PHILIPPINE ARCHITECTURE

 INFLUENCES
GEOGRAPHY
- Religion one time was responsible for the admixture of
our ancient culture
- Originally a part of the great continent of Asia, the
Philippines become an archipelago of 7100 islands after
the past glacial period
- Strategically located, it lies along the borders of west
Pacific and south China sea
- Before the 16th century, it was on the archipelago of
independents kingdoms invaded by Negritos, Indonesians,
Proto-Malays and swept by the tides of the southeast
Asian empire – the Shri-Vishaya, the Madjapahit, the
Mohammedan Malay empire of Malacca and the Mings of the
Chinese

GEOLOGY
- Great variety of timber
- Has iron, copper, gold, tin, clay, limestone and
manganese
- The best timber products used for buildings and furniture
making are narra
- Also has abundant supply of palm (nipa & rattan)

RELIGION
- The early religion of the people in the archipelago is
termed “ANIMO-DEIST”
 A DEIST is a religion which is based on the belief in
God and the Homage due to him
- Believe in one supreme being called BATHALA in Tagalog,
KABUNYAN in Ilocano, ABA or LAON in Visayas
KAPTAN – God with powers to raise the dead
SUMPOY – God of the underworld
SIDAPA – God who determined the length of life on earth
LALAHON – Goddess of plants and harvest
BARANGAW – Goddess of rainbow
ANITOS – good spirits
MANGALES – bad spirits
CLIMATIC
- Torrential rains, typhoons, tidal waves, heat humidity
and earthquake are common
- Dry hot season from July to November
- December to February, mild climate

SOCIAL (PEOPLE)
1. HANUNOOS – handwriting on bamboo
2. MANOBOS, AETAS, TAGBANUAS – basket weaving, body tattoos and
shell utensils
3. MARANAWS – shown love for pomp; ceremony they shown their
lust for life in brilliant colors with great emphasis on
elaborate performance
4. IGOROT – were characterized by simplicity and quiet dignity.
Sculpture was their main art

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
ANCIENT TAGALA-MALAY ARCHITECTURE
- The Malays brought the concept of simple home building
- Houses are made of bamboo, wood thatched with grass, palm
leaves or nipa
- Steep gables, each gable terminated with motif of carabao
skull head
- House was raised on wooden post or stilts about six feet
above the ground
- The Datu’s house is square in plan, steep gable roof and
always facing east
- SARIMANOK – symbolism of which was inherited from our
Malay or TANGGALAS as the symbol of the rooster. The
colors frequently used are red, blue and yellow, purple,
green and orange
- Grass covered houses with rounded roof was introduced by
the Malays
- The Sumatran type of dwelling of wood, provided with
steep, graceful roof and decorated with intricate and
other southern provinces of Mindanao
 TRADITIONAL DWELLING AND PARTS
BALE – the Ifugao house (southern strain)
DENA – the Ibaloy house for well to do families
BINURON – the Ibaloy house for well to do families
BINURON – Apayao house (northern strain)
PALAGANAN – the passageway of Mangyan communal house
PARIAN – the only entry allowed to be used by the Chinese in
Intramuros
TAROGAN – the Maranao royal house, an ancestral house for Datu
and his family
CHU-LA-NAN – the ground floor of the Bontoc house
DANGO – another name for narra in Ilocos
LOWA – the central spaced used as sleeping area in T’boli house
FAYU – the Bontoc house of the southern strain
DJENGJING – the Badjao house used primarily for storage
WALAY – the traditional house for ordinary member of the
community
RAKUH – referred to as the big house in the Ivatan house
BAY-SINUG – the traditional Tausug house
BINANGGYAN – the traditional Kankanay house
GILIR – the cooking area of the bahay kubo
SILID – the private sleeping room of the bahay kubo, the table on
top of which is river stone shoe shaped stone or kalan
BATALAN – the unroofed area of bahay kubo where water jars used
for drinking, washing and bathing are kept
KAMALIG – a detached structure from bahay kubo where palay is
kept
XASSARAN – the lowest level in the Itneg house
DATTAGON – the central area found in the lower Kalinga house
LAMIS – the lowest a top the Torogan where princess and her
ladies in waiting hide during occasions
BILIK – the emergency hide out located behind the headboard of
Sultan’s head
PANTAN – the porch in the Tausug house, when found in the kitchen
as an open extended platform and is used primarily as family area
FATOHU – the side area used as working and conversational place
in T’boli house
DESYUNG – in T’boli house, this is regarded as the area of honor
because it is where the head of the house entertain guest and
perform rite under a curtained canopy
DOFIL – the sleeping quarter for the wives and children of the
head man in the T’boli house
KOTEL – the toilet of the T’boli house

 SPANISH INFLUENCE ON PHILIPPINE ARCHITECTURE

The Philippines as the military and ecclesiastical outpost of
Spain
1. IRRIGATION AND WATER SYSTEM
- The first artesian wells were built in BETIS Pampanga by
Fr. Manuel Camaras
- The first irrigation system was constructed in Tanay
Rizal by Fr. Jose Delgado

2. SCHOOLS
- The early schools were San Agustin College, Iloilo City,
San Alberto College in Dagupan, San Juan de Letran,
Manila, and Colegio de Sto. Tomas (UST), Manila

3. DOMESTIC MANSION (BAHAY NA BATO)

- First floor made of adobe
- Second floor is made of wood with tile roof
- The main door is treated with pilasters capped with
cornice and pediment
- The popular feature is the patio
- Has open terrace with balustrades

PARTS OF BAHAY NA BATO

1. ZAGWAN – carriages and carosas (float for procession) are
located
2. BODEGA – borders the zagwan where old furniture broken
carriages and storage for palay are kept
3. PATIO – enclosed courtyard
4. QUADRA – where horses are kept
5. ENTRESUELO – a mezzanine raised a meter where money is kept
and also jewelries
6. CEREMONIAL STAIRWAYS
 First three steps made of marble tiles (descanzo)
 Remaining steps made of narra wood
7. BASTONERA – where hats, canes, umbrellas are deposited
8. CAIDA – the first room you’ll see from the stairway, a
spacious hall with calado (form of ventilation for the
caida)
9. SALA – living room, divided into smaller areas of on-
permanent tree standing screens
10. COSINA – kitchen with a food cabinet (paminggalan),
dispensa (where rice and other foods are stored)
11. COMEDOR – dining room, has plateras of cabinets for the
display of silver wares
12. COMUN or LATRINA – toilet where water closet is located
13. AZOTEA – open terrace near the kitchen, comun and bano
14. BALCON – terrace in the living room
15. CUARTO/ALCOVA/ DORMITORYO

4. CHURCHES
- The building of the church marked the beginning of
community planning
- The church which generally of simplified Baroque
Byzantine or Romanesque
- Church plan was only copied from the province of
Andalucía
- Either in rectangular or cruciform in plan
- Walls made of bricks and adobe
- There was 2,778 churches built throughout the country
during the Spanish times

EXAMPLES
1. SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH – oldest church in Manila by Antonio
Herrera
2. BACLAYON CHURCH, Bohol – by Fr. Juan de Torres
3. CHURCH OF TAAL, Batangas – by Fr. Marcos Anton
4. CHURCH OF TUGUEGARAO, Cagayan – by Fr. Antonio Lebato
5. CHURCH OF TONDO, Manila – by Alfonso de Alcarado
6. OLD STO. DOMINGO CHURCH, Intramuros – by Fr. Diego Soria,
later rebuilt by Filipino architect Felix Roxas
7. MANILA CATHEDRAL
- The first Parish church in Manila in 1571
- First constructed of nipa and bamboo
- Replace by stone edifice in 1610 by Archbishop Diego
Vasquez de Mercado
- The 5th edifice (the actual church) before the Pacific was
rebuilt by Arch. Luciano Olivar, Vicente Serrano and
Eduardo Navarro

MILITARY ARCHITECTURE
- Design for defense against Moro and Chinese pirates
EXAMPLES
1. REAL FUERZA DE SANTIAGO (now Fort Santiago)
- By Fr. Antonio Sedon
- The engineer was Diego Jordan

2. INTRAMUROS
- The famous walled city of Manila within a city
- Famous for its seven gates namely:
a) Puerto Isabela
b) Puerto Rial
c) Puerto Sto. Domingo
d) Puerto Postigo
e) Puerto Sta. Lucia
f) Puerto Alca Menes
g) Puerto Parian

3. FORT PILLAR. Zamboanga

- By Fr. Melchor de Vera

4. FORT OF ILIGAN
- By Fr. Francisco Ducos

 FIRST IN THE PHILIPPINES UNDER SPANISH RULE\

1. First irrigation canal in Tanay, Rizal – by Fr. Juan
Delgado
2. First water system in Manila – by Fr. Juan Pequero
3. First artesian well in Betis, Pampanga – by Fr. Manuel
Camaras
4. First stone pier in Guian, Samar – by Fr. Antonio Fuertes
5. First pier and seawall in Carmen, Cebu – by Fr. Pedro
Monasteries

 TWO ARCHITECTS SENT BY SPANIARDS TO SPAIN AND EUROPE

1. Felix Roxas
2. Diego Hervas

 INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN BUILDING TECHNIQUE

- Steel concrete construction was introduced in the mid
30’s as a result of European and American influence
- The first steel structure in the Philippines were:

1. COMPANIA GENERAL DE LA TABACALERA

- Planned in Spain and erected in Manila in 1894

2. PUENTE COLGANTE (now Quezon Bridge)

- A suspension bridge spanning the Pasig river

- The first all steel church in the Philippines is the SAN

SEBASTIAN CHURCH, manufactured in Belgium, Gothic in
style which was completed in 1891 built by architect
Genaro Palacios
- The introduction of reinforced concrete in the
Philippines was in 1890 and it was used in the
construction of the MASONIC TEMPLE, the first multi-
structure in Escolta, Manila
 THE EARLY AMERICAN PERIOD
- When the naval guns of Commodore Dewy thundered of May 1,
1898 that signalized the advent of a new era in our
history
- By fortunes of the Hispano-American war, America took
over the Philippines from Spain. At the time of the
American occupation, the public works of the Spaniards
were totally disregarded
- Spanish method of building was without consideration
ruthlessly abandoned and a regime of reinforced concrete
and galvanized iron inaugurated which for decades to come
pave the way to the evolution of new concept of design
and construction

EXAMPLES
a. MALACANANG PALACE – William Parsons
b. MANILA HOTEL – William Parsons
c. NATIONAL LIBRARY – hexagon architects
1. Cezar Vergel de Dios
2. Francisco Fajardo
3. Gavino de Leon
4. Jose Zaragosa
5. Carlos Arguelles
d. MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS
1. Bonifacio Memorial – Guillermo Tolentino and
Juan Nakpil
2. Quezon Memorial – Federico Ilustre
3. Bataan Memorial, Corregidor – Firm of Naramore
4. Rizal Monument, Luneta – Richard Kissling

e. BUILDING OF INTERNATIONAL FAME

1. Metropolitan Theater – Juan Arellano
2. UP Admin Building – Juan Nakpil
3. Baguio City Plan – Daniel Burnham
4. Executive Buildings – League of the Philippine
Architect
5. Judiciary Building – PIA
6. Legislative Building – Division of Architects