MASTERS OF

ARCHITECTURENOTABLE ARCHITECTS’ DICTUM AND WORKS

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

IN ARCHITECTURE:

CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE Covers a period spanning from the rise of

ancient Greece to the decline of the Roman Empire

Classical Periods may be categorized into (1) Greek (700BC – 323BC) wherein the Doric column was first developed and used for great temples; (2) Hellenistic (323BC –146BC; ended with the conquest by the Roman Empire) wherein Greece reached the height of its power in Europe and Asia, and the empire built elaborate temples and secular buildings with Ionic and Corinthian columns; and (3) Roman (44 BC - 476 AD) wherein the Romans borrowed heavily from the earlier Greek and Hellenistic styles, but their buildings were more highly ornamented, and with the invention of concrete, the Romans were able to build arches, vaults, and domes.

MARCUS VITRUVIUS POLLIO

“Firmitas, Utilitas, Venustas” (Solid, Useful, Beautiful)

Little is known about his life and most inferences are extracted from his only surviving work De Architectura libre decem (The Ten Books on Architecture), a treatise on architecture written in Latin and ancient Greek

Vitruvius is famous for asserting in his book De architectura that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas, utilitas, venustas (sometimes termed as the Vitruvian virtues or the Vitruvian Triad)

According to Vitruvius, architecture is an imitation of nature. As birds and bees built their nests, so humans constructed housing from natural materials, that gave them shelter against the elements. While perfecting this art of building, the Greeks invented the architectural orders which gave them a sense of proportion, culminating in understanding the proportions of the greatest work of art: the human body

The Vitruvian Man defined by Vitruvius was drawn later by Leonardo da Vinci

Vitruvius is sometimes loosely referred to as the first architect, but it is more accurate to describe him as the first Roman architect to have written surviving records of his field

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

IN ARCHITECTURE:

MODERNISM 1890 – 1940

Movement shaped by the industrialization and urbanization of western societies

The aesthetic of modernist architecture focused on the functionality of the design and featured little or no decorative adornment

Expressing distaste for ornamentation, functionalists focused on developing plain and simple designs, reinforcing the idea that the shape of a structure should be formed by its functional requirements rather than aesthetics

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

IN ARCHITECTURE:

INTERNATIONAL STYLE

1920s – 1940s

Term coined by Henry-Russell

Hitchcock and Philip Johnson

while writing about the

International Exhibition of Modern

Architecture held in New York City

in 1932

The exhibits characterized the

expression of volume rather than

mass, balance rather than

preconceived symmetry, and the

expulsion of applied ornament

LOUIS HENRY SULLIVAN

“Form (ever) follows function”

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 3, 1856

Studied for 1 year (each) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and École des Beaux-Arts in Paris

Considered as the “father of skyscrapers” and the “father of modernism

Instead of imitating historic styles, he created original form and details

Sullivan's designs generally involved a simple geometric form decorated with ornamentation based on organic symbolism

This Sullivanesque style was imitated by other architects, and his later work formed the foundation for the ideas of his student, Frank Lloyd Wright.

Louis Sullivan believed that the exterior of an office building should reflect its interior structure and its interior functions. Ornament, where it was used, must be derived from Nature, instead of from classical architecture of the past

LOUIS HENRY SULLIVANAuditorium Building, Chicago

Designed together with

Dankmar Adler

A large civic opera house

wrapped with a hotel and

office block

The interior embellishment is

wholly Sullivan's, and some of

the details, because of their

continuous curvilinear foliate

motifs, are among the nearest equivalents to European Art

Nouveau architecture

LOUIS HENRY SULLIVANWainwright Building, St. Louis, Missouri

Designed together with Dankmar Adler

An early skyscraper constructed out of steel frames clad in masonry

The base contained retail stores that required wide glazed openings. Above it the semi-public nature of offices up a single flight of stairs are expressed as broad windows in the curtain wall

A cornice separates the second floor from the grid of identical windows of the screen wall, where each window is "a cell in a honeycomb, nothing more"

The building's windows and horizontals were inset slightly behind columns and piers, as part of a “vertical aesthetic” to create what Sullivan called “a proud and soaring thing.”

WALTER GROPIUS“Staatliches Bauhaus”

“Architecture begins where engineering ends”

Born in Berlin on May 18, 1883

Studied architecture in 1903 at the polytechnic in Munich then transferred to the polytechnic in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1905, only to later leave college in 1907 without a degree

Through a letter of recommendation from Karl-Ernst Osthaus, he was able to join Peter Behren’s atelier where he was employed as an assistant and building supervisor

All through his professional life, Gropius was dependent upon collaborators who could execute his ideas since he was not capable of drawing himself

Established Bauhaus (house for building), an art and design school, in April 1919 and directed it for nearly a decade. Bauhaus is focused on producing design based on firs principles rather than historic precedent

Founded The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in December 1945, an office that later grew to become one of the largest architectural offices in the world

WALTER GROPIUSFagus Factory, Lower Saxony, Germany

Originally commissioned to Eduard Werner before Gropius convinced the owner that the building project should be planned as a comprehensive artistic project

Gropius called for “palaces of labour” where workers are provided with light, fresh air and hygienic conditions with the idea that the satisfaction of the individual worker results to the overall motivation of the workforce and increased efficiency in the factory

WALTER GROPIUSBauhaus Building, Gropiusallee, Dessau

With the end of the Bauhaus in

Weimar looming, the council of

masters began negotiating with

cities which had expressed an

interest in taking over the school,

with the best offer coming from the

industrial town of Dessau

The school became known as

Bauhaus Dessau, School of Design

Gropius outlined the strict rejection

of symmetry and hierarchy as well

as the equitable treatment of each

façade, hence, there is no chance

of finding a representative façade

or entrance to the Bauhaus building

LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE“God is in the details”

“Less is more”

Born on March 27, 1886 in Aachen, Germany

More commonly known by his surname “Mies”

Became the 3rd director of Bauhaus Dessau on 1930

After the rise of the Nazi party, he left Germany for the USA (1937) where his

socialist international style became the accepted building model for many

large American corporations

His dictum “Less is More” defined minimalism – architecture that has

eliminated everything by the absolute essentials – extreme simplicity and

formal cleanliness

His dictum is famously countered by Robert Venturi with his own aphorism

“Less is a Bore”

LUDWID MIES VAN DER ROHESeagram Building, Park Avenue, New York

Flaunting its glass and metal, and foregoing the heavy stone and brick used in ornamental facades of previous decades, the Seagram Building helped usher in a new era of simple, straightforward skyscrapers –buildings that embraced and celebrated their structures and minimalist geometries, rather than camouflaging them with superfluous ornament and detail

While the building itself stands as an icon of modernism, the empty space in front of the building was also innovative. An open, urban plaza set the building back from Park Avenue and created a gracious pedestrian space. Often emulated, such plazas have become a cliché, but, at the time, Mies was making a bold statement

LUDWID MIES VAN DER ROHEFarnsworth House, Plano, Illinois

One of the most significant of Miesvan der Rohe’s work

Historian Maritz Vandenburg has written in his monograph on the Farnsworth House: “Every physical element has been distilled to its irreducible essence. The interior is unprecedentedly transparent to the surrounding site, and also unprecedentedly uncluttered in itself. All of the paraphernalia of traditional living –rooms, walls, doors, interior trim, loose furniture, pictures on walls, even personal possessions –have been virtually abolished in a puritanical vision of simplified, transcendental existence."

LE CORBUSIER“Five Points for New Architecture”

“A house is a machine for living in”

Born as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris on October 6, 1887

Adopted the pseudonym “Le Corbusier” (an alteration of his grandfather’s

last name) to separate his works as a critical writer from that as a painter and

architect; to reflect his belief that anyone can reinvent himself; and since

adopting a single name to represent oneself was en vogue that time in Paris

Dedicated his life to finding housing solutions for crowded cities

5 Points of New Architecture: (1) pilotis to lift the bulk of the structure off the

ground; (2) open space plan achieved through the separation of load-

bearing columns from the walls; (3) free façade provided by the open-plan

structure; (4) ribbon windows that allow unencumbered views of the

surroundings; and (5) roof garden to restore the lost ground area covered by

the house

LE CORBUSIERVilla Savoye, Poissy, France

Modern take on a French country house that celebrates and reacts to the new machine age

Considered as Le Corbusier’s masterpiece and realization of the 5 Points of Architecture

Curved glass façade on the lower level (service level) is formed to match the turning radius of automobiles

Ribbon windows play with the perception of interior and exterior spaces

Ramps allow movement from lower levels to roof garden, all with open plans

LE CORBUSIERChapelle Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, France

The chapel owes its shape to its relationship to the landscape

Each of the facades responds to different attitudes: welcome, celebration, service, symbolism

The roof sculptural character dramatizes the power and malleability of the concrete to compose organic volumes

All these elements come together to create a mystical and dramatic interior space in which light is the protagonist

Le Corbusier's genius lies in providing the visitor of a different perception of the building from any angle he/she sees it, while maintaining harmony, dynamism and coherence. This feature forces the visitor to walk around chapel in order to fully understand it, adding a fourth dimension to the architectural composition: movement

LE CORBUSIERUnité d’habitation (Cité Radieuse), Marseille, France

Brings together Le Corbusier's vision for communal living with the needs and realities of post-war France

Up to 1600 people live in a single-slab 'vertical village', complete with an internal shopping street halfway up, a recreation ground and children's' nursery on the roof, and a generous surrounding area of park land

Use of raw concrete - béton brut -with its texture defined by the wooden planks shaping it when it was poured, an unwitting prototype for the New Brutalism

In an ingenious use of space, two-story apartments interlock, so that an entrance corridor and elevator stop are required only at every third level

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN

ARCHITECTURE:

ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT

1860 – 1910

Style that evolved as a reaction to

the industrialization of the

Victorian era

Believed that the Industrial

Revolution distanced the humans

from their own creativity

Place importance upon simple

medieval styles and manual skills

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN

ARCHITECTURE:

ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE

The term was first used by Wright

Style of architecture that seeks to harmoniously unify a building with the characteristics of the surrounding site and environment

Decoration should result from the construction rather than be applied to the surface

Building should be open to allow free movement within & around it

Many geometries should be used rather just the right angle

Building should be appropriate to the individual situation

Function should be clearly obvious

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT“Organic Architecture”

“Form and function are one”

Born in Richland Center, Wisconsin on June 8, 1867

He entered the University of Wisconsin School of Engineering n 1886 but

left after a year for Chicago to pursue a life in architecture

After taking jobs at other architectural firms, he was encouraged to try

for a job with Louis Sullivan, where he eventually worked for nearly 7

years before putting up his own practice

The combined effects of the time he was in (i.e. Industrial Revolution)

and the childhood experiences that he had (i.e. influence of literature,

poetry, philosophy, music, and education gained from working in a

farm) made him the architect the type of architect that he was

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT“Organic Architecture”

“Form and function are one”

Careful knowledge and diligent respect for natural properties of

materials and the harmonious relationship between form, design and the

function of the building, while attempting to integrate spaces into a

coherent whole

ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE: one in which all parts were related to the

whole, as the whole was related to the parts (i.e. continuity and integrity)

ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE: a building is a product of its place and time

rather than an imposed style

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHTWilliam H. Winslow House, River Forest, Illinois

Number of features in the

house that are considered as a

marked departure from standards at that time (e.g.

amount of planting at base,

roof slopes, chimney mass, and

windows heights)

Materials are treated in a

manner consistent with the

nature and color of each

Spaces are clearly defined but

flow from one to another

“Prairie house”: more horizontal

than vertical

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHTLarkin Company Administration Building, Buffalo, New York

Various auxiliary systems were

quartered in plan and placed

outside the main building at the 4 outer corners so that the

entire area may be free for

working purposes

Many innovative details

marked it as first of its kind

Open plan brought a sense of

“family” to the corporation

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHTTaliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin

Frank Lloyd Wright’s house, studio, and farm

“Taliesin” is Welsh for “shining brow”

Name chosen because of his Welsh ancestry and the placement of the house on the brow of the hill

Twice destroyed by fire

Taliesin III, is a much larger, more expansive structure, which still preserves the harmonious relationship to the hillside, garden courts and hill crown

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHTEdgar J. Kaufmann House (Fallingwater), Pennsylvania

Widely considered as Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece

Mountain retreat of retail mogul

All vertical elements are constructed out of native stone with slightly projected stones to give a more sculptural quality to the stone masses

Incessant sound of water permeates the home

Low ceiling directs attention outwards

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHTGuggenheim Museum, New York

Last major project designed and

built by Frank Lloyd Wright

Huge atrium rising 92’ in height to

an expansive dome surrounded

by a spiral ramp 6 storeys in

height

Visitors would first take the

elevator to the top floor then walk

down the ramp while viewing the

artworks along the wall

Critics argue that the building

competes with the artworks being

displayed

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

IN ARCHITECTURE:

ART NOUVEAU

1893 – 1914

Style that reacted to the Victorian practice of pastiche (i.e. an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period) and was deliberately modern

Architectural style characterized by the use of sinuous, natural forms to shape windows, doors, and mouldings

These natural or organic forms of architecture often incorporated floral and other plant-inspired motifs

ANTONI GAUDI

“Straight lines belong to man,

curved lines belong to God”

Born in Reus, the Catalonia region of Spain on June 25, 1852

He studied in Barcelona, the city that would later become home to most

of his great works

Gaudi initially worked in the artistic vein of his Victorian predecessors, but

soon developed his own style, composing his works with juxtapositions of

geometric masses and animating the surfaces with patterned brick or stone, bright ceramic tiles and floral or reptilian metalwork

Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s masterpiece, remains unfinished to date

ANTONI GAUDICasa Josep Battló, Barcelona, Spain

The stone façade is decorated

with colored glass fragments,

ceramic circles, and mask-shaped balconies

The undulating, scaled roof

suggests a dragon's back

Casas Batlló and Mila,

designed by Gaudí within the

space of a few years, are on

the same street and share some typical Gaudí features

such as wavy exterior walls

and "scooped out" windows

ANTONI GAUDICasa Milà Barcelona, Spain

Widely but unofficially known as La Pedrera (The Quarry)

An apartment building with a fanciful aura

Wavy walls made of rough-chipped stone suggest fossilized ocean waves while doors and windows look like they are dug out of sand

A comical array of chimney stacks dances across the roof

Similar with Casas Batlló, it has some typical Gaudí features such as wavy exterior walls and "scooped out" windows

ANTONI GAUDILa Sagrada Familia,

Barcelona, Spain

Showcases Gaudí's innovative "leaning columns" previously seen in Parque Güell. The correct angle for each of the leaning columns is determined by use of string and a small hanging model of the church

The church will have a total of 18 towers, each dedicated to a different religious figure, and each one hollow, allowing placement of various types of bells which will sound with the choir

The rippling contours of the stone façade make it look as though the chuch is melting in the sun, while the towers are topped with brightly-colored mosaics which look like bowls of fruit

Gaudí believed that color is life. Knowing that he would not live to see completion of his masterpiece, he left colored drawings of his vision for future architects to follow.

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

IN ARCHITECTURE:

POSTMODERNISM

1960 – present

Questions the notion that there is a

reliable reality and attempts to

deconstruct authority and the

established order by engaging in

the ideas of fragmentation,

incoherence, and the plain

ridiculous

A reaction to modernism,

postmodernism returned to earlier

ideas of adornment and

decoration, celebrating expression

and personal intuition in favour of

formula and structure

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

IN ARCHITECTURE:

DECONSTRUCTIVISM

1980 – present

Branch of postmodern

architecture and theory that

developed during the late 1980s

Characterized by ideas of

fragmentation and non-linear

design processes

Rejects such maxims as “form

follows function”, preferring to

distort and give an appearance of

controlled chaos

FRANK GEHRY (Frank Owen Goldberg)

“Architecture should speak of its time and place,

but yearn for timelessness”

Born in Toronto, Canada on February 28, 1929

Studied at the University of Southern California & Harvard University

After making a name in furniture design with his “Easy Edges” (furniture line crafted from layers of corrugated cardboard), he caught the attention of the architectural world when he remodelled his own house in Santa Monica, California (1978)

Renowned for the design of Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (completed in 1997)

Constructs models from torn and crumpled cardboard, which are assembled and reassembled many times and then translated into architectural drawings through the use of specially developed computer software

FRANK GEHRY (Frank Owen Goldberg)Gehry Residence, Santa Monica, California

“It was just a dumb little house with charm, and I became interested in trying to

make it more important. I became fascinated with creating a shell around it.”

He boxed in the simple 2-storey pink bungalow with corrugated sheets of metal, lengths of chain-link fencing, and unfinished plywood, all cut into odd angular shapes

FRANK GEHRY (Frank Owen Goldberg)Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

The curves on the exterior of

the building were intended to

appear random and are designed to catch the light

The interior is designed around

a large, light-filled atrium with

views of Bilbao's estuary and

the surrounding hills of the

Basque country

(nicknamed by Gehry as “The

Flower” because of its shape)

serves as the organizing center

of the museum

FRANK GEHRY (Frank Owen Goldberg)Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California

Project was initiated through

the donation of Lillian Disney

Acoustics of the concert hall is

designed by Yasuhisa Toyota

Main auditorium is designed to

look and feel like a ship’s hull

The stainless steel building

caused some controversy after

its grand opening due to heat

reflection caused by its parabolic panels

FRANK GEHRY (Frank Owen Goldberg)Dancing House, Prague, Czech Republic

Designed together with

Croatian-Czech architect

Vlado Milunić

Originally named as Fred and

Ginger (after famous dancers

Fred Astaire and Ginger

Rogers)

The “dancing” shape is

supported by 99 concrete

panels, each a different shape and dimension with a large

twisted structure of metal on

top (nicknamed Medusa)

DANIEL LIBESKIND

“To provide meaningful architecture is not to

parody history but to articulate it”

Born in Poland on May 12, 1946, immigrated to America and

became an American citizen on 1964

He received his professional architectural degree in 1970 from the

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York

City and a postgraduate degree in History and Theory of

Architecture at the School of Comparative Studies at Essex University (England) in 1971

He was known for introducing complex ideas and emotions into his

designs

DANIEL LIBESKINDJewish Museum, Berlin

opened to the public in 2001

Exhibits the social, political and cultural history of the Jews in Germany from the 4th century to the present. The museum explicitly presents and integrates, for the first time in post-war Germany, the repercussions of the Holocaust

The modern architectural elements comprise the zinc façade, the Garden of Exile, the three Axes of the German-Jewish experience, and the Voids. Together these pieces form a visual and spatial language rich with history and symbolism. They not only house the museum with its exhibits, but they also provide visitors with their own unique experience as they walk through the spaces.

In February 2003, Studio Daniel Libeskind won the competition for a master plan of the site for the previous World Trade Center

The WTC Masterplan serves as both the conceptual basis and the technical foundation for the entire complex re-development of ground zero. The Masterplan defines the spirit of the approach to re-building and creates a meaningful conceptual framework for the site. It also defines the spatial organization of all elements of the development within the site with an emphasis on the human experience and the public realm.

Architects of the individual buildings: Michael Arad and Peter Walker (Memorial); Snøhetta(Museum’s entry pavilion), Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Tower 1), Foster and Partners (Tower 2), Richard Rogers Partnership (Tower 3) Maki and Associates (Tower 4), and Santiago Calatrava(Transportation Hub)

DANIEL LIBESKINDGround Zero Masterplan, New York

DANIEL LIBESKINDMilitary History Museum,

Dresden, Germany Libeskind’s winning design boldly

interrupts the original building's symmetry. The extension, a massive, five-story wedge of concrete and steel, cuts through the 135-year-old former arsenal’s structural order. A 82-foot high viewing platform provides breathtakingviews of modern Dresden while pointing towards the area where the fire bombing of Dresden began, creating a dramatic space for reflection.

The new façade’s openness and transparency contrasts with the opacity and rigidity of the existing building. The latter represents the severity of the authoritarian past while the former reflects the openness of the democratic society in which it has been reimagined.

MAJOR EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

IN ARCHITECTURE:

ASIAN ARCHITECTS

TADAO ANDO“I do not believe architecture should speak too much.

It should remain silent and let nature in the guise

of sunlight and wind ”

Born in Osaka, Japan on September 13, 1941

Self-educated architect who spent time in Kyoto and Nara, studying first-hand the great monuments of traditional Japanese architecture. Between 1962 and 1969 he travelled to the United States, Europe, and Africa, learning about Western architecture, history, and techniques. His studies of both traditional Japanese and modern architecture had a profound influence on his work and resulted in a unique blend of these rich traditions.

He has a reputation for sensitive and interpretive architecture with special attention to light and ambiance.

He relies on simple geometric forms to develop subtle and clear building with clean and atmospheric interiors. His interiors, with their clean and sparse walls, are intended as a retreat from the chaos and mayhem of modern life

TADAO ANDOAzuma Row House, Sumiyoshi, Osaka

Replaced the middle unit of three row houses in a downtown district of Osaka with a unit made of exposed concrete

Axially symmetrical composition with only two rectangular forms in elevation (i.e. the overall outline of the building and the doorway)

Entire site has been divided longitudinally into three parts and the courtyard too has been divided into three equal parts

The courtyard, a secluded space cut off from the commotion of the city and open only to the sky, is made of concrete, glass and slate, and reflects incident light and causes complex shadows.

The absence of ornament invites extraordinary empathy

TADAO ANDOChurch of the Light, Ibaraki, Osaka The church derives its orientation from the direction

of the sun

It consists of a rectangular volume sliced through at a fifteen-degree angle by a freestanding concrete wall that separates the entrance from the chapel. This division creates a threshold between the exterior and the sacred interior spaces.

The floor and pews are made of rough scaffolding planks, which emphasize the humble character of the space.

Intense light penetrates the profound darkness of this box through a cross that is cut out of the altar wall. As the only element of nature in this building, the light is rendered in exceedingly abstract form. The austere architecture appears to become purer in response to such an abstraction. Ando intended the linear pattern formed on the floor by the cross on the wall to express the purity that exists in the relationship between individuals and nature.

TADAO ANDOModern Art Museum, Fort Worth

Opened to the public on December 14, 2002

The building features five long, pavilions set into a reflecting pond

Constructed as a row of five rectangular blocks

They are quite low and the dominant horizontality connects with the character of the landscape

The cantilevered cast concrete roof is supported by large Y-shaped columns which appear as human arms reaching upwards

LEANDRO “LINDY” LOCSIN“The true Philippine Architecture is the product of two great

streams of culture, the oriental and the occidental…to

produce a new object of profound harmony”

Born on August 15, 1928

with themes of floating volume, the duality of light and heavy, buoyant and

massive running in his major works

From 1955 to 1994, Locsin has produced 75 residences and 88 buildings, including 11 churches and chapels, 23 public buildings, 48 commercial

buildings, six major hotels, and an airport terminal building

The CCP Complex itself is a virtual Locsin Complex with all five buildings designed by him -- the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts Theater,

Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and The Westin Hotel

LEANDRO “LINDY” LOCSIN

The CCP Complex itself is a virtual Locsin Complex with all five buildings designed by him -- the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts Theater, Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and The Westin Hotel

LEANDRO “LINDY” LOCSIN

The CCP Complex itself is a virtual Locsin Complex with all five buildings designed by him -- the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts Theater, Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and The Westin Hotel

FRANCISCO “BOBBY” MAÑOSA“I design Filipino”

graduated with an Architecture degree from the University of Sto. Tomas in 1953, and passed the board exams the following year

his guiding light was the definition of an authentic Filipino design. To accomplish this, he has zeroed in on the basics: cultural design forms and materials that identify country

for him, the native bahay kubo is the most ideal architectural form in the Philippines. The bahay kubo or nipa is elevated, has wide eaves, a tukod window and a pitched roof, and is made out of dried grass and bamboo. All these contribute to making it watertight and well ventilated

Arch. Mañosa’s most famous tribute to Philippine architecture is the Coconut Palace or Tahanang Filipino (Filipino Home) located at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex. Conceived in 1978, the Coconut Palace reinterpreted the traditional bahaykubo and emphasized the scope of coconut by-products’ building possibilities. At this three-level mansion, for instance, 122 coconut trunks were inverted to provide structural columns. Coco-wood shingles cover double roofs reminiscent of the’salakot or gourd hat, and add to the cooling effect of the coco-wood latticed awnings. At the entrance, carved doors inlaid with a mosaic of coconut shells showcase the range of Filipino artistry. Meanwhile, brown and beige tiles adorning the bathrooms are ingenuously made out of compressed coconut shells.

demonstrated time and again that traditional forms and materials could be successfully adapted to suit modern building needs and changing lifestyles

FRANCISCO “BOBBY” MAÑOSACoconut Palace (Tahanang Pilipino), CCP Complex

FRANCISCO “BOBBY” MAÑOSAPearl Farm Resort, Davao

SOME OTHER NOTABLE ARCHITECTS

AND THEIR DICTUMS

RICHARD MEIER

“Placeness is what it is that makes a space a place”

PIER LUIGI NERVI

“Intuition should be used as much as mathematics in design, especially with thin-shelled structures”

FUMIHIHO MAKI

“Architecture is a highly ambiguous field”

ADOLF MARIA LOOS

“Ornament is a crime”

CHRISTIAN DE PORTZAMPARC

“I came to realize that architecture might not be able to create utopia but as an architect I could help change things for the better”

KENZO TANGE

“Tradition can, to be sure, participate in a creation, but it can no longer be creative itself”