Lesson 4: Philippine Architecture

• Architecture - art and science of a building

  origin/Greek: arkhitekton

  Latin: architectura

  arkhi: chief

  tekton: builder, carpenter, or mason
• Pre-colonial Indigenous Architecture

  1. Cave and Rock Shelters - earliest records of this is found in Palawan. Early Filipinos are nomadic.
• Pre-colonial era

  • tent-like shelters and tree houses serves as their homes
  • Native's houses were rectangular in shape and built on stilts so it may be lifted and transported to a new site.
• Spanish Colonial Influence

  1. Chinese Influence - red air-dried bricks

  - lion figures made of granite

  >San Agustin Church (Pampanga) - has red adobe bricks and the iconic stone bell tower in its facade; has a beautiful garden by the courtyard.
• Spanish Colonial Influence

  2. Moorish/Islamic Influence

  • evident in mosques, tombs, palaces, and forts
  • large domes, minarets, and courtyards convey power
• Architecture of Churches

  • Catholicism is the symbol of Spain's major funding/endownment in the Philippines
  • The most glorious colonial churches are found in Panay, Cebu, Bohol, Ilocos Region, Laguna, Batangas
• Romanesque Architecture

  • originated in Medieval Europe
  • semi-circular arches around the structure

  example: Manila Cathedral "Mother Church of the Philippines", Santa Cruz Parish Church
• Baroque Architecture

  • Domes and towers as focal points and symbols of grandeur
  • Curvilinear forms, including curves, ovals, and ellipses
  • Illusionistic techniques, trompe-l'oeil painting and forced perspective, to create the illusion of depth space and movement
• Construction of churches

  Mainly influenced by the environmental conditions of the country (ex. natural disasters, fire, and attacks)
• Gothic Architecture

  • evolved from the Romanesque style, but the structures were modified to be perceived as tall, stronger, and complex.

  example. San Sebastian Church
• Antillean Style

  • European
  • tweaked to suit the tropical climate of the Philippines
  • had its own Filipino and unique character

  example. Zamboanga City Hall - huge cut stones as exterior walls to suits the Philippines' warm climate while inside flooring with Molave hardwood.
• American and Japanese Influence

  • structures were built to serve as government buildings
  • akin to Greek or Roman constructions

  examples

  >Manila Central Post Office (1926) - the country's main mail sorting-distribution operations

  Designer: Juan M. Arellano and Tomas Mapua

  >Philippine General Hospital (1910) - pediments, colonnades, and a symmetrical layout

  Designer: William Parsons
• The Late 20th Century

  1. Brutalist Architecture - French phrase "beton brut" = raw or unfinished concrete; establishes the right of building materials and structural features to be seen, admired, and even celebrated.
• The Late 20th Century

  2. The New Millenium - embraced the tripartite decision of columnar architecture (Tower-on-the-Podium)

  - "green architecture" is generated to fight climate change and to minimize negative results of high rise structures.

  -"late modernists" "neo-modernists" "super modernists
• Tree House - mostly built by tribes of Luzon
• Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut) - commond design all over the country
• Bale/Fale - Igorot housing in Northern Luzon Island
• Gono/Gono Bong - T'boli tribe, Easter and South Eastern region of Mindanao
• Torogan house - housing of Maranaoans, Mindanao