DURING THE SPANISH ERA, THERE WERE NO

ARCHITECTURAL SCHOOLS TO HAVE EVER EXISTED. However,

there is one existing school called Escuela Practica Y artes Oficios De Manila
where the first graduates were Julio Hernandez (1891), Isidro Medina (1894),
Arcadio Arellano (1894), and Juan Carreon (1896).
IN RECORD, THE FIRST EVER FILIPINO ARCHITECT WAS Felix
Roxas y Arroyo, who attended a London- based university. IT WAS IN 1858
WHEN HE FIRST STARTED HIS ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE AND IN
1887, HE WAS EVENTUALLY APPOINTED AS THE MUNICIPAL
ARCHITECT OF MANILA. He designed the Sto. Domingo Church and
Ayuntamiento de Manila in Intramuros but BITH WERE unfortunately
during THE World War II.
In 1902, The Academia de Arquitectura y Agremensura de
Filipinas( AAAF), the first association of architects, was established. THIS
GROUP WERE PIONEERED BY Guillermo Gardiner-THE PRESIDENT,
Arcadio Arellano- VICE PRESIDENT, Jose Perez Siguereza -SECRETARY,
AND Tomas Arguelles and Jose Paras- DIRECTORS.
HOWEVER in 1903, they’ve decided to RENAME the association into
Academia de Arquitectura, Ingenieria y Agremensura de Filipinas (AIAAF)
WHICH BY THEN, civil engineers and surveyors WERE ALSO INCLUDED.
in 1921, Engineers and Architects Law (ActNo. 2985) was established.
IN THIS, Separate Boards of Examiners for civil engineering and architecture
were established by legislation. Architects were automatically tasked to the
surveyors. As an architect, Tomas Mapua received LicenseNo. 1 WHILE
Carlos Barreto and Antonio Toledo, WHO BOTH STUDIED OVERSEAS,
WERE GRANTED Licenses 2 and 3 respectively. They studied architecture
overseas.

In 1933, THE ASSOCIATION WAS ONCE AGAIN RENAMED INTO

Philippine Architects Society (PAS). IT HAD Don Juan Nakpil as the
President, Tomas Mapua as the Vice President, Harold Keyes as Secretary-
Treasurer, and Carlos Baretto and Fernando Ocampo as Directors. On the
eve of World War II in 1941, 96-strong PAS held a national convention with
NOTABLE MESSAGES from Pres. Manuel L. Quezon, VP Sergio Osmenia,
and Manila Mayor Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. THAT TIME, Government
architects led by Juan Arellano, Antonio Toledo, and Elias Ruiz WERE
INVITED TO JOIN.
After the DEVASTATING World War II, IN THE YEAR 1945,
Philippine Architects’ Society was reorganized AND WAS founded by
Fernando Ocampo. HE THEN WAS APPOINTED as THE PresidenT
WHILE ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE WERE Cesar Concio as Vice
President, Jose Zaragoza as Secretary, Luis Ma. Araneta as Treasurer, AND
Juan Nakpil, Andres Luna de San Pedro, Gines Rivera, and Gabriel Formoso
as Directors.
A year after, PAS changed its name to Philippine Institute of Architects
& Planners (PIAP) and not long after, it was also later changed into
Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA) by a Resolution presented by Carlos
da Silva.
in 1948, A resolution proposing a professional bureaucratic service of its
members to help with the formulation of plans for public works and projects
during the War was offered by PIA to President Elpidio Quirino.
In 1947, the first Architectural Exhibition which was held in the lobby
of the Consolidated Investment Building at Plaza Goiti was part of the 3-day
PIA Annual Convention, held at the Manila Hotel. It was the Convention’s
Honor Dinner which highlighted the event where the first Architect of the
country Carlos Barretto, one of the founders of PAS and surviving member
of AAIF, was promoted as PIA Fellow.

The Republic Act No. 472 of 1948, which amended Section 1901 of the
Administrative Code, may be viewed as the Magna Carta of the practice of
private architects against bureaucratic architecture and engineering. It
legalized the awarding of the design of public works and buildings to private
architects and engineers.
Andres Luna de San Pedro received the first ever Gold Medal Award
for a Filipino architect in 1950 for his renowned work "Crystal Arcade and in
1951, PIA's Standards of Professional Practice were published and printed. It
was in 1953 when the architects were first acknowledged as guests by the
President of the Philippines, at the 20th Annual Convention of the PIA, when
President Quirino gave a cocktail reception in Malacanang. In 1954, The
American Institute of Architects recognized and honored Filipino architect
Carlos da Silva by making him an AIA Honorary Member during the
organization's 96th anniversary.

January 23, 1957, The Union Internationale Des Architects (UIA)

formally recognized the Philippine Institute of Architects as its National
Section and in 1957, PIA and LPA met jointly at the request of the PIA
Committee on Professional Practice To agree on the Standard Schedule of
Fees. This was an attempt to unite the two groups. The government-employed
architects at that time established a new association in 1958 called the
Association of Philippine Government Architects (APGA).
in the 1960s, there were persistent attempts to merge the diverse groups
of architects into one and A lot of work had been put in over many years in
order to close the gap between the three groups. Eventually, The Council of
Filipino Architects (CFA), originally intended to serve as the umbrella group
under which the three societies would gather under one flag, was founded in
1962 after the short-lived Philippine Council of Architects (1962) of LPA and
APGA. Furthermore, The CFA was not affiliated with PIA.

In 1965, The Architects' National Code, the Architects' Services, and

the Schedule of Fees were unanimously approved by the APGA, LPA, and
PIA and was later approved by the Board of Examiners for Architects. The
50th anniversary celebration of Philippine architecture, One of such
initiatives in 1971, served as a foundation for unification. An Ad-Hoc
Committee of young architects was also formed in 1971 to commemorate the
profession's 50th anniversary. The said event was a huge success, and it took
place at the Manila Polo Club. The majority of the prominent members of the
three organizations attended the event.
 In April 1973, PIA President Ariston Nakpil WAS INVITED BY LPA
President Architect Edilberto Florentino INTO A MEETING which sparked
a series of conferences between the two organizations and eventually with
Deogracias Atienza, APGA President. It was in THE SAME year that the
elusive goal of professional unity was explicitly conceptualized THUS
HAVING THE Panel of Negotiators BEING THE RESULT. The three
current presidents of the three organizations—Deogracias Atienza of the
APGA, Edilberto Florentino of the LPA, and Ariston Nakpil of the PIA also
created a panel of negotiators on their behalf. The panel also included
Benjamin Meamo and Alfredo Tungpalan for the APGA, Luisito Guiang and
Ricardo Poblete for the LPA, and OtilloArellano and Carmencita L. Rosales
for PIA. On June 1973 President Ferdinand Marcos issued PD 223 creating
the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for the purpose of regulating
the practice of all professions.
Architecture Week was jointly celebrated by APGA-LPA-PIA On
December 9-10 and the momentous occasion was highlighted by the passing of
the Joint Board Resolution of Integration of PIA, LPA and APGA. This Joint
Resolution was ratified without objection in a joint general assembly on
December 16, 1973 at the Architectural Center in Makati.

After an endless careful consideration, examination, and evaluation,

many people agreed to the term United Architects of the Philippines, and were
chosen because they reflected the fundamental idea upon which the
organization was built: unity.
The President of the Interim Board was Norberto Nuke, and Cesar
Canchela was a member (VP for Private Practice), Benjamin Meamo, Vice
President for Allied Fields, Deogracias Atienza, and Aquiles Paredes
(Secretary), Ben Feliciano, Edilberto Florentino, Luciano Aquino, Otilio
Arellano, Alfredo Tungpalan (Treasurer), and Bernandino directors Victor
Tiotuyco, Lozad, Arturo Maalac, Ariston Nakpil, and Evelio Valdes.
Finally on December 12, 1975, the members of the UAP elected the First
Regular Board of Directors, namely:Jose Herrera (President), Manuel
Mañosa, Jr. (VP for Private Practice), Ruperto Gaite (VP for Government
Service), Cesar Concio (VP for Allied Fields), Urbano Caasi, Jr. (Secretary),
Librado Macalinao (Treasurer), and Felipe Mendoza, Ricardo Poblete,
Constantino Agbayani, Corazon Tandoc, Jesse Mackay, Antonio Ascalon,
Johnny Sulit as directors while Norberto Nuke as ex-officio.