READING AND WRITING FOR

ARTS AND HUMANITIES

(APPRECIATING
CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTS AND THEIR
WORKS)
SIX CONTEMPORARY FILIPINO ARCHITECTS
YOU SHOULD KNOW
 Lendro Locsin
 Idefonso P. Santos
 Pablo Antonio
 Juan Nakpil
 Francis Maños
 Carlos A. Santos-Viola
LEANDRO LOCSIN (1928- 1994)
• A quintessential Renaissance man, a
brilliant architect, interior designer,
artist, and classically trained pianist
who was also a keen art collector,
amassing a sizable collection of fine
Chinese art ad ceramics during his
lifetime.
• He was determined to reconfigure
Western architectural mores for a
Filipino audience.
• His most substantial contribution to
Philippine architecture is the Cultural
Center of the Philippines complex, a
collection of five Locsin designed
buildings.
• The National Theater building within the
complex is a Locsin’s trademark style,
known as “floating volume”.
• His ability to make this most monolithic
of materials appear weightless led
Locsin’s peers to dub him the “poet of
space.”
ILDEFONSO P. SANTOS
• Considered as the Father of Philippine landscape
architecture.
• Ildefonso Paez, Jr., or I.P. Santos as he was known,
created some of the best loved urban spaces in
the Philippines. Landscape architecture, a
corollary of architecture proper that deals with
parks, plazas, and green spaces, was a little-
considered element of urban planning in the first
half of the twentieth century in the Philippines.
However, he changed that idea, carrying out
pioneering work that led him to become National
Artist for Architecture in 2006 after four decades
in the profession.
• 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.
PABLO ANTONIO (1901-1975)
• One of the first exponents of modernist
architecture in the Philippines and is revered
as a pioneer and the foremost architect of his
time. During his studies at the University of
London that Antonio began to shine,
completing a five-year program in only three
years.
• He went to revolutionalize popular
architecture in the Philippines, eschewing the
fashionable neoclassical style for his own
version of art deco.
• Antonio was acutely aware of the demands
made on architecture by the unforgiving
Filipino climate. Buildings such as the Galaxy
Theater, the Far Eastern University, and the
Manila Polo Club display practical innovations
like natural ventilation systems and
sunscreens, rendered in Antonio’s signature
style: clean lines, strong shapes, and
simplicity.
• Antonio’s son Pablo Jr. explains, “For our
father, every line must have a meaning, a
purpose. For him, functions comes first before
elegance and form.
JUAN NAKPIL (1899-1986)
• The son of Philippine Revolution veteran Julio
Nakpil, was committed to the belief that
architecture built in the country should reflect
the culture and people of the Philippines.
• In his early career, Nakpil spent time studying
in the United States and also in France,
absorbing the lessons of international
architecture. When he returned to Manila in
the mid-1920s, Nakpil applied his newfound
knowledge to Filipino structures.
• He worked on the restoration of the home of
national hero Jose Rizal.
• Conferred as the National Artist for
Architecture in 1973.
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;
but along with his three brothers, he
eventually chose to pursue architecture, and
before long became the “outspoken champion
of indigenous architecture,” popularizing the
idea of Philippine architecture for Filipinos.
• His distinctive style is known as Contemporary
Tropical Filipino Architecture.
• The Coconut Palace at the Cultural Center of
the Philippines complex typifies Mañosa’s style:
its coconut gourd roof, coconut shell
chandelier, and pineapple fiber bedcovers
infused with technological innovation for the
modern era.
• In 2009, Mañosa was awarded National Artist
for Architecture, like Leandro Locsin, I.P
Santos, Pablo Antonio and Juan Nakpil before
him.
CARLOS A. SANTOS-VIOLA
• An urbane young man who enjoyed lawn tennis
and playing the saxophone, Carlos Santos-Viola
was also a gifted architect from the early days
of his career.
• A devout Catholic throughout his life whom
many of his best know designs were executed
for the Iglesia ni Cristo, a Filipino religious
group.
• He created churches for the group all over the
archipelago, designed in a style quite distinct
from that of his contemporaries.
• Viola chose to incorporate Gothic and Baroque
elements into his modern churches.
• He was fond of asserting that “the structure
must not only look good but must also be made
well.”