HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

PHILIPPINES

Jayson Braza Portem, M.Arch

STYLES
Is essentially visual and rooted in the belief that
the architectural works of a particular era share
certain distinctive visual characteristics and
ornamental features generated from the
architect’s synthesis of cultural and geographical
imperatives, the materials available, and
construction methods of a particular time and
space.
ISTILO
Pocket Guide to Architectural Styles in the Philippines
VERNACULAR
Folk/Ethnic/Native/Indigenous

Notable Feature:

• Botanic Materials: Wood, Bamboo, and Thatch

• Raised Pile Foundation
• Living space elevated on stilts
• Voluminous thatch roof
• Hand crafted and nail less construction
Ifugao Fale
Maranao Torogan
Low-land Balai or Bahay Kubo
Ivatan House
CHINESE STYLE
Notable Feature:

• Post-and-beam wood construction

• Curved overhanging eaves
• Horizontal emphasis
• Use of bold colors
• Decorative ceilings and intricate oriental
ornaments
Manila Chinese Cemetery
Cebu Taoist Temple
Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch
Ma-Cho Temple, San Fernando, La Union
Chong Hock Tong temple at Manila Chinese Cemetery
ISLAMIC
Muslim Style

Notable Feature:

• Mosques with minarets and domes

• Interior prayer halls and courtyards
• Minbar pulpits and prayer niches (mihrabs)
• Extravagant, but not configurative, decorative
art
Golden Mosque of Quiapo
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid, Cotabato City
Sulu Provincial Capitol
Mosque in Bacolod-Kalawi, Lanao del Sur
Masjid Asma'ul Husna in Parang, Maguindanao
Masjid lumbok in Madulum, Lanao del Sur
SPANISH COLONIAL
European Traditions (1565-1898)

Byzantine-Romanesque (Neo-Byzantine/Neo-Romanesque)
Notable Feature:
• Domes
• Walls are often of massive thickness with few small
openings
• Arches are semicircular, used for doors and
windows
• Rounded barrel vaulting supported by columns
within
• Decorative porticoes
• Interior mosaic
Pavia Church in Pavia, Iloilo

Sta. Monica Parish Church

 Manila Cathedral

Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception 

Batac Church, Batac, Ilocos Norte

Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church

 Bantay Church, Ilocos Sur

St. Augustine Parish Church

Bulacan Church, Bulacan

Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion church

SPANISH COLONIAL
European Traditions (1565-1898)

Gothic (Neo-Gothic/Gothic Revival)

Notable Feature:

• Groined vaulting
• Pointed arch
• Flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting
• Stained-glass windows
• Rich ornamentation and tracery
• Buildings seem lighter and far taller than before
 San Sebastian Church, Quiapo, Manila

Minor Basilica of San Sebastian (Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church) 

Sto. Domingo Church, Intramuros, Manila (1868)

Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario

de La Naval de Manila
Sto. Domingo Church, Intramuros, Manila (1868)

Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario

de La Naval de Manila
Sto. Domingo Church, Intramuros, Manila (1868)

Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario

de La Naval de Manila
Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral,
Puerto Princesa, Palawan
Iglesia ni Cristo Central, Quezon City
Baguio Cathedral, Baguio City, Benguet

Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral

San Fernando Church, Cebu

San Isidro Labrador Church

SPANISH COLONIAL
European Traditions (1565-1898)

Renaissance Revival (Neo-Renaissance)

Notable Feature:

• Low-pitched, hip tiled roof

• Moderate to wide eaves decorative bracket
supports
• Recessed porches with arched openings
• Classical detailing in the use of columns, quoins,
pediments, arches, and pilasters
• Most often symmetrical, balanced wings
Ayuntamiento de Manila
UST Main Building
Gota de Leche, Manila
Bohol Provincial Capitol
SPANISH COLONIAL
European Traditions (1565-1898)

Baroque (Neo-Baroque)
Notable Feature:
• Large scale of conspicuous use of decoration,
sculpture, and column
• Opulent ornamentation and bold details
• Sweeping curved surfaces, interpenetration of oval
spaces
• C and S scroll, shell motifs, cartouches, segmental
arch window pediment
• Lavish interior use of marble, gilt and painting
• Trompe L’oeil painting
Tamauini Church, Isabela

San Matias Parish Church

San Vicente Church, Ilocos Sur
Fort Santiago Gate, Intramuros, Manila
SPANISH COLONIAL
European Traditions (1565-1898)

Rococo (High-Baroque/Late Baroque)

Notable Feature:

• Baroque, but more consciously excessive,

asymmetric ornamentation, including delicate shell
and leaf shapes
 Betis Church, Pampanga

St. James the Apostle Parish Church 

 Morong Church, Rizal

St. Jerome Parish Church

Pakil Church, Pakil, Laguna

St. Peter of Alcantara Parish Church designated as the Diocesan Shrine of

Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba
Argao Church, Cebu

Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of Saint Michael the Archangel,

SPANISH COLONIAL
European Traditions (1565-1898)

Mudejar (Hispano Moresque)

Notable Feature:
• Pointed horseshoe, solomonic column, multifoil
arches
• Domes
• Vaults with geometric and esgrafiado (graffiti)
psuedo-script surface ornamentation
• Richly colored tile decoration
• Decorative panelled wood (artesonado)
• Elaborate plaster work
 Malate Church, Manila

Our Lady of Remedies Parish

 Carcar Church, Cebu

St. Catherine of Alexandria Church

SPANISH COLONIAL
European Traditions (1565-1898)

Italianate

Notable Feature:
• Square, rectangular with vertical emphasis
• Square cupolas or towers
• Elaborate detailing
• Overhanging eaves with decorative brackets
• Tall, narrow windows, usually arched or curved at
the top
• Side bay windows
• Arcaded porches with balustrade balconies
Talisay Ruins, Negros Occidental
Nelly’s Garden House, Iloilo
Lizares Mansion, Iloilo City
Malacanan Palace, Manila
Pasig City Museum
SPANISH COLONIAL
European Traditions (1565-1898)

Victorian

Notable Feature:
• Patterned wooden plank and shingle cladding
• Gabled roof and dormers
• Decorative trusses and support braces
• Wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter ends
or brackets
• Large porches along the exterior wall
• Bay windows
• Pinnacles, finials, mouldings, intricate paintworks
Victorian-themed Pontefino, Batangas
Legarda Elementary School, Manila
Siliman Hall, Dumaguete City
Carcar Dispensary, Cebu
AMERICAN COLONIAL
Euro-American Traditions (1898-1946)

Mission Revival (Spanish Colonial Revival/

California Mission Style)

Notable Feature:
• Enclosed courtyard
• Massive adobe walls with plastered surfaces
• Limited fenestration and door piercing
• Low pitch roof with clay roof tiles
• Thick arches springing from piers
• Long exterior arcades
• Ornate tiles, wrought iron, and wood works
Bureau of Science Building, Manila
Rizal Medical Center
Old Ormoc City Hall
Manila Hotel
AMERICAN COLONIAL
Euro-American Traditions (1898-1946)

Neoclassical (Beaux Arts/ Classical Revival)

Notable Feature:
• Symmetrical façade
• Projecting façade pavilion with arches
• Colossal columns, often paired and pilasters
• Balustrade columns
• Finely detailed decoratons
• Grand stairwells
• Windows framed by columns or balustrade
• Triangular pediment
Laguna Provincial Capitol
University of the Philippines, Iloilo
University of the Philippines, Rizal Hall
AMERICAN COLONIAL
Euro-American Traditions (1898-1946)

Palladianism (Palladian Style)

Notable Feature:

• Clear classical influence, including column orders,

but with emphasis on understated grace and
symmetry rather than on elaboration
Pangasinan Provincial Capitol
National Museum of the Philippines
AMERICAN COLONIAL
Euro-American Traditions (1898-1946)

Art Nouveau (Jugendstil/ Stile Liberty/

Secession Style)

Notable Feature:
• Organic forms
• Lavish decorative ornamentation
• Curvilinear
• Organic foliated forms, sinuous lines, non
geometric whiplash
• Rectilinear massing
• Geometric forms
Jose Bautista House, Malolos
Nakpil-Bautista House, Quiapo
Mariano Uy Chaco Building, Manila
Petra Obispo House, Siriaya
AMERICAN COLONIAL
Euro-American Traditions (1898-1946)

Art Deco (Art Moderne/ Jazz Age Baroque)

Notable Feature:
• Simple, streamlined, geometric, rectilinear lines,
and forms
• Stylized decorative motifs, particularly sunbursts
• Repetition of forms and motifs
• Utilization of mass produced materials such as:
aluminum, formica, chrome, steel, concrete, and
stained glass
Luis U. Santos House, Malolos, Bulacan
Gala-Rodriquez House, Sariaya, Quezon
S. Villanueva Building, Iloilo City
Quezon Provincial Capitol
AMERICAN COLONIAL
Euro-American Traditions (1898-1946)

Streamlined Deco (Streamlined Moderne)

Notable Feature:
• Asymmetrical; flat roof; cubic form with flat,
untextured walls in stucco or concrete; simple
geometric shapes
• Little ornamentation; rounded corners; wrapped-
around windows, often using glass blocks; metal
framed windows
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

Modernism
Notable Feature:

• Simple, clean lines and smooth finished

• Cylinders and unusually shaped buildings
• Slanted or curved roofs
• Unadorned facades and minimal surface modeling
Capitan Luis Gozaga building, Quiapo
Philam Life Building, Manila
Manila International Airport
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

Bauhaus
Notable Feature:

• Rejection of ornamentation in favor of

functionality
• Clean, plain lines, flat roofs
• Minimal ornamentation, featuring smooth surfaces
of white and gray.
• Horizontal window strips
• Reinforced concrete, some built on stilts
Ayala Museum
National Press Club
National Library
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

Brutalism
Notable Feature:

• Raw concrete surface

• Simple lines
• Rectangular, regular, block-like shapes
• Very large-scale development
Philippine Heart Center
Central Bank of the Philippines
Asian Development Bank (now DFA Office)
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

Expressionism (Soft Modernism)

Notable Feature:

• Unusual angular or organic forms with imaginative

internal spaces
• Complex engineering
• Metallic elements
• Complex use of reinforced concrete
Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Shrine, Paranaque
St. Andrew’s Church, Makati
Church of the Risen Lord, Quezon City
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

International Style
Notable Feature:

• Cubic, rectilinear forms

• Horizontal orientations and low elevations
• Flat roof; glass, steel, aluminum, and concrete
• White painted walls
• Long, horizontal, metal-framed windows
• Absence of ornamentation, open-plan interiors
Picache Building, Quiapo
Social Security System Building, Quezon City
Philippine Veterans’ Bank, Manila
Insular Life Building, Makati
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

Bungalow
Notable Feature:

• Single storey, or one-and-a-half story, detached

domestic dwellings set within a subdivided plot of
land
• Low-pitched roof, gabled or hipped
• Combination of timber frame construction andCHB
• Partly open- plan interiors
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

Space Age (Googie/ Mid-century Futurism)

Notable Feature:

• High-tech materials
• Mechanized environment
• Bold shapes, especially curvilinear forms
• Streamlined, smooth, aerodynamic lines
• Starburst and neon effect
• Spaceship, rocket ship, and flying saucer imagery
Philippine Atomic Research Center, Quezon City
Church of the Holy Sacrifice, Quezon City
Commercial Bank and Trust Company, Manila
Commercial Bank and Trust Company, Manila
Artemio Reyes House, Quezon City
Virra Mall, Green Hills, San Juan
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

Orientalism (Navitism/ Exoticism)

Notable Feature:

• Upswept roofs with gable finial ornaments

• Psuedo-native motifs and ornamentations
• Flamboyant forms alluding to pre-colonial
Philippines
Philippine Pavilion, New York World’s Fair
Old Cotabato City Hall
Philippine Pavilion, Osaka, Japan
Zamboanga Convention Center
POST-INDEPENDENCE
Post Colonial (1946-2000)

Bagong Lipunan Modernism (Marcosian

Modernism)

Notable Feature:

• Monumental, monolithic and conspicuous use of

Philippine decorative motifs
• Imeldific
• extravagant
Batasan Pambansa Complex
Philippine International Convention Center
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

Post Modernism (Neo-Historisicm/

Neo-Eclectic)

Notable Feature:

• Blend of feature from disparate styles

• Surprising contrasts
• Humor, wit, and whimsy
Tektite Building, Ortigas Center, Pasig
King’s Court Building II, Makati
Gothic Inspired GA Tower, Mandaluyong
Water Front Hotel, Cebu
World Trade Exchange, Binondo
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

Folly (Novelty Architecture/ Populuxe

Architecture)

Notable Feature:

• Novelty, impractical
• Follies
• No purpose other than ornament
• Element of fakery
• Built for pleasure and fantasy
Chocolate Lover’s Castle, Cubao
Tuazon-Arroyo Mausoleum, North Cemetery
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

Globalism (Corporatism/ Multinationalism)

Notable Feature:

• By international designers and celebrity architects

• Steel and glass towers in podiums
• architectural iconography driven by a distinct
corporate image
RCBC Plaza, Makati
Astoria Plaza, Ortigas
Union Bank Building, Ortigas
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

Deconstructivism
Notable Feature:

• Broken and jagged forms

• Multi-layering
• Twisted geometries
• Nonlinear design process
• Impressions of fragmentations
• Rejection of ornamentation
School of Design and Arts, College of St. Benilde
Mind Museum, Taguig
Diamond Plaza, Cebu
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

Minimalism
Notable Feature:

• Highly inspired from the Japanese Traditional Zen

philosophy and as well as the Dutch De Stijl
movement
PETA Theater Center, Quezon City
ADB Building, Ortigas Center
LKG Tower, Makati
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

High Tech (Structural Expressionism/

Industrial Style)

Notable Feature:

• Geometric, skeleton-as-exterior aesthetics

• Sharp edges, rounded corners
• Expensive metallic and shiny materials
• Chrome, steel frames, glass
• Exposed ducts and conduits
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

Neomodern (Retro-Modernism/ New

Modernism)

Notable Feature:

• Abstract, geometric shapes

• Reference to mid-century modern precedent
• Complex and high-tech structural design
• Plain surfaces
• Feature skylight
Church of Gesu, Ateneo de Manila University
GT Toyota Asian Center, Diliman
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

Neovernacular
Notable Feature:

• Elaborate use of indigenous materials such as

coconut and bamboo
• Exaggerated roof forms that adapts local
vernacular architecture
• Decorative motifs sourced from ethnic sources
ARMM Regional Center
Makiling Arts Center, Laguna
Asian Institute of Management
CONTEMPORARY
New Millennium

Green Architecture (Ecoism/ Sustainable

Architecture)

Notable Feature:

• Passive cooling technologies

• Large windows or openings fitted with sun shading
devices
• Interior gardens, roof gardens and vertical
landscaping
• Solar panels
Greenbelt Mall, Makati
 PHILIPPINE Styles

•1 Vernacular Asian Traditions

•2 Spanish Colonial European Traditions

•3 American Colonial Euro-American Traditions

•4 Post-Independence Post Colonial

•5 Contemporary New Millennium
Vernacular
Asian Traditions

• Vernacular
• Chinese
• Islam
Spanish Colonial European Traditions

• Byzantine-Romanesque
• Gothic
• Renaissance Revival
• Baroque
• Rococo
• Mudejar
• Italianate
• Victorian
American Colonial Euro-American Traditions

• Mission Revival
• Neoclassical
• Palladian
• Art Nouveau
• Art Deco
• Streamlined Moderne
Post-Independence
Post Colonial (1946 to 2000)

• Modern
• Bauhaus
• Brutalism
• Expressionism
• International
• Bungalow
• Space Age
• Orientalism
• Bagong Lipunan Modernism
Contemporary
New MillenNium

• Postmodern
• Folly
• Globalism
• Deconstruction
• Minimalism
• High Tech
• Neo-modern
• Neo-vernacular
• Green Architecture