National University - Manila

551 MF Jhocson Street, Sampaloc, Manila 1008

HOMEWORK NO.2

ADAPTIVE REUSE
MIAGAO CRITIQUE

MORENO, ABYGAIL B.
ASPECN1 | ARC 161
 ARCH’T. AURORA B. PANOPIO, UAP
Adaptive Reuse Examples in the Philippines

 National Museum of
Fine Arts

The National Museum of Fine Arts,

formerly called the National Art
Gallery, is housed in the old Legislative
Building. The building was originally
intended as a public library as
proposed in Daniel Burnham's 1905
Plan for Manila. Designed by Ralph
Harrington Doane, the American
consulting architect of the Bureau of
Public Works, and his assistant
Antonio Toledo. Construction of the
building began in 1918 and completed
in 1921.

The façade of the building had classical

features using stylized Corinthian
columns, ornamentation and Renaissance inspired sculptural forms. Upon the
establishment of the Commonwealth government, it was decided that the building
would also house the Legislature and revisions were made by Juan Arellano,
supervising architect of the Bureau of Public Works.

On July 16, 1926, the building was formally inaugurated. During the World War II, the
building was heavily damaged, though built to be earthquake resistant.After the war, it
was rebuilt albeit less ornate and less detailed. During the Martial Law era, the
Legislative Building was closed down. Today, the building holds the country's National
Art Gallery, natural sciences and other support divisions.
  1919 Grand Café
BINONDO, MANILA

The Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking

Corporation (HSBC), which established
its first branch in Rosario Street,
Binondo on 11 November 1875, is the
oldest foreign bank in Manila and was
very much a vital force in the Philippine
economy, helping finance the sugar
industry, and the building of railways,
among others.

One such building in the Binondo

area is 1919 Grand Café, a restaurant
that looks like a set from The Great
Gatsby. Designed in the Neoclassical
Revival Style of its era, the building’s
construction began in 1919 and was opened in 1922 as the Hong Kong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation (HSBC) Building.

Similar in fashion to the British Colonial Era buildings in then-British India, the
building also housed the British Consulate from 1946 to the 1960s. Eventually, HSBC
abandoned the building and the old structure was forgotten in history books until it
was reopened in 2018 as 1919 Grand Café. From the building’s original Corinthian
columns and intricate window grills to the British royal coat of arms in the
restaurant logo, a nod to history is present in every corner of the café.
 References:
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/11/09/18/putting-the-purpose-in-
repurposehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Fine_Arts_(Manila)

“Miagao Church’s naked coralline limestone, a mistake for

authenticity.”

The Miagao church is known for being one of the UNESCO World
Heritage Baroques churches in the Philippines, located in Iloilo makes it a
more the magnificent Miag-ao Church. No other church in the Philippines
will rival the beauty and majesty of the Miag-ao Church, also known as
Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva a precious piece of Filipino heritage
that has withstood the test of time and nature.
But why does it mistakes for the authenticity of the materials used in
the façade of the church? As what I’ve read in the article that our prof gave,
written by Adrian Tumang he is an architect and he also specializes in
environmental planning, he manages the Visionarch's marketing
communication and editor of BluPrint, a design magazine under Mega
Publishing Group, he’s writing makes a point that if you really studied the
plastering that they used in the Church it makes the naked coralline
limestone for unauthentic material.
In the article, stones is not tropical friendly in stone churches, the hot
and humid climate accelerates the deterioration of stone. But if it is an
authentic coralline stone it will not deteriorate or even decay and free from
algae. The use of palitada or plaster is now making it deteriorate and they
investigate the inner walls of the church that it the algae thrive.
It’s kind of ironic because the church is well known for having that
glow golden sheen, having a false information makes it uninteresting but I
hope UNESCO world heritage should correct and confirm and further study
the materials of the said church.