UNIBERSIDAD NG SANTO TOMAS

College of Architecture

Aguilar, Tamika 2AR-7

History of Architecture 4

Reaction Paper - Marcosian Architecture

Characterized as both stern and dominating, The Marcos Era has birthed structures with
impressive colonnades and muted concrete facades – all categorized under the term “Marcosian
Architecture”.

These structures are largely funded by foreign loans taken out by the administration as part of
initiatives to stimulate infrastructure under the rice, highways, and school buildings platforms. These
quickly led to a rise in public facility construction as well as a 72 percent bigger budget deficit than the
Macapagal administration.

A flood of infrastructures was brought about during Marcos' first regime from highways, schools,
health clinics, to cultural centers. One of the initiatives to revitalize Manila, the municipal capital, was
fueled not only by the strongman's pledges, but also by the efforts and aspirations of then-first lady
Imelda Marcos who was an appointed Governor of Metro Manila. Her ambition was to create and revive a
metropolis of man through the cleaning of municipal drainages, building a new airport, and supplying the
city with thermal and nuclear electricity.

Though not every project was carried out, a number of initiatives encouraged the architecture
industry to establish permanent cornerstones of literary, visual, and performance arts for public
amusement, with other public use amenities. The Cultural Center of the Philippines was completed in
1966, followed by the Folk Arts Theater in 1974, the Philippine International Convention Center in 1976,
and the Manila National Film Center in 1982.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines, one of the Marcos’ commissioned works, attempted to
revalue vernacular cultural traditions and provide a performance arena where helpless classes might
symbolically act their demands for social acknowledgment, all while promoting a "people's culture”. As a
result, the Center would promote a "therapeutic" cultural strategy geared toward the emotional concerns
of the lower classes.
A flood of infrastructures was brought about during Marcos' first regime from highways, schools,
The cultural center was known to be a symptom of Imelda's "edifice complex," which is a
syndrome in which an individual, nation, or corporate organization is obsessed with building edifices as a
mark of excellence, a symbol of national prosperity, a conveyor of an individual's status, or a projection of
a company's identity. The initiative was motivated by their desire to impress—between 1972 and 1977,
the conjugal dictatorship invested almost 19 billion pesos. Several churches, public buildings, and parks
have been repaired, as well as a variety of projects ranging from slum redevelopment to colossal edifices,
all employing the new architectural formula known as "folk architecture."
A flood of infrastructures was brought about during Marcos' first regime from highways, schools,
To revive a supposed national cultural identity and maintain the idea of a democratic revolution,
authoritarian state power and architecture merged out of the "conjugal dictatorship" reign. The Marcos
administration recognized the connection between architecture and society, as well as its power to
influence the nation. This was used as a weapon to promote the ideals of power in the architectural form.
It is evident that one of the dictatorial regime's legitimizing techniques for socio-political domination was
state architecture.
 References:

Afinidad-Bernardo, D. R. M. (n.d.). Edifice complex: 31 years of Amnesia. Philstar.com. Retrieved May

17, 2022, from https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/building-spree

Cultural center of the philippines - JSTOR. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2022, from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44122200

Reyes, A. (2022, March 27). Looks like the Marcoses were brutalists by choice. NOLISOLI. Retrieved
May 17, 2022, from https://nolisoli.ph/21054/looks-like-marcoses-brutalists-choice/

The marcos romance and the Cultural Center of the - Proquest. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2022, from
https://www.proquest.com/docview/1788577104

Scribd. (n.d.). Marcosian contemporary. Scribd. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from
https://www.scribd.com/document/415714728/Marcosian-Contemporary

Villa, K. de. (2017, September 16). Imelda Marcos and her 'edifice complex'. INQUIRER.net. Retrieved
May 17, 2022, from https://business.inquirer.net/236962/imelda-marcos-edifice-complex