DOMINGO, CHRISTINE JOY G.

ARCHI 3C

HOA 4

ESSAY

Architecture is a testimony of the human civilization's evolution since it shows how

society has changed since the time when it was created.

One of the most popular places to visit in Beijing is the Forbidden Palace. It is the
oldest structure in China and has been around for over 3000 years. The elegant and complex
designs of the old imperial palace are some of the things that caught my attention. The
historic Chinese rulers' home is a huge complex of structures, open spaces, and artistic
ornamentation. You can spend a lot of time just roaming around, wondering at the
architecture and imagining what life was like at the monarch's court. For generations, the
Forbidden City, also known as The Palace Museum, was home to 24 Chinese Ming and Qing
monarchs. It was first open to the public in 1949. Perhaps you're wondering why it's known
as the Forbidden Palace. Because it was the residence of the emperors, the general public was
not permitted to visit. Many of the people who lived there were not allowed to leave. It
earned its name from this. It's not as dramatic as it sounds.

This area of the city never changes, no matter how much the rest of the city changes.
It's an enthralling journey back through time to a different era and society, as well as a
glimpse into China's History.

There are some recurring features that are very similar to those found in Southeast
Asian vernacular structures. These include certain design features and motifs that are
associated with certain regions. Although there has been debate on what constitutes
Philippine vernacular architecture, most people still agree that the traditional bahay kubo or
the bahay na bato are the main elements of this country's houses.

The Bahay Kubo is a type of village dwelling that originated from the Spanish phrase
Cubo, which means cube. It is built out of organic materials and is a great example of
sustainable living. The structures in this type of dwelling are made of bamboo, cogon grass,
and tree strings. A well-ventilated hut has awning windows on all sides and sliding panels on
the other side will keep the cool air from escaping. It has sloping roof, which allows for rain
storage. It has a high open top floor that can shade the house from the sun.

Rock shelters and caves in Palawan are the earliest examples of pre-colonial
construction in the Philippines. Because early Filipinos were nomadic because they were
often hunting or fishing for food, they relied heavily on nature for shelter and did not even
have to construct permanent shelters. Tent-like shelters and tree huts were also built because
of the development of tools to serve as their homes.

The Torogan was a high-status icon. A sultan or datu of the Maranao community used
to live in such a house. Concrete dwellings may now be found throughout Maranaw
settlements, while torogans over a century old still exist. Aside from the class and affluence
decorations, the torogan may be designed to withstand flooding by being elevated to a height
of up to 2.21 meters from the ground using tree stumps.

Spanish colonial motives, on the other hand, were not solely commercial. The Spanish
saw the Philippines as a steppingstone to the riches of the Spice Islands, but they kept their
presence in the archipelago even after the Portuguese and Dutch had ruled out that prospect.
By forcing influential persons to relocate within poblaciónes within hearing distance of
church bells, Reducción intended to solidify colonial rule over Philippine indigenous people.
Bells indicated when it was time to meet and marked special occasions, which helped to keep
daily life in order. The scope of the Crown's geographical holdings was also represented by
the audibility of church bells. The complete system of regulation issued by the Spanish for
the governance of its nations (colonies) beyond Europe, mostly in the Americas, throughout
the 16th- 18th centuries; more specifically, a series of collections of decrees (cedulas)
collected and published by royal authority.

During the three hundred thirty years of Spanish colonization, Spanish influences
dominated Philippine architecture. Many beautiful churches and cathedrals were erected by
the Augustinian cardinals and other religious organizations across the Philippine Islands.
There were no Filipino architects and civil engineers all throughout or more than three-and-a-
half centuries of Spanish colonialism. Even though they could design and build every sort of
structure that technology allowed at the time, social prejudice forced the suppressed indio
builders to settle for the title of Maestro de Obras (Master Builders). To escape the dangers of
both fire and earthquake, the Arquitectura mestiza, a half-breed architecture that utilized
wood on the upper level and stone on the base floor, was developed. The bahay na bato will
gradually emerge during the latter years of Spanish rule. To avoid the hazards posed by fires,
earthquakes, and cyclones, it blended aspects of indigenous and Hispanic construction
traditions. The construction of all buildings would be dictated by this material template,
resulting in a hybrid design that morphologically blurred the lines between government,
commercial, and residential architecture. Even though the Filipino term Bahay na bato means
"stone house," these dwellings are not entirely constructed of stone; some are even more
dominated by wooden materials, while others are more contemporary while using concrete.
As decades passed, the term was given to the structure as it was the first dominant housing
style in the Philippines to employ stone materials, as opposed to its predecessor Bahay kubo,
which was entirely built of organic materials.

If I were to design a contemporary structure in Spanish, I would be using design

elements from baroque architecture, which including features that grab attention. These
features include curved walls, painted and vaulted ceilings, columns, sculptures, arches,
niches, fountains, scrolling, broken pediments, and so on. Many of these features have a
vitality that gives them a feeling of motion.

Filipino radical rebel Emilio Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines on an American

navy ship after self-exile in Hong Kong and seized leadership of Filipino forces on May 24.
Much of the nation had been freed from the Spanish by Filipino soldiers. The 12th of June,
Aguinaldo issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence in 1898, announcing the
Philippines' independence from Spain. Spain ruled the Philippines for a time before the First
Philippine Republic was created. After that, Filipino soldiers surrounded and besieged the
city. Manila, as well as American soldiers, had been attacked. The Americans made an
agreement with the Spanish governor-general to wage a fake combat before surrendering
Manila to the Americans. On August 13, the Battle of Manila took place, and Americans
gained control of the city. The Spanish agreed to sell the Philippines to the United States for
$20 million in the Treaty of Paris (1898), which was barely passed by the United States
Senate. This move effectively ended Spanish authority in the Philippines.

The United States built an economic structure that granted colonists complete access
to the country's resources. The Spanish feudal system was not abolished; in fact, tenancy
grew more popular under the US occupation since of a land registration system that favored
the higher Filipino classes. Native elites were nurtured to administer the country's economic
and political systems, including physicians trained in the United States. The United States
also imported western educational and health-care models, which promoted elitism and a
colonial mentality that has persisted to this day, coupled with the Spanish feudal patron-client
relationship. After the Second World War, in which Filipino forces fought with the United
States to oppose the Japanese power, Philippine independence was gained on July 4, 1946,
with the signing of the Treaty of Manila between the governments of the United States and
the Philippines. The treaty provided for the acknowledgment of the Republic of the
Philippines' independence as well as the surrender of American authority over the Philippine
Islands.

Between 1916 and 1935, American Colonization and the City Beautiful delves into
the history of city planning and the growth of the built environment in the Philippines. In
doing so, it emphasizes the actions of the Bureau of Public Works' Division of Architecture
as part of Philippine national development and decolonization. These students were known as
Pensionados as they were intellectuals learning at the cost of the colonial government. They
primarily acquired degrees in government and administration since the program's goal was to
teach students about the U.S. government structure so that when they returned to the
Philippines, they could run the government in the same manner. During the first decade of the
American occupation, the majority of the pensionados were topmost women (the same class
who had access to better education in the late Spanish period). However, when educational
prospects in the Philippines became more egalitarian under the American school system,
many of the later pensionados were talented Filipinos who were not necessarily affluent.
These pensionados, along with Arcadio Arellano and Tomas Arguelles, comprised the first
generation of Filipino architects. Each of the six has a unique characteristic to assert. Arcadio
Arellano was the first Filipino to be hired as an architectural advisor by the Americans.
Carlos Barreto was the first Filipino architect to get an academic degree from an institution
outside of the Philippines, graduating from the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia in 1907. He
joined the Division of Architecture's pioneering staff. Tomas Arguelles was a public
administrator who fought for the implementation of the Manila Building Code. Antonio
Toledo was a Neoclassical master and one of the earliest architect professors. The "second
generation" architects, especially Andres Luna de San Pedro, Fernando Ocampo, Pablo
Antonio, and Juan F. Nakpil, arose in the late 1920s and 1930s and introduced Art Deco,
which was distinguished by flamboyant exoticism and decoration, as seen on the façade of
the following building structures: ELPO Building, Bautista-Nakpil Pylon, Metropolitan
Theater, Santos House, and Mapua House.
 The Art Deco style, which was embraced by architects and designers across the
world, encompassed the "Roaring Twenties," the early 1930s Great Depression, and the years
leading up to World War II. It went out of favor in the late 1930s and early 1940s, when it
was perceived as excessively garish and extravagant for wartime economy, and it swiftly fell
out of favor again. The Rizal Memorial Coliseum as an iconic Art Deco edifice was built as
part of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex for the 1934 Far East Championship Games, Juan
Arellano, a pioneer architect, created the original design.

Modern architecture, often known as modernist architecture, was a building

movement or style centered by new and inventive construction technology, notably the use of
glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the belief that form should follow function
(functionalism); an embracing of minimalism; and a rejection of adornment.

Modernism, which rejected decoration in favor of minimalism, became the twentieth

century's most influential new style or philosophy of architecture and design. It related to an
analytical approach to building function, a rigorously logical use of often new materials,
structural innovation, and the removal of adornment. After the architect Philip Johnson's
display of modernist architecture in America in 1932, it became known as International
Modernism or International Style. The emphasis on volume, asymmetrical compositions, and
simple adornment became hallmarks of the style. The term Modern Movement has been used
in the United Kingdom to characterize the strict modernist designs of the 1930s through the
early 1960s. The movement's forefathers were Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier, with the
latter having a significant effect on the design of numerous public housing complexes in the
United Kingdom. Modernist architects attempted to offer an honest depiction of how they
employed materials in the construction of a structure, typically employing reinforced
concrete, steel frames, ribbon windows, and curtain walls.

The American colonial period had a profound effect on current architectural styles in
the Philippines. Today, you can see the American influence in prominent structures in the
Philippines, such as those in New York or Chicago. When it comes to modern architecture,
Western architects such as William Parsons, Edgar Bourne, and Daniel Burnham were among
the great names during American administration. While we owe something to the Americans,
their architectural legacy was not as great as the Spanish colonial era, as their time in the
country was limited and tainted by foreign politics. When the Philippines declared its
independence, a new generation of Filipino architecture emerged, with architects adopting
new styles and even incorporating the traditional aesthetics of old-era structures into their
designs, resulting in some of the most iconic architecture in the Philippines today. Now,
architects all around the world are advocating for eco-friendly architecture in their projects to
combat global warming, and Filipino architects are joining them.

Form follows function, was the new concept announced by the third generation of
Filipino architects: Cesar Concio, Angel Nakpil, Alfredo Luz, Juan Arellano, Felipe
Mendoza, Gabriel Formoso, Carlos Arguelles, Leandro Locsin, Francisco Manosa, and Juan
Nakpil. The design is solely dependent on the function of the structure. Asymmetrical
compositions and the usage of geometric shapes are popular, frequently with flat roofs, linear
features, and projecting cantilevers. Less is more, Structures feature clean, clear lines with
little or no adornment. This includes a lack of moldings and a preference for white or a
neutral color palette. Tropical Modernism is distinguished by its large, open spaces, enhanced
ventilation, emphasis on local resources, and construction materials with cooling properties.
The Philippine government established a core group of architects in 1947: Juan Arellano,
Cesar Concio, Manuel Manosa, and Juan Nakpil. They created a master plan for the new
capital city of the Philippines, drawing influence from the capital cities of the United States
of America and Latin America. The works of Oscar Niemeyer, a South American modernist
architect, established its model.

Palma Hall was constructed in 1951 and was designed by Cesar Concio. It was named
after Rafael Palma, the fourth president of the UP. It was one of the first structures built on
the Diliman Campus after the administration of the University of the Philippines chose in
1939 to relocate its flagship campus from the Manila campus. Palma Hall is home to the
departments of Anthropology, Geography, History, Linguistics, Philosophy, Political
Science, Psychology, Sociology, and the Population Institute, which were previously known
as the CSSP. Architect Cesar Concio designed Melchor Hall, the present major building of
the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Engineering. The Bauhaus school of
design, as well as the task of designing a structure with no frills, have had a strong effect on
the architecture. It is a five-story horizontal reinforced concrete building with planar shapes
tempered with Filipino architectural expression. Internal areas flow rather than being tightly
boxed. The Church of the Risen Lord is a Protestant church located in Diliman, Quezon City,
at the University of the Philippines. It began roughly 50 years ago with the formation of the
Christian Youth Movement, a Protestant student organization (CYM). Architect Cesar
Concio also designed it.
 President Magsaysay, together with various cabinet members, senior government
leaders, and other contributors, dedicated the National Press Club building. The NPC
building was designed by Architect Angel E. Nakpil and built by Alberto T. Abaya. It
became a historic monument to the values of press freedom and solidarity among colleagues
in the country's newspaper business. The 12-story Picache Building was the Philippines' first
skyscraper. This was constructed in the mid-1950s employing an International Style
architectural design.

Quezon City as the new Philippine capital in the early twentieth century, President
Manuel L. Quezon envisioned a city that would serve as the country's future capital,
replacing Manila. His earlier journey to Mexico City, Mexico, is thought to have inspired his
vision. A panel of government architects, including Juan Arellano, passed a comprehensive
framework for the city master plan of Quezon City, based on the pattern of Washington's
Constitution Hill. Government buildings would be placed in an elevated area of the city,
according to the idea. The GSIS Building was constructed in 1957 as part of the first set of
new government buildings. The architectural style shifted from classical to modernism.
Postmodern skyscrapers used a three-part division of columnar architecture to divide the tall
building into vertical portions – the plinth, the shaft, and the crown. The phrase "tower on the
podium" is commonly used for commercial and corporate buildings. Because of its mixed-use
potential, the abandoned areas of Manila have been revived and are now bustling with urban
activity.

Contemporary Architecture is widely defined as the modern building style; yet

examples do not always have identical or immediately recognized aspects because the "style"
is extremely varied and includes a variety of various inspirations.