Philippine Architecture

A Brief Historical Survey

 ARCHITECTURE
 The planning, designing, and
construction of buildings and other
physical structures.
 Form, space, and ambience that reflect,
functional, technical, social,
environmental, and aesthetic
considerations.
 FUNCTIONS
 Utility and beauty, where form follows
function.
 Modern Architecture and Industrial
design
 MEDIA USED IN
ARCHITECTURE

 Clay, rocks, sand, wood, twigs,

leaves
 Man-made material (glass,
steel, concrete cement)
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN IN
ARCHITECTURE
 Line
 Shape
 Color
 Texture
 Lightand Dark Space
 Space
 Outline
 Indigenous Architecture
 Islamic Architecture
 Spanish Colonial Architecture
 American Colonial and Contemporary
Architecture
INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE
 Characteristics
 Use of indigenous materials found in
the environment
 Sensitivity to the climate of the country
 Promotes indigenous technology, a wise
use of materials, builds a cooperative
community, and sustains a healthy
relationship between the environment
and human beings
Tabon Cave, Palawan
Filipino ancestors were cave dwellers as exemplified by the Tabon Cave
dwellers of Palawan
Petroglyph-makers In Angono, Rizal
Bahay Kubo
This is the type of house that is best suited to the tropical climate because it
provides good ventilation even on hot days. It is usually made of bamboo, nipa,
cogon, anahaw leaves, and other grasses, that have been woven and tied
together.
Fale
This is the indigenous house of the Ifugao. It is a one-room house, pyramidal
in shape resting on four posts. The house also functions as rice granary.
 Fale
Structure and
parts.
Fale (halipan and chicken baskets)
This is the usual scenery below the Ifugao house., where you can see lots of
chicken baskets The posts incorporate a rat-guard called halipan (a wooden
disk fitted to the posts).
Ivatan House, Batanes
These are low structures that can withstand strong winds and rain. The material
used for the walls are thick lime and stones while thatched grass or cogon are
used for the roof. Usually, the wall that faces the direction of the strongest
winds is windowless.
Badjao and Samal Houses
These houses, literally, are Bahay Kubo on build on stilts over the water. This
kind of architecture is influenced by the sea.
Tausug House
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
 Characteristics
 Mosque – Islam’s prime architectural
icon
– Dome: ensures visibility because
middle is sometimes open, creates a
sense of warmth, circular
– Minaret: tall, has a balcony, where
Adhan is, people are called to prayer
 Okir design on houses
Blue Mosque, Maharlika Village, Taguig City
Designed by renowned architect Angel Nakpil, The Blue Mosque is also a
socio-civic meeting place for both Filipino and foreign Muslims. The geometrical
design of this building is a multi-cross patterned after the CORDOVA in Spain.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid, Cotabato City
The Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid, Grand Mosque or Golden Mosque of
Cotabato City is the largest mosque in the Philippines and is considered an
Islamic architecture masterpiece. (2011)
 TWO- DIMENSIONAL
SHAPE
 Drawn on a flat surface such as paper
 THREE- DIMENSIONAL
SHAPE
 Takes up real space
 Architectural drawings apply these
through perspective
Mindanao State University
Aga Khan Museum, Mindanao State University
A repository of Maranao and other Moro artifacts boasting a huge collection of
indigenous and cultural materials, ethnic music, native tools and weapons used by
the Muslims, and houses of different artistic designs. It was named in honor of
King Aga Khan who contributed significantly to the realization of the museum.
Maranao Torogan
The torogan (meaning “place for sleep”) is a big house built exclusively for the
use of the datu for special meetings and social gatherings. The National
Museum has declared the Maranao torogan, specifically the Kawayan torogan as
National Cultural Treasure.
Torogan Structure
The protruding beam with okir or carved curvilinear designs is the panolong.
The big posts rest on a cluster of stones, instead of being imbedded unto the
ground. This makes the torogan earthquake-proof as these posts merely sway
when the ground moves.
SPANISH COLONIAL
ARCHITECTURE
 Characteristics
 Massive structures (i.e. fortresses,
churches and government buildings)
 Mostly of Baroque style
– based on a desire to show movement
and drama
– marked by exuberant decoration,
curvaceous forms, a grand scale generating a
sense of movement overlaid on classical
architectural details.
Fort Santiago, Intramuros, Manila
Intramuros (“walled city”) is the prime example of Spanish architecture. The
Fort Santiago and the surrounding walls kept out the native Filipinos and
enemies of the colonizers.
Plaza Rizal (Plaza Dela Paz), Pasig City
One feature of the Spanish urban planning is the plaza complex - a centralized
plaza at the center and streets constructed in a grid pattern.
Paoay Church, Ilocos Norte
Many churches such as the Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte, feature massive walls
and buttresses that make them earthquake-proof.
Miag-ao Church, Iloilo
It’s one of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines and was declared one of the
UNESCO’s World Heritage Site in 1993.
St. Jerome Parish Church, Morong, Rizal
This church features a decorated front designed by Bartolome Palatino of
Paete, Laguna.
Immaculada Concepcion Church, Guiuan, Samar
The church is made of coral stones or piedra de visayas.
 © dome_marSo

Immaculada Concepcion Church, Guiuan, Samar

This is the inside wall of the church with cherubim and wall frames decorated
with sea shells.
 © dome_marSo

© dome_marSo

Immaculada Concepcion Church, Guiuan, Samar

Niches were framed with seashell decorations.
 © limay_manalo

St. John the Baptist Parish Church, Liliw, Laguna

The church is more than a century old and is made of red bricks.
Immaculate Conception Church, Pasig
Stone Church constructed ca. 1700s. Picture taken during the early 1900s.
Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery
Built in 1845 by Franciscan priest, Father Vicente Belloc. In 1973, the Nagcarlan
Underground Cemetery was declared as a National Historical Landmark because its
underground crypt was used as a secret meeting place by Filipino revolutionaries.
 © limay_manalo

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery

 Characteristics
 Some of Gothic style – characterized
by pointed arches and lofty, “spiny”
silhouettes
San Sebastian
Church
Iglesia ni Cristo Central Temple
Bahay na Tisa, San Jose, Pasig City
This is of the bahay na bato type of house build during the Spanish Colonial
Period. One of the old houses in Pasig built in 1846. The roof of the house is
previously made of tisa or bricks.
Interior of Bahay na Tisa
Old furniture still decorates the house.
Vigan House, Ilocos Sur
These houses are made of stone at the base and used wood for the second
floor. Bahay na bato are massive structures with spacious interiors and good
ventilation accomplished by using big windows and ventanillas.
Casa Manila, interior
Ornately designed furniture decorate the interiors of the bahay na bato
signifying the social status of its residents.
University of Santo Tomas (1611)
AMERICAN COLONIAL AND
CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE
 Characteristics
 Mostly Neo-classical in style – a style
reviving the use of classic Greek and
Roman architectural forms.
Burnham Plan of Manila
Made by Arch. Daniel Burnham in 1904
Legislative Building, Manila
Constructed between 1910 to 1920.
Manila Central Post Office Building, Manila
The architectural style of this building is neo-classical with such feature as the
use of columns and pediments
Negros Capitol (1920)
Cebu Capitol (1930)
 Gabaldon
Building
(1910 – 1930)
Rehabilitation of the
Gabaldon Building in
Carcar, Cebu.
University of the Philippines, Manila
This is the Rizal Hall. It now houses the library and the College of Arts and
Sciences.
 Characteristics
 Art Deco style – a popular design style
of the 1920s and 1930s that reflected
the streamlined aesthetic of the
machine age and was characterized by
bold outlines an geometric, zigzag, or
stylized forms.
Victoria Theater
The Victoria Theater is
designed by Juan Nakpil
features This is of Art
Deco style.
 Characteristics
 Art Nouveau – a style of decoration
popular during the turn of the 19th
cent., characterized by organic, curving
forms and whiplash lines. It used the
circle as the basic form for furniture,
arches, and trellises; characterized by
curvilinear and floral motifs.
Metropolitan Theater
The Metropolitan Theater is designed by Juan Arellano features Muslim
influences evident in the use of mosaics and turrets. This is of the Art
Nouveau style, popular in the 1930s.
 Characteristics
 Postmodern style – it questions the
validity of the emphasis of modernists
on logic, simplicity, and order,
suggesting that ambiguity and
contradiction may also have a valid
place.
 Use of different materials (i.e. hybrid
materials, traditional materials)
 Zuellig Building
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.
G.T. International Tower
G.T. International
Tower
 The tower sports a
10-storey vertical fin
for its crown and is
one of the most
recognizable
buildings in the
Makati skyline.
UP Church of the Holy Sacrifice
Cultural Center of the Philippines
This was a picture of the Cultural Center of the Philippines when it was still
brand new. The building was designed by Arch. Leandro Locsin. It was
opened in 1969 to promote and preserve Filipino arts and culture, and to
become a mecca of culture and the arts in Asia.
Tahanang Filipino (Coconut Palace)
The Tahanang Filipino, better known as the Coconut Palace, was designed by
Arch. Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa. He used coconut products such as timber,
coconut shells and fiber for the structure.
Tanghalang Pasigueño
City Hall Of Pasig
Mutya Ng Pasig Tower And Market (1970)
High Rise Building
(Ortigas Center)
SM Aura In Global City (2013)
 Drawing:
 If you were to design your “dream
house”, how would it look like? Draw
the façade of your dream house.