A.

POST COLONIAL MODERNITY ARCHITECTCURE OF ERALY

INDEPENDENCE (1945 – 1960)

STO. DOMINGO CHURCH AND CONVENT

Location: Quezon City
Architect: Jose Maria Zaragoza
Construction date: 1952

The Santo Domingo

Church, also known as National
Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy
Rosary of La Naval de
Manila is the largest church
in Metro Manila and one of the
biggest churches in Asia.
The new Santo Domingo church
was built in the Spanish Modern
style, which was unlike the
Baroque churches built during
Spanish period. The church
employed the latest technique in
reinforced-concrete building. The Mission-style architecture includes Romanesque and Gothic designs
that accommodate more space.

CHURCH OF THE RISEN LORD

Location: University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
Architect: Cesar Concio
Construction date: 1954

The Church of the Risen

Lord is a Protestant church which was
proclaimed in the fifties as “an
engineering masterpiece with its
double parabola.” The chapel was
saddle-shaped – a hyperbolic
paraboloid with flat ends. The lower
slopes of the vaulted wall were
punctured by windows and vertical
louvers at both sides of the
longitudinal elevation. The glass-clad
façade had an opening defined by a
smaller arch that supported a

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cantilevered porte-cochere. This entrance directly led to the processional nave, terminating the vision at
the altar. Just above the entrance, a choir loft could be ascended via a circular winding stair. It is one of
the few churches that is modernly designed and lacks iconographic religious references.
MELCHOR HALL
Location: University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
Architect: Cesar Concio
Construction date: 1949

The building is heavily

influenced by the Bauhaus school
of design and the challenge of
building design without frills. It is
a long horizontal, five-story
reinforced concrete building
designed in planar forms tempered
with Filipino design expression.
Internal spaces flow rather than
being rigidly boxed.
Melchor Hall is a
symmetrical structure which is
divided into two wings by an
imposing central section. This large rectangular three-story-high portal serves as the main entrance of the
building. An equally imposing concrete stairway terminates at the portal, flanked by 2 plain columns that
soar three stories high. There is a grid of discreet sun baffles at the west side of the entrance hall.

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

Location: along Magallanes Drive,
besides Jones Bridge, the National
Postal Office, Pasig River,
Intramuros, Manila
Architect: Angel Nakpil
Constructed by: Alberto T. Abaya
Construction date: 1950s

The National Press Club

Building was inaugurated on
December 30, 1955 with President
Magsaysay as sponsor, along with
several cabinet members and other
government officials. The NPC
building became a historic
monument to the ideals of press
freedom and unity among colleagues in the country’s newspaper industry.
The building, which houses the Club’s headquarters, offices, and facilities, consists of a four-
storey main building, a four-storey medical and dental clinic and one-floor annex building. Constructed

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by Alberto T. Abaya, it was one of the modern and first earthquake-proof buildings in the Philippines.
The influence of the modern architecture and the Bauhaus School on Nakpil is evident in this structure
whose most distinctive feature is the glass- encased tower.
QUIRINO GRANDSTAND
Location: Rizal Park, Manila
Architect: Federico Illustre
Opened: 1949

Designed by Federico
Ilustre, supervising architect for
the Bureau of Public Works,
the new Independence
Grandstand’s (Quirino
Grandstand) design was
patterned after the Arellano-
designed grandstand, (including
the triumphal arch) with a
simpler design (without the
ship bow stage and the statues)
and some Art Deco influence in
the canopy compared to the
original. The structure was completed in 1949, in time for the inauguration of President Elpidio Quirino.
Years later after his death, the grandstand was renamed in his honor.

CAPITAN LUIS GONZAGA BUILDING

Location: corner of Carriedo
Street and Rizal Avenue,
Manila
Architect: Pablo Antonio
Construction: 1953

The National
Artist Pablo Antonio's
postwar oeuvre, the Capitan
Luis Gonzaga Building, built
in 1953 at the corner of
Carriedo Street and Rizal
Avenue in Manila, Philippines
, transfigured the modernist
box into a building that was
suited to the tropics by
utilizing double sunshades.
The concrete slab overhangs
at both ceiling height and window sill height for every floor braced by staggered vertical fins of half-

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storey height. Curved bands of concrete horizontally traversed every floor. It serves as a protection for
both sunlight and rain.

CHURCH
CHURCH OF
OF THE
THE HOLY
HOLY SACRIFICE
SACRIFICE
Location: University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
Architect: Leandro Locsin
Structural Engineer; Alfredo
Junio
Construction date: 1955

The Parish of the Holy

Sacrifice, also the Church of the
Holy Sacrifice, is a
landmark Catholic chapel on
the University of the Philippines
Diliman campus. It belongs to
the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Cubao and its present parish priest
is Rev. Fr. Henry E. Ferreras.
Known for its architectural design,
the church is recognized as a
National Historical Landmark and a Cultural Treasure by the National Historical Commission of the
Philippines, and the National Museum of the Philippines respectively. In 1955, Father Delaney
commissioned Locsin to design a chapel that was open and could easily accommodate 1,000 people. The
Church of Holy Sacrifice became the first circular chapel with the altar in its center in the country, and the
first to have a thin shell concrete dome.

QUEZON HALL, UP DILIMAN

Location: University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon
City
Architect: Juan Nakpil
Structural Engineer; Alfredo
Junio
Construction date: 1955

It is the front-most
building of the university from
the University Avenue. It houses
many of the administrative
offices for the entire university.
It is situated behind the Oblation
statue as a gateway or entrance
position, with four columns
supporting the main hall itself.
The building is classified as

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eclectic architecture. Eclectic Architecture can be described as using the elements of different historical
styles and multiple theories in a single structure. It is the combination of variety of influences.

B. VERNACULAR, RENAISSANCE, AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE

NEW SOCIETY (1961 TO PRESENT)

INSULAR LIFE BUILDING

Location: Makati City
Architect: Cesar Concio
Construction date: 1962

Previously, it held its main

corporate offices at the Insular Life
Building in Makati City. That
building was built in 1962 and was
the first to surpass the 30 meter
height restriction in the Philippines.
It had a gently curving façade
entirely covered by narrow vertical
aluminum projections that were set
close together within square
modules to conceal the curtain wall
behind it. Originally designed by
Cesar Concio, the building was
controversially redeveloped in 2005
with a design by Takenobu Mohri Architects and Associates, and again in 2015 by Casas Architects.

PHILAMLIFE BUILDING
Location: Makati City
Architect: Carlos Arguelles
Construction date: 1961

Arguelles shaped the

PhilAm Life Building into one of
the first international-style
buildings in Manila. The medium-
rise block was a rectangular-
planned structure with a
centralized core that allowed
some 20,000 square meters of
office space to be naturally
daylighted through the use of
wraparound ribbon window
glazing and aluminum sunshades
supported by pipes and mullions.
Sculpted concrete formed entrance canopies and a roof for the complex’s auditorium. Arguelles also used

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the artwork of Filipino artists like Galo Ocampo and Manansala to enhance the clean, spacious and
brightly lit interiors.

TANGHALANG PAMBANSA
Location: Cultural Center of the
Philippines Complex in Manila,
Philippines
Architect: Leandro Locsin
Construction date: 1966
The National Theater or
Tanghalang Pambansa, formerly the
Theater of Performing Arts, is the
CCP’s flagship venue and houses its
principal offices. Like the PICC, the
theater is only a part of the CCP
complex, a sprawling 88-hectare government owned structure. The National Theater’s design is another
work by Leandro Locsin and carries his signature style of the “floating volume,” which combines a heavy
use of concrete with elevated structures. The result is a startling contrast of a massive looking structure
that seemingly floats.

SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION BUILDING

Location: Ortigas, Metro Manila
Architect: Manuel, Francisco, and
Jose Manosa
Construction date: 1979

The San Miguel Corporation

Building in Ortigas serves as the head
office of one of the largest
corporations in the Philippines. The
building’s unique design is inspired by
the Banaue rice terraces. Landscaping is done by the National Artist for Architecture in 2006, Ildefonso
Santos, who is considered the father of Philippine landscape architecture.

PEARL FARM BEACH RESORT

Location: Samal island of Davao
City
Architect: Francisco Manosa
Opened: 1992

The Pearl Farm Beach

Resort is built on what was once a
farm for culturing pearls. The
resort’s design was adapted from
the traditional stilt houses built
along the coastline. Much of the

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resort’s distinctiveness comes from the architecture, which was adapted from the traditional houses on
stilts that the seafaring tribes of Mindanao – the Samal and the Badjao – build above the water.
PHILIPPINE HEART CENTER
Location: corner of East Avenue
and Matalino Street in the Diliman
District of Quezon City
Architect: Jorge Ramos
Construction date: 1972

Mrs. Marcos broke the

ground for the future Philippine
Heart Center for Asia, a highly
specialized institution which would
integrate all activities related to the
care and treatment of heart
diseases, the training of heart
specialists, and researches an all
aspects of cardiology. It would
also the heart of the Heart
Foundation. The building, an
outstanding architectural structure designed as to have a brutalist character, was inaugurated February 14,
1975, with the attendance of the world’s top heart doctor’s, including Christian Barnard and Denton
Cooley.

PHILIPPINE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER

Location: Cultural Center of the
Philippines Complex, Pasay
City, Metro Manila
Architect: Leandro Locsin
Construction date: November
1974 to September 1976

An example of the massive,

fortress-style Brutalist architecture,
the Philippine International
Convention Center (PICC) is a
brainchild of Leandro Locsin, one
of the greatest master architects that
the Philippines has produced. For a
state-of-the-art structure, the PICC
was surprisingly completed within
only 23 months from 1974 to 1976.
It has hosted foreign and local
conventions, including the annual
Awards Night of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS).
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 built in reclaimed land and has a floor area of more than 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m2).

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THE COCONUT PALACE
Location: Cultural Center of
the Philippines Complex, Manila
Architect: Francisco Manosa
Completed: 1978
It was commissioned in
1978 by former First
Lady Imelda Marcos as a
government guest house and
offered to Pope John Paul
II during the Papal visit to the
Philippines in 1981 but the Pope
refused to stay there because it
was too opulent given the level
of poverty in the Philippines.
The palace is shaped
like an octagon (the shape given
to a coconut before being
served), while the roof is shaped
like a traditional
Filipino salakot or hat. Some of
its highlights are the 101 coconut-shell chandelier, and the dining table made of 40,000 tiny pieces of
inlaid coconut shells. Highlighted as one of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ most striking
structures for its architecture and interiors, the palace celebrates the coconut as the ultimate “Tree of
Life”. From the coconut's roots to its trunk, bark, fruit, flower and shell, the palace's design, form and
ornamentation echo these elements

G.T. TOWER
Location: Makati, Manila
Architect: GF & Partners Architects, Recio + Casas
Architects, Gozar Planners Phils. Kohn Pedersen Fox
Associates (design consultant)
Structural Design: Aromin & Sy + Associates
Construction started: 1991

Standing at 217 meters (712.93 feet), it is

currently the 9th-tallest building in the country and
Metro Manila as well. The building has 47 floors
above ground, and 5 basement levels for parking.
The tower is crowned with a 10-storey vertical
fin.This fin marks its presence in the Makati City
skyline and provides a visual signature at the towers
crown. Although the G.T. International Tower opened
in 2001, it was not formally inaugurated until 2004.

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THE MIND MUSEUM
Location: Taguig, Metro Manila
Architect: Ed Calma
Architecture Firm: Lor Calma &
Partners
Opened: 2012
The design of the structure was
inspired from cellular
structure and growth and had a solar
reflective exterior, natural
wind ventilation and rainwater flow
drainage. Due to its amorphic form
which mimics the cellular membrane, the museum has no singular facade that remains the same when
viewed all around. Recently, it won an international award from the 20th annual Thea Awards for its
design and exhibitions, a first for a science museum in Asia.

ZUELLIG BUILDING
Location: Makati Central Business
District, Metro Manila
Architects: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill;
W.V. Coscoluella & Associates
Construction: 2009
Its all-glass façade with barely
discernible edges makes this premium-grade
office building in Makati business district
blend and even disappear in its surrounding
sky and landscape. The first structure to
receive a platinum level of Leader in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED)
certification – the highest in the country –
from the US Green Building Council
(USGBC), the Zuellig building is built with
sustainability in mind

MALL OF ASIA ARENA

Location: SM Mall of Asia complex, Bay
City, Pasay,
Architects: Arquitectona
Construction: 2010
The, Mall of Asia Arena is the
newest sports and events arena in the metro
after its official opening in 2012. With a
seating capacity of 16,000 and a full-house
capacity of 20,000 – it rivals the Smart
Araneta Coliseum for the biggest indoor
arena in Southeast Asia. A regular playing venue for the country’s major basketball leagues, the arena
also serves as concert venue for local and international performance artists.

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REFERENCES:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quezon_Memorial_Shrine
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Risen_Lord
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines_College_of_Engineering#Melchor_
Hall
 https://www.slideshare.net/pupoy/philippine-architecture-post-war-period?from_m_app=android
 http://nationalpressclubphilippines.com/about-us/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirino_Grandstand
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitan_Luis_Gonzaga_Building
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parish_of_the_Holy_Sacrifice
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines_Diliman#Quezon_Hall
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_Life
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_American_Life_and_General_Insurance_Company#Arc
hitecture
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Heart_Center
 https://www.phc.gov.ph/about-phc/hospital-area.php
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_International_Convention_Center
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanghalang_Pambansa#Architecture
 https://www.shelter.com.ph/issue-07-architecture-timehop
 https://www.zipmatch.com/blog/architectural-structures-in-philippines/
 http://www.manosa.com/~manosa/teddy/project.php?/architecture/hotel-resorts/pearl-farm-samal-
island-davao/&id=13#
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuellig_Building
 https://www.archdaily.com/283839/zuellig-building-som
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mall_of_Asia_Arena
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_Palace

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