Architect of CCP

In 1965,

Leonardo Locsin was born on August 15, 1928

Before World War II began, he completed elementary school at De La Salle College in Manila before
returning to his hometown in Negros Occidental. Locsin then returned to finish his secondary education
at La Salle and studied Pre-Law before shifting to pursue a bachelor’s degree in music at the University of
Santo Tomas. Just a year before graduation, he shifted again to architecture.

Leandro V. Locsin was a Filipino architect, artist, and interior designer, known for his use of concrete,
floating volume, and simplistic design in his various projects. He was proclaimed a National Artist of
the Philippines for Architecture in 1990 by the late former President Corazon C. Aquino.

When he was on his journey, Locsin met some American architects Paul Rudolph and Eero Saarinen in
the United States. After his visit, he realized to use concrete materials which are cheap and easy to form
for buildings in the Philippines. In 1969, he completed the Theater of Performing Arts of the Cultural
Center of the Philippines which made him his most remarkable work.

The marble façade of the building is cantilevered 12 meters from the terrace by huge arching columns at the
sides of the building, giving it the impression of being afloat. The CCP gives an impression of being afloat, (its
marble façade is cantilevered 12 meters from the terrace ) by huge arching columns at the sides of the
building. A large lagoon in front of the theatre mirrors the building during daytime, while fountains are
illuminated by underwater lights at nighttime.

the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), which began in 1965. Designed by
Leandro Locsin, the CCP's massive, rough concrete edifice, in the style of Brutalist
architecture, took four years to build on 21 hectares of reclaimed land along Manila
Bay. Envisioned by then First Lady Imelda Marcos as a 'showcase of Filipino artistic
expression and an architectural landmark', it opened in 8 September 1969, as, the
writer quoted, 'The Mecca of the Arts in Asia'.