K A R C H I T E C T U R E

F OL
• Folk architecture is the living environment
people have created for themselves. We can
define local architecture as an architecture
formed in the process of anonymous design
which later becomes traditional under the
influence of various factors.
 EXAMPLE OF FOLK
ARCHITECTURE
Balıkesir Kahramanmaraş Tandi
• Local architecture is one of the most
important sources of information to allow
us to understand and explain the ideas,
views, traditions, customs and belief
systems, family and relationships and
neighbourhood relations of a community.
• Forms of Settlements in Folk Architecture
• In the context of folk architecture, homes can be
classified in two groups; permanent and non-
permanent.
• Non-permanent homes are the houses on the high
plateau, in which family members live for one season
with their animals.
•Houses on the high plateaus are
composed of two rooms; one
for people, the other for
animals. These may have two
storey;
•the ground floor is used for
animals, and people live upstairs. In
houses which have only one floor,
the rooms are built side-by-side.
•The nature of the land determines
the materials used in houses. In
mountainous areas, plateau houses
are made of stone, and of wood in
forests.
Example of non-permanent house
• Inside the plateau house, there is a place
for the tripod and a large couch for
people to sit or sleep on. Apart from
when feeding their livestock and
performing other such tasks, plateau
people spend most of their time in that
single room.
•Permanent homes are houses
built near gardens or fields,
where people spend most of
their lives except for their time
on the plateaus.
•Permanent homes differ from
region to region, depending on
the materials used and
ecological conditions.
Example of permanent house
• In folk architecture, climate and natural
resources determine the materials used, and
economic conditions determine the use that
houses are put to.
• While settlement is dispersed on mountainous
terrain, it is much more compact in villages in
flat areas.
• The following factors are taken into account when
constructing a house;
• - It should be close to the fields,
• - The ground must be healthy,
• - Not to disturb the neighbours,
• - It must be close to water resources and communications
facilities,
• - The house must be built facing south for easier lighting
and heating,
• - The house must be built towards Mecca.
• Masters of Architecture
• Folk architects are either the owner of the house
concerned or master and craftsmen in the
region. The craftsman constructs the buildings
without a plan, but in the same way he has seen
them built over the years. In folk architecture,
all houses look similar, only the sizes change.
• If there is no major change in economic
and social life, similar buildings are
invariably constructed.
• Folk architects have no special training,
but build houses in the way they learned
from their elders.
Philippine artist of folk
architecture
 Leandro Locsin

• Leandro Locsin (1928-1994) was in some ways a

quintessential Renaissance man. A brilliant architect,
interior designer, artist, and classically trained pianist,
Locsin was also a keen art collector, amassing a
sizable collection of fine Chinese art and ceramics
during his lifetime.
• It is for his buildings, however, that he is
remembered. From airport terminals to
memorial chapels, arts centers to stock
exchange structures, Locsin left his mark on
the urban landscape of the Philippines.
• Locsin was determined to reconfigure western
architectural mores for a Filipino audience. His
most substantial contribution to Filipino
architecture is the Cultural Center of the
Philippines, a collection of five buildings that
demonstrate the architect’s drive to find a
vernacular form of modernist architecture.
• The National Theatre building within the
complex is a good example of Locsin’s
trademark style. Known as “floating volume,” it
consists of a two-floor-high block of travertine
marble cantilevered 12 feet into the air. The
theatre harks back to traditional Filipino
dwelling huts, but on a monumentally modern
scale.
Cultural Center of the Philippines
 Ildefonso P Santos
• The father of Philippine landscape architecture, Ildefonso
Paez Santos, or IP Santos as he was known, created some of
the best-loved urban spaces in the Philippines. Landscape
architecture, which deals with parks, plazas, and green
spaces, was a little-considered element of urban planning in
the first half of the 20th century. However, Santos changed
that, carrying out pioneering work that, after four decades in
the profession, led him to become National Artist for
Architecture in 2006.
• One of his earliest successful projects was the
Makati Commercial Center, an outdoor
shopping mall in which the shop fronts and
walkways were interspersed with garden trails,
fountains, and public artworks. This led him to
be commissioned to revitalize Manila’s Paco
Park, the work for which he is perhaps best
remembered .
• A former Spanish cemetery and Japanese
ammunitions store, the park was transformed into a
national park in 1966. Between 1967-1969 Santos
revived the park’s grounds and incorporated the
original park structures, including memorial sites and
fortification walls, into a space for urban recreation.
The Makati Commercial Center
 Pablo Antonio
• One of the first exponents of modernist architecture in
the Philippines, Pablo Antonio (1901-1975) is revered
as a pioneer and the foremost architect of his time.
This success was perhaps unexpected for a boy who
was orphaned at 12 and who dropped out of his first
architecture program.
• It was during his studies at the University of London
that Antonio began to shine, completing a five-year
program in only three years. He went on to
revolutionize popular architecture in the Philippines,
eschewing the fashionable neo-classical style for his
own version of art deco. Antonio was acutely aware
of the demands made on architecture by the
unforgiving Philippine climate.
• Buildings such as the Galaxy Theatre, the Far Eastern
University, and the Manila Polo Club display
practical innovations such as natural ventilation
systems and sunscreens, all of which are rendered in
Antonio’s signature style: clean lines, strong shapes,
and simplicity. As Antonio’s son Pablo Jr explains,
“for our father, every line must have a meaning, a
purpose. For him, function comes first before
elegance and form.”
Feu (Far eastern university)
 Francisco Mañosa
• Francisco ‘Bobby’ Mañosa has been challenging
architectural convention in his native country for five
decades. He displayed an artistic temperament from an early
age and remained a keen painter throughout his life. Along
with his three brothers, Mañosa eventually chose to pursue
architecture, and before long became the “outspoken
champion of indigenous architecture,” thus popularizing the
idea of Philippine architecture for Filipinos.
• Mañosa’s distinctive style, known as Contemporary Tropical
Filipino Architecture, is a heady mixture of seemingly
incongruous elements. Coconut lumber, rattan, shell, thatch,
and even indigenous textiles are juxtaposed with
hypermodern materials: metal, glass, concrete. The Coconut
Palace at the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex
typifies Manosa’s style. Its coconut gourd roof, coconut
shell chandelier, and pineapple fiber bedcovers are infused
with technological innovation for the modern era. In 2009
Mañosa was designated a National Artist in Architecture.
 Juan Nakpil
• The son of veterans of the Philippine Revolution,
Juan Nakpil (1899–1986) was committed to the belief
that architecture built in the Philippines should reflect
its culture and people. In his early career, Nakpil
spent time studying in the United States and France,
absorbing the lessons of international architecture.
• When he returned to Manila in the mid-1920s, Nakpil
applied his new-found knowledge to Filipino
structures. He worked on the restoration of the home
of national hero Jose Rizal and, like Locsin, took
inspiration from traditional stilt houses, remaking
them in cantilevered concrete on a mammoth scale.
His own holiday home was designed along these
lines, combining traditional nipa roofing (made out of
natural materials) with a poured concrete base.
• Nakpil worked on dozens of buildings across the nation,
from the Manila Jockey Club and the Quiapo Church, to the
Mabini Shrine and government departments. Despite his
determination to make buildings specifically for Filipino
citizens, some of his designs were considered too radical by
the public. Nakpil’s stainless steel pylon, superimposed over
a granite obelisk memorialising Jose Rizal was unpopular
and was soon removed. But Nakpil’s failures were few, and
he remained one of the Philippines’ most popular and
revered architects until his death. He was named a National
Artist for Architecture in 1973.
The Quiapo Church
Gawad ng Manlilikhang Bayani
Awardee in Folk Architecture
Francisco Mañosa
• Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa
was a Filipino architect
considered as one of the
most influencial Filipino
architects of the 20th century
for having pioneered the art
of Philippines neo-
vernacural architecture.
• Although he was popularly know as the architect of
the Coconut Palace, his other notable work include
the EDSA Shrine, the Davao Pearl Farm, and
Amanpulo Resort.
Coconut Palace
EDSA Shrine
Davao Pearl Farm
Amanpulo Resort
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