An Insight About Philippines and its Architecture. :)

In more than one year of studying architecture, I often hear that Philippine architecture, some say that it does not exist, but for me, it’s otherwise. I think, Philippine architecture reflects the culture of our country. I think, even other county’s architecture reflects their culture and environment. Filipinos definitely have culture; we have a personality that is ours. Some of us eat with their hands, even today that we already have spoon and forks; some say that it’s even more enjoyable and food gets more delicious when we eat with our bare hands. We are very hospitable and open as foreigners say. We have different cuisines compared to other countries, the adobo as our specialty, also sweet mangoes could be found here. Architecture is influenced by many factors such as topography, climate, culture, beliefs, and many more. I wouldn’t say that our topography is from other countries, even climate nor our culture and belief.

The different historical structures here in the Philippines basically show our culture. Preserving these important structures is like preserving our culture. History is what makes the present. Everything wouldn’t be completely like today if any of the past, the history didn’t occur, that’s why I think that historical structures are important and should be preserved.

The best and most famous example of Philippine architecture is the “Bahay Kubo”. I think, from bahay kubo, it just evolved. As they say, there is no permanent in life except changes, people change, things change. We just became adaptive of what is in nowadays, what is modern. It is the same with fashion; we dress whatever is fashionable in modern world. You wouldn’t want to walk or have a date with someone wearing the Filipiniana or what Maria Clara wears a long time ago right? But I think, as time comes, what’s modern now doesn’t mean it would still be fresh in the future. It would sag in time, maybe not immediately, but there would come a time. I think what’s more important is the significance of a structure or what it means to us and the bahay kubo for me is still the best description of a Philippine architecture. It uses local materias, built and designed by the locals and with the consideration of the climate and topography of our country. Just like the Coconut Palace, among all the brutalist architecture around the CCP or Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Coconut Palace is the most unique structure and the only structure in CCP complex that I think is very Filipino. I have read in an article that the materials used in this structure is locally made, plus the fact that the design is very tropical, the coconut trees outside the palace gave an even more tropical feeling. The feeling that it gave me when I first saw this is that I’m in some province in the Philippines. Since everything in the CCP complex is brutalist, when I saw this, I can’t help notice how it stands out, the way it feels so cool and comfortable. I grew up in a province so the view just reminds me of home.

Studying the critical regionalism, I realized that everywhere, they could have their own architecture. Even if nowadays modern structures are very much trending in different places, it could be translated and make it unique with the features of local materials and to cope up with its environment and making it their own. I think that critical regionalism contradicts what international style is. Critical regionalism, though it is modern, it still considers where the structure would be built, while international style, whether built here in the Philippines or some other countries, it would still have the same feature.

I like critical regionalism more than international style because the former brings out what is ideal or the highlight of a certain place. It gives a person the feeling that he/she is in that certain place, meaning, giving the people the feeling of the architecture in that certain place like for example, here in Philippines, using bamboo, or other local materials, though it is not a “bahay kubo” or that it may be very modern, it still gives the person the feeling that he/she is in the Philippines. It is like modernizing Philippines, like being a modern Filipina – strong, has a voice, has her own personality, but still having Filipino traits such as being conservative, very respectful, and also hospitable. Unlike international style buildings, when you enter one international building in America and an international style here in the Philippines, it would have the same formal feeling.

In studying history of architecture, there was once a question that what if I was given a project to build a modern structure in place of a historical structure, would I do it? Would I have demolished a historical structure in place for my own modern, and much more complex design? I hesitated, maybe because, I don’t know how historical or significant the building was, but it was also because it would be an opportunity for me. So if given that choice, I would probably study more about the structure, its function, what had happened there and decide whether it would be worth saving or maybe it would be better off without and probably make my own history, but still, like the coconut palace, I would’ve design a structure, though modern, is very Filipino.

In the past meetings of our history of architecture class, I have already learned a lot of trivia about Philippines. I’ve learned about the oldest and great structures or even places here in the Philippines. Before, I wouldn’t even think of visiting the different places here in the Philippines. If given a choice whether to have a tour outside the country or around the country, I would definitely, with no hesitation, grab the chance to go out of the country, but now, after discussing the historical places here in the Philippines, I would like to go and visit those places first, appreciate what we have, then, just then that I would go visit and appreciate what other countries have.