History of Phil - Architecture-A Milestone
History of Phil - Architecture-A Milestone
History of Phil - Architecture-A Milestone
The first inhabitants of the Philippine Islands arrived between 3000 and 2000 B.C. They were of
Malay-Polynesian descent called Austronesians.
The people lived in groups of 30-100 families in societies known as barangay. Headed by Datu
or Raha/Hari or Lakan
They were mainly an agricultural and fishing people, others were nomadic. Trade with
mainland Asia, especially China, was established by these people
In the 14th century, Islam was introduced in Sulu and the 15th C. in Mindanao
In 1521, Magellan stumbled upon the islands in his attempt to circumnavigate the world. This
was the introduction of the Philippines to the western world. What followed was 300 years of
rule by the Spanish and the acceptance of Roman-Catholicism, which led to the building of
many great Baroque churches.
In 1898, sovereignty was given to the Philippines and rule by the United States began. The
Philippines gained independence in 1946.
Caves and rock shelters like the Tabon Cave in Palawan served as shelter for early Filipinos.
Later on the invention of various tools allowed for the fabrication of tent-like shelters and tree
houses.
The emergence of Islam in the 14th C. in Sulu and the 15th C. in Mindanao led to the building
of Mosques, the masjid and the Mnggar in Tausug and Yakan or ranggar in Maranao, Maranao
Pagoda shaped mosques such as that in Taraka, Lanao del Sur show Javanese and Chinese
influence.
Philippine Architecture: Spanish Colonial Era
In 1544 the Franciscans built the first hospital in the Philippines, Hospital Real.
The 1573 royal ordinances of King Philip II, known as Laws of the Indies was prescibed and
stated that every town was to have a gridiron design (cuadricula) with a central square (plaza)
In 1583 Intramuros was destroyed by fire, requiring all new buildings to be costructed of stone
and tile.
The Bahay na Bato, typically two stories with the ground level made of massive cut stones or
brick walls and the upper level built of hardwood, emerged from the 17th to the 19th centuries
The last quarter of the 19th C. witnessed the rise of accesoria (apartment dwellings), single or
two stories high and having multiple units called viviendas.
School buildings surfaced: the colegio or universidad (urban areas) and the escuel primaria
(pueblos), a cluster of multi-story buildings in rectangular configuration with acentral
courtyard.
The leading edge technology available at that time was employed to build ports, roads,
bridges, lighthouses, railways, and streetcar systems.
In 1902, Americans introduced the use of the toilet via pail conservancy system or cubeta in
Manila.
In 1908 the concept of a well-planned neighborhood called Sanitary Barrio was introduced and
led to tsalet, a crossbreed of the tropical features of vernacular buildings with hygienic
structural principles and modern materials.
American architects Edgar K. Bourne and William E. Parsons steered Philippine architecture to
the proto-modernist route. Their works were characterized by unembellished facades with
large windows. Daniel H. Burnham, the father of the City Beautiful movement, was
commissioned to design master plans for Manila and Baguio. Burnham endorsed the
appointment of Beaux Arts-trained William Parsons as Consulting Architect (1905-1914) whose
contribution tolocal architecture includes;
In 1904 the construction of the Asylum for the insane in San Lazaro instigated the use of
concrete as the standard construction material for all government structures.
Buildings that defined the pre-war skyline of Manila include the El Hogar Filipino Building.
Hongkong Shanghai Bank Building, Filipinas Insurance Company Building, French Renaissance
Luneta Hotel and the Mariano Uy Chaco Building
Birth of the 1st Generation Filipino architects who were sponsored by colonial officials to
study architecture and Engineering in the US. Together with the maestros de obras like Arcadio
Arellano and Tomas Arguelles, they combined Beaux Arts elements - aesthetic proportions,
optical corrections- with the influence of modernism and the concepts of utility and honesty of
architecture.
The 2nd generation architects, namely Andres de Luna de San Pedro, Fernando Ocampo,
Pablo Antonio, and Juan Nakpil, emerged in the late 1920s & 30s and introduced Art Deco
characterized by exuberant exoticism and ornamentation as evident in the facades of these
buildings: Metropolitan Theater, ELPO Building, Mapua House and Bautista-Nakpil Pylon.
Philippine Architecture: Post-World War II Era
In 1947 a corps of architects and engineers were tasked to study the modern US and Latin
American capitals and formulate a master plan for Manila
Federico Ilustre, consulting architect from the 1950s to 1970s, worked on the building at the
Elliptical Road in Q.C. The centerpiece is the 65-meter high Art Deco Quezon Memorial
Monument, composed of 3 pylons topped by winged figures representing the 3 island groups.
The 1950s and 60s staple architectural element were the brise-soleil, glass walls, pierced
screens, and thin concrete shells.
The post-war doctrine was form follows function professed by the 3rd generation
architects, namely, Cesar Concio, Angel Nakpil, Alfredo Luz, Otillo Arellano,Felipe Mendoza,
Gabriel Formoso and Carlos Arguelles.
The 1950s also witnessed Space Age aesthetics and Soft modernism, which experimented
with the sculptural plasticity of poured concrete to come up with soft and sinuous organic
forms with the use of thin shell technology. Examples are:
Space Age- Victor Tiotuycoss UP International Center and Jose Zaragozas Union
Church
Soft Modernism: Church of the Holy Sacrifice, and Phil Atomic Research Center
In the 1950s the height of buildings was limited to 30 meters by law. With the amendment of
Manila ordinance No. 4131, a high-rise fever redefined Manilas skyline:
Angel Nakpils 12-storey Picache Building, considered as the 1st skyscraper in the Phils.
Cesar Concios Insular Life Building, the 1st office building to surpass the old 30-meter
height restriction
Philippine Architecture: The New Millenium
Exemplified by the garish application paste colors and the mixing and matching of ornaments
and styles.
Rise of master-planned micro-cities like Bay City, Eastwood City, Fort Bonifacio Global City and
Rockwell Center. Retail environments SM Mall of Asia, Gateway Mall, Trinoma, and Greenbelt
Mall: and gated communities of suburban pretensions.
Architects were labelled as late modernist and later as neo-modernist and super
modernist
Inspiration were drawn from aircraft technology, robotics, and cyberspace as demonstrated by
the One San Miguel Building, and the PBCom Tower, and the GT International Tower.
Materials such as reflective blue glass or aquamarine curtain walls, aluminum cladding,
metallic sun-visors, and metal mullions are mainstays of millennium skyscrapers.
Presence of architectural deconstruction, which is characterized physically by controlled
fragmentation, stimulating predictability, assymetrical geometries, and orchestrated chaos like
the works of Alexius Medalla, Eduardo Calma, and Joey Yupangco
Advances in CAD and CA manufacturing technologies
Implementation of :green architecture to reverse the negative impact of buildings on human
health and on the environment by enhancing efficiency and moderating the use of materials,
energy and space.
Introduction
Philippine architecture is very complex, since only few records have been
saved, we are still not sure of our own architecture. In our contemporary era, many
buildings are of the Spaniards and above inspiration. Multiple countries colonized us,
as this affects our architecture. Let us lapse to the period before the Spanish came.
What are the edifices seeable? Unlike other countries with records, we may have a bad
time discovering.
Nipa huts will surely come to our mind, also the banaue rice terraces, what
else?
Filipino Architecture is not indigenous. It is an admixture of the Muslim,
Malayan, chinese and Spanish influences. the indigenous tribes of the Philippines
which were quite a diverse group and of nomadic nature had little art of building to
speak of. Their architectural art was revealed in their houses of nipa, cogon and
bamboo. Although these simple buildings were not as enduring as the colossal
pyramids of Egypt nor as magnificent as the grand temple of Greece, yet they were
suitable to the tropical conditions of the islands.
II.
Climate
The climate in the Philippines is a tropical monsoon climate. The annual
lowland temperature is 80 degrees F (27 degrees C). It is marked by wet and dry
seasons.
a. Monsoons
Northeast Amihan
Southeast Habagat
III.
Geography
An archipelago of 7000+ islands with more than half of the land mountainous and hilly.
Land area: 299,681 square kilometers.\
Coastline: 17,500 kilometers.
Location: 4 degrees from the equator.
Known as Pearl of the Orient Seas
IV.
Geology
a. Domestic Structures characterized by lightness and airiness
b. Materials used in the Filipino house are found near the site. Depending on the ecology
of the area, the materials may differ around the Philippines. About 44% covered with
forest
The major Indigenous building materials used in pre-Spanish architecture are still abundant:
bamboo (kawayan),
rattan (yantok), various native woods, native palms like palma brava (anahaw),
and nipa palms, cane, and cogon.(a
long grass for thatching)
Stone and clay are sometimes used as well as bricks, limestone, marble, adobe, granite, coral
stone, asbestos, lime, gravel, sand
Many kinds of trees used for building construction
c. Wood variety: 3,800 species
d. Narra, Ipil, molave, yacal, guijo, apitong, tanguile, red and white lauan, almon,
palosapis, Benguet pine, tindalo, kamagong, among others.
e. Minerals - Gold, silver, iron, tin, nickel, copper, zinc, lead, manganese, chromite,
aluminum, platinum, uranium
V.
Religious
Worship includes the veneration of spirit: Anitos and Mangales, good and bad, respectively.
Bathala- creator of Heaven, Earth and men (Kabunyan for the Ifugaos and Laon or Alba
for the people in Visayas)
Animism
Good spirits: Anitos; bad spirits: Mangales
Sacrificing (took place in own home)
Post-Spanish Era
93% Christian (mostly Catholicism)
Influx of Spanish missionaries.
Churches
In 1380, the "Propagation of Islam" began in the Sulu Islands and Mindanao,
where Islam remains the major religion. The Muslim influence had spread as far north
as Luzon when Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521 to claim the archipelago for Spain.
These religions affected the architecture of the Filipinos, with superstitious
beliefs, people will do their best to protect their family. Moreover, their construction
consists of religious procedure: Site Selection, Time for building a house, rituals
before construction, etc.
Site Selection procedure
An egg is buried for 3 days,. On the fourth day it is unearthed, if the egg
shakes, the construction is postponed.
Many More
Rituals before starting Construction
Tausug House site must be as strong as the strength of the human body.
Only in specific months of the tausug calendar mast a house to be built.
Yakan When diiging for the post holes are done, they observes if there are
white ants or worm, if white ants lucky, worms corpse
make announcements. The laws carried many subjects such as marriage, inheritance,
loans, contracts, and
descents. The Code of Kalantiaw and the Code of
Maragtas were the oldest laws. They believed in auguries
and
superstitions.
Social Classes
a. Nobles Maharlikas
b. Freemen Timawas
c. Slaves - Alipin
VII.
Other Planning Details
Villages established their house near bodies of water or slashed and burned
agriculture.
1. The diet of early Filipinos are foods from the sea, animals like chicken,
pig, carabaos are for ritual or events.
2. Fishing implements provided more yield than those used for hunting
3. Water are means of good travel
4. Bodies of water were the major source for bathing, washing and
drinking
Plans
5. Plans were either square, rectangular or octagonal, most are elevated.
Avoiding floods and heat from ground.
6. Roofs are hipped, gabled or pyramidal in form with wooden or bamboo
framing
7. Stairs may be a single log.
8. Toilets are separate structures build some few meters away from the
house
VIII.
Buildings/ structures/dwellings
Tabon Cave
Rice Terraces
Ethnic House/dwellings
Lean-To
1. Wind-shield or one-sided lean-to with or without flooring
2. Single-pitched roof supported by tree trunks
Tree House
1. Bamboo and rattan are most commonly used. To withstand strong wind
and storm, the whole house is anchored to nearby trees by means of
rattan
b. Bahay Kubo, Nipa Hut, Nipa House
The structure was usually four-walled with tukod windows which had swinging shades,
which could be propped open during the day.
There was usually one simple multi-use space on the interior. This open
interior again provided ventilation, but also gave the simple dwelling a
spacious feel. This space could be used for cooking, eating, and sleeping.
Sometimes the cooking was done over an open fire built on the heap of
earth in one corner or partitioned off in a space in front of the ladder.
Sometimes, there was an open front porch, pantaw or batalan, where jars of
water would be kept to wash dishes. This gallery also served as an anteroom
or lounging area. The structure could easily be added to, should the need
arise.
Steeply sloping pitch protects it from the wind and rain in typhoon season and also provided
wide overhang eaves to shade from the hot sun.
Elevated 3 to 4 meters off the ground, supported by 4 or more wood or bamboo posts.
Space underneath the house, called the silong, can also serve as a workspace, a storage
space, granary, pen for livestock and also aids in air circulation beneath the house. In addition,
the raised structure sits out of the floods, and also keeps small rodents and other creatures
from entering the main structure.
A ladder, hagdan, is used to enter the main structure. It could be drawn up at night or when
the owners went out.
Paglulutuan or gilir: kitchen area
Floor: Bamboo
Structural Elements:
Bamboo ladder, resting on wooden threshold is provide for the entry to the
house from the ground.
Materials:
Kawayang tinik cut only from Dec 16-Jan 6, to eliminate all insects soak in
river or lake or bury in sand for six months before using.
Nipa the best ones come from Paombong, Bulacan. Other roofing materials:
cogon, rice stalks, sugarcane leaves, split bamboo, anahaw
Structural Elements:
House posts made from trunks of the amuguawan tree buried into a hole dug
about half a meter into the ground.
Floor girders carved w/ mortises on both ends to fit into the pointed upper
end of the posts act as the tenons support 3 solid floor joists upon which the
wood flooring attached by means of wooden pegs.
Doors and windows in the cabin allow light and air inside.
Isneg House or Binuron
Binuron, the Isneg house is built slightly off the ground and is also a one-room
dwelliing like the fale but has more light and is bigger.
Bontoc House
The Bontoc house sits on the ground, has a hip-thatched roof and a second floor
granary within the house. The rice granary (right) is a common sight in the
Cordilleras.
Carabao horns and pig skulls and jaws are signs indicating the owners wealth.
Kankanay House
Boathouse
Duenging
Decorative elements:
Mirror indication of the # of children the family has, moreover, used for
driving away bad spirit
Okir dominates the sides
The Torogan or Maranaw House
The ancestral home of the Maranao sultan or datu has a soaring, salakotshaped roof, ornate beams and massive posts, all proclaiming exalted
status.
Power posts the massive posts made from tree trunks portend power.
The round stones on which they rest are believed to protect the house
from earthquakes.
Panolong the panolong flaring out from the beams is the most arresting
feature of the torogan. Its okir carving usually features the naga or
serpent as well as floral and star-and-bud motifs.
THE SPANISH COLONIAL :ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 15651898
Beginnings of settlements
1565 settlement of the Spanish in Cebu
1571 settlement in Manila, taking over the remains of Rajah Solimans fort
The settlement followed the prescriptions issued by King Philip II in 1573
Manila became the capital of the Spanish colony and the model for town development
It also became the center for political, religious and economic power.
City planning
Principal plaza
Secondary plazas
Gridiron pattern
Cathedral, government buildings, houses of ranking persons
Initially built w wood and bamboo
Common cause of destruction: fire
Volcanic turf quarries were discovered in San Pedro, Makati in the 1580s
Populating and planning the towns
Reducciones - system of gathering newly Christianized tribes into compact settlements,
arranged on a grid pattern, around a church
Ordenanzas of 1573 or Prescriptions for the Foundation of Hispanic Colonial Towns by Philip II
A set of 28 ordinances containing practical directions on establishing settlements in the
colonies
Plaza Mayor was the town center
Church
Casa Real
Schools
Tribunal
Houses of prominent individuals
The Church Building
Location: center of the town, choice part of the plaza, acted as refuge during emergencies or
calamities
Convento and bell tower
Plan: rectangular or cruciform
Walls: high, thick, supported by buttresses
Windows: small
Bell towers: watchtowers
Materials
Adobe (volcanic tuff)
Stone
Coral stone
Brick
Combination stone and brick
Mortar: lime, crushed coral, crushed shells, molasses, sugar cane juice, goats blood, carabao
milk, egg shells and egg white
Basic Form
Plain rear and side walls
Ornaments are found on the facade:
Columns, cornices, niches, blind arches, blind balustrades, low relief carvings
Classic traditions for ornaments:
Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Baroque, Rococo, Moorish
Classification based on materials
De ligero light construction, tabla (wood), cana y nipa (bamboo and thatch)
De harigue with collonade of tree trunks
De carizo stone
De mamposteria rubble
De ladrillo brick
GROUND FLOOR
ZAGUAN CUADRA
BODEGA
ENTRESUELO
ALJIBE
SECOND FLOOR
CAIDA
SALA
COMEDOR
COCINNA
DISPENSA
COMUN / LATRINA
CUARTO
AZOTEA