The Cultural Center of the Philippines or the CCP is one of the most prominent structures here in the Philippines. Every time we would be passing by that building, I would always look at it and even turn my head until I lost sight of it. Many people turn their heads once they saw this structure; it’s literally a head turner. There was this one time when I was from the Mall of Asia and on the way back in Taft Avenue, I was hitching a ride from my friend, and when we passed by the building, they immediately recognized it and became the topic of the discussion, they said it looked like a toilet bowl, especially with the big fountain in front; with that huge fountain in front, I would have also thought so. But structure wise, for me, I think it is very elegant. The way Leandro Locsin, its architect, designed that building is really impressive. He’s really a master of Brutalist Architecture, having designed most of the recognizable brutalist buildings here in the Philippines; one of them is the Philippine International Convention Center and CCP.
Last Wednesday, my friends and I visited the Cultural Center of the Philippines and I was immediately awed by its exterior. Looking at it from a nearer perspective just made me like it more. When I would just be passing by the CCP, it would just be a quick look unless there is a heavy traffic, and it wouldn’t be close enough to see and appreciate the elegant curved lines holding the big rectangular form.
Looking closely at it, I admire the sleek lines he used for the curved part of the building, aside from the fact that the curved lines contrasts the rectangular form - the rectangular form is very rigid but the curved language he used balanced the whole structure - I think it is also structural and I was always amazed at structures that function and form goes together such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York by Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s like being in two places at once or multi-tasking.
After taking some pictures from the exterior, we tried entering the CCP from the side entrance but it was very difficult because we have cameras and we wanted to bring them inside but it was prohibited, so we left them at security desk but it didn’t stop us from taking pictures. We thought, so what if our SLR is with you guys, someone brought a digital camera and we have cameras in our cell phones. So we went inside, and as we enter, the aura changed, even the smell changed – it was a funny odor especially inside the theater. When you enter the building, there would be an immediate change of atmosphere, for me, I felt heavy the moment I enter the CCP, It may be because of the dim lights or the feeling that I was standing in lower ceiling than what is standard but I think it is really designed to be heavy, it’s a brutalist architecture after all. Also, it is the cultural center of our country so it has to have a certain effect to whoever will enter and roam around the structure and while we were having our own tour in the CCP, my classmates are saying that they didn’t like the building because of its heaviness but I personally think that it is designed that way and the fact that they felt heavy in the structure makes the design effective and successful.
First thing that would greet you as you enter is the stairs. The stairs on the picture is the stairs on the second level because there are securities on the first floor so we were not able to take its picture. The stairs was just, for me, breath taking. I know brutalism uses concrete but I hadn’t thought that even how hard concrete looked like, it could be soften. The stairs, even with the use of a very hard material, is really elegant looking with its fluidity.
When you look from the bottom of the staircase upwards, the form of the stairs is somewhat spiraling but it’s not really circle, it’s just that the design doesn’t use corners, like I said, very fluid, it reminded me somehow of Zaha Hadid. Thinking of the exterior design, it never occurred to me that the interior would have a fluid feature. At first, thinking of having a fluid design in its interior would make it somehow out of place, but seeing the stairs, it didn’t looked out of place, it belongs with the design, maybe because of the material or the fact that Leandro Locsin also uses curved lines outside but there is definitely a harmony between the exterior and interior.
On the second floor, there is the Lobby. Why on the second floor? It is because it is really the first landing when you enter from the façade, getting down from a car – it is the main entrance of the building. The lobby, as what it supposed to bring to the people, has the wow effect for me. When we went there, there was no special event so the lobby is very quiet. I was intimidated by the large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling of the third floor – the lobby, same with other building’s lobby, is a high ceiling. The ceiling is also nice, I tried touching the ceiling when I was in the third floor, I thought it was some kind of marble or metal, but as I touched it, I felt some crumbs like there is something wrapped all over the ceiling. The material is kind of metallic and I imagined that when the chandeliers were lit up, it would have a dramatic effect with the reflection of the lights in the ceiling.
At the second floor, you would also find the theater, we weren’t able to get in the theater but there was a hallway before the theater itself, we were able to get until there. Once you enter the theater, the smell even got weirder. Honestly, it smelled like feet that got wet while wearing shoes – disgusting (the smell, not the building).
On the third and fourth floor, we didn’t see much except for the museums and such, and the only thing that captured our attention is the thing in the museum which I think they call art. It’s a collage of pictures of Christ, Mary and other Holy persons but it was not respected in a way that they put different things in it, the crucifix was really disrespected, and it really scared us so we moved on to other things and tried to erase the sight in our minds.
After having a tour for a good amount of time, we went back down using the not-working-escalator then when we got to the lobby again, we noticed the sitting areas we hadn’t the first time we were there. It was hidden by some kind of tarpaulin. In spite of its hard-looking image, when I sat down, it felt very comfortable. The design is also fluid but still uses concrete. There was a cushion, of course, which made it very much comfortable. I guess we were just very tired walking around the whole structure that even that sitting area without a backrest felt very comfortable. After sitting for a while, we decided it was already time that we go, everybody is tired and hungry and it was funny because while we were walking I was watching them walk a very lazy, slow walk, the feeling that you can’t carry yourself anymore, I think the Cultural Center of the Philippines really have worn them out.
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