Concrete Structures

Local
1. Tanghalang Pambansa
The Tanghalang Pambansa, formerly Theater of Performing Arts, is a theater located in the
Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Manila, Philippines. It is the flagship venue and
principal offices of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Designed by National Artist for
Architecture Leandro Locsin, its design was based and expanded upon the unconstructed
Philippine-American Friendship Center. The Tangahalan is a primary example of the architect's
signature style known as the floating volume, a trait can be seen in structures indigenous to the
Philippines such as the nipa hut.
The façade of the Tanghalang Pambansa is dominated by a two-storey travertine block
suspended 12 meters (39 ft) high by deep concave cantilevers on three sides. The rest of the
structure is clad in concrete, textured by crushed seashells originally found on the reclamation
site.
2. Tanghalang Maria Makiling
The National Arts Center is a picturesque institution located at the sides of Mount Makiling 200
meters above sea level in Los Baños, Laguna. This is one of former First Lady Imelda Marcos’
numerous architectural projects and was established in 1976.
The most prominent structure in the National Arts Center is the Tanghalang Maria Makiling, a
2,500 capacity, flat-top-pyramid-shaped, open-air theater that is quite visible from the
surrounding area.
3. Philippine International Convention Center
The Philippine International Convention Center (Filipino: Sentrong Pangkumbensyong
Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas, or PICC) is a convention center located in the Cultural Center of the
Philippines Complex in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The facility has been the host of
numerous local and foreign conventions, meetings, fairs, and social events.
The Philippine International Convention Center is composed of five building modules; the
Delegation Building, Secretariat Building, Plenary Hall, Reception Hall and The Forum. The
facility which was designed by Leandro Locsin, who would be later named National Artist was
built in reclaimed land and has a floor area of more than 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m2).
4. Manila Central Post Office
The Manila Central Post Office is the central post office of the city of Manila, Philippines. It is
the head office of the Philippine Postal Corporation, and houses the country's main mail
sorting-distribution operations.
Designed by Juan M. Arellano and Tomás Mapúa, the post office building was built in
neoclassical architecture in 1926. It was severely damaged in World War II, and rebuilt in 1946
preserving most of its original design.
Considered to be Juan Arellano's magnum opus, it was designed in the neoclassical style that
expressed order and balance. It was built in 1926 and was worth one million pesos. Fronting the
huge, rectangular volume are the 16 Ionic pillars lined that are lined up above the steps just
before entering the lobby. The main body of the building is capped by a recessed rectangular
attic storey and flanked and buttressed by two semi-circular wings. Inside, the main lobby has
subsidiary halls at each end housed under the semi-circular spaces roofed with domes.
5. Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2 Railway
The Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2, also known as LRT Line 2, LRT-2, or Megatren, is a
rapid transit line in Metro Manila in the Philippines, generally running in an east-west direction
along the Radial Road 6 and a portion of the Circumferential Road 1. Although operated by the
Light Rail Transit Authority, resulting in its being called "LRT-2", it is actually a heavy rail, rapid
transit system owing to its use of electric multiple units instead of the light rail vehicles used in
earlier lines and is the only line utilizing such type of system in the country. Envisioned in the
1970s as part of the Metropolitan Manila Strategic Mass Rail Transit Development Plan, the
eleven-station, 13.8-kilometer (8.6 mi) line was the third rapid transit line to be built in Metro
Manila when it started operations in 2003. It is operated by the Light Rail Transit Authority
(LRTA), a government-owned and controlled corporation attached to the Department of
Transportation (DOTr) under an official development assistance scheme.
Foreign
6. Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the
border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and
1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Originally known as Boulder Dam from 1933, it was officially renamed
Hoover Dam by a joint resolution of Congress in 1947. Its construction was the result of a
massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. The dam was
named after President Herbert Hoover.
A total of 3,250,000 cubic yards (2,480,000 cubic metres) of concrete was used in the dam
before concrete pouring ceased on May 29, 1935. In addition, 1,110,000 cu yd (850,000 m3)
were used in the power plant and other works. More than 582 miles (937 km) of cooling pipes
were placed within the concrete. Overall, there is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-
lane highway from San Francisco to New York.[48] Concrete cores were removed from the dam
for testing in 1995; they showed that "Hoover Dam's concrete has continued to slowly gain
strength" and the dam is composed of a "durable concrete having a compressive strength
exceeding the range typically found in normal mass concrete".[64] Hoover Dam concrete is not
subject to alkali–silica reaction (ASR) as the Hoover Dam builders happened to use nonreactive
aggregate, unlike that at downstream Parker Dam, where ASR has caused measurable
deterioration.[64]