece of furniture
  • Also contain desk, mirrored dresser, pitcher and porcelain basin, chests, closets, almario for linens, pillows and blankets