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filipino architecture
Part 1

History of Architecture

H
O
Prepared by:
AR. NURVIN ZARY E. BUSTILLO, Msarch A
Overview
1 Early Philippine Shelters
2 Pre-Colonial Vernacular Architecture
3 Spanish Colonial Architecture
1
4 American Colonial Architecture
5 Post-war and the Republic Years
6 Marcosian Architecture
7 Contemporary Philippine Architecture
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Early Philippine
Shelters

Tau’t Batu
■ Indigenous Filipinos who still
continue the primeval practiceof
living in caves to his date.
2
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Angono Petroglyphs
Angono-Binangonan, Rizal

• Petroglyphs known as the Angono

Petroglyphs can be found in
Binangonan, Rizal, Philippines.
They were carved into a rock wall
there. It is made up of 127 etched
figures of humans and animals that
are found on the rockwall. These
sculptures were most likely carved
during the late Neolithic period,
which occurred before 2000 BC.

Tabon Cave
Complex
Lipuun Point, Palawan.

3
■ Prehistoric cave shelters were the
earliest form of human habitation.
■ The Tabon cave was the site to
first establish the presence of
humans in the Philippines during
the Pleistocene.
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Idjang
Batanes.
■ Rock-hewn fortresses

Idjang
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Pinanahang
■ Lean-to of the Agta of Palanan.
■ Constructed along the principleof
tripod.

Hawong. Used by the Pinatubo Aeta;has

no living platform; forms two sloping
sides with one or both ends left open.

Tree House
Gaddang and Kalinga of Luzon
Manobo and Mandaya of Mindanao
Maranao of Lake Lanao
5

Usually Six, Twelve or even eighteen

meters from the ground.
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Gable Roof
Frame

Joist
Tree Branches
Floor

Stilts

Ladder

Tree Stump

Pre-Colonial Vernacular 6

Architecture
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Vernacular Architecture
Exemplifies the commonest building techniques
based on the forms and materials of a particular
historical period, region, or group of people.

Domestic Structures

Archetypal tropical characteristics of SoutheastAsian

domestic architecture:
7
▪ An elevated living floor
▪ Buoyant rectangular volume
▪ Raised pile foundation
▪ Voluminous thatched roof
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Bale or Fale
Fale. Traditional Ifugao house, for the
affluent; more permanent.

■ Abong, dwelling for the poor;

temporary.
■ Support system: four posts, two
girders, three joists or beams.
■ Halipan, rat guard.
■ “The house as a womb.”

Banaue Rice Terraces

The Banaue Rice Terraces are terraces
that were carved into the mountains of
Banaue, Ifugao, in the Philippines, by 8
the ancestors of the Igorot people.

■ PAYO. stonewalled terrace pond-

field, A series of stonewalled
structures, usually 3 .00 meters
in height, built in a hillside and
designed primarily as rice fields.
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Parts of the Banaue Rice Terraces (Burgos, A.)

Bale or Fale
Fale. Traditional Ifugao house, for the
affluent; more permanent.
9

■ Abong, dwelling for the poor;

temporary.
■ Support system: four posts, two
girders, three joists or beams.
■ Halipan, rat guard.
■ “The house as a womb.”
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Binuron
Traditional Isneg house.

■ Roof suggests an inverted

hull.
■ Exposed floor joists
outside suggest the
profile of a boat.
■ Datag or Xassaran, main
section.
■ Tamuyon, slightly raised
platform on three sides.

Binuron
Traditional Isneg house.

10
■ Roof suggests an inverted hull.
■ Exposed floor joists
outside suggest the
profile of a boat.
■ Datag or Xassaran, main
section.
■ Tamuyon, slightly raised
platform on three sides.
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Binayon
Finaryon. Traditional Kalinga
house.

■ Octagonal in plan; exterior

features are not strongly
defined.
■ Dataggon, central section.
■ Sipi, slightly elevated side
sections.

Binayon
Finaryon. Traditional Kalinga
house.
11

■ Octagonal in plan; exterior

features are not strongly
defined.
■ Dataggon, central section.
■ Sipi, slightly elevated side
sections.
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Fay-u
Traditional Bontoc house,
for the affluent.

■ Katyufong, dwelling for the

poor.
■ Kol-lob, residence of
widows or unmarried old
women; can also be called
katyufong.

Inagamang
Traditional Bontoc house in
Sagada.
12

■ Agamang, upper level

granary.
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Other building types

▪ Afong, family residence.
▪ Ato, council house and dormitory of the young and old
unmarried males.
▪ Ulog or olog, female dormitory.
▪ Al-kang, storage for food, jewelry and wine jars.
▪ Akhamang, rice granary.
▪ Falinto-og, pig pens.

Binangiyan
Traditional Kankanai house,
for the wealthy.
13

■ Apa or inapa, for poorer

families; temporary abode.
■ Allao, more temporary.
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Baey or Babayan
An elevated, square, one-room house
of the Kankanay and lbaloi, with four
thick posts supporting a timber upper
floor and steep hip type roof of cogon
grass. The lower end of the roof flared
out like the roof of the Bontocs and
Kalingas houses.

Tinokbob
Sagada, Mountain Province

One of the earliest houses in Sagada,

windowless with a thick and steep roof
14
intended to withstand the cold weather
conditions.
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Rakuh
Traditional Ivatan house.

■ Thick thatch, walls mortared

with stone or plastered with
white lime.
■ Wooden post and lintel
framework is implantedin
the walls.

Rakuh
Sinadumparan

This type of house is the common two- 15

sloped roof of either the rakuh or the
kusina.
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Rakuh
Maytuab

This type of house under rakuh or

kusina has stone and lime walls with
a distinct four-sloped roof.

Bahay kubo
Traditional lowland dwelling, northern
and central regions.
16
■ “The passively-cooled house.”
■ Porous surfaces
■ Horizontality of windows
■ Roof and window overhangs
■ Surrounding gardens
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Interior Spaces
Primary spaces
▪ Living room
▪ Kitchen and service area (dapogan, banggerahan, and
batalan)
Secondary spaces
▪ Dining
▪ Silong and balkon
▪ Bedrooms

Lepa
Traditional Badjao boat-house.

17
■ No outriggers, roofed, loose and
detachable structure.
■ Djenging, has outriggers, roofed,
walled in on all sides by wooden
boards.
■ Dapang or Vinta, not roofed, only
used for fishing and short trips.
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Luma
Traditional Badjao landhouse.

■ Harun, stairs where women

often wash clothes and
kitchen utensils.

Samal House
Traditional Samal House

Traditional Sama I house are 18

elevated rectangular one-room
structures near the coastal waters of
Southern Mindanao, Palawan,
Zamboanga, and Sulu archipelago.
These houses are directly built on
shallow water and connected to the
shore by a pantan (bridge) o directly
built on solid ground.
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Bay Sinug
Traditional Tausug house.

■ House building can be

construed as
corresponding to the birth
of a human.
■ Tadjuk pasung finials.

Torogan
Traditional Maranao house, ancestral
residence of the datu and his extended
family.
19

■ Mala-a-walai, traditional large

house.
■ Lawig, small house.
■ The panolong (decorative beam
ends) are often with pako rabong
and naga carvings.
■ Lamin, lady’s dormitory tower.
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Balai
The traditional type of house in Apayao
with an elevated rectangular one-room
structure and protected by a high-pitch
thatch roof that resembles a pointed barrel
vault.

■ ATAP . High-pointed arch shaped

roof with layers of thick cogon
grass or nipa leaves.
■ DINDIN. Wall boards
■ RIBAYAN. Eaves
■ TAPI. Floor Beam

BALANGAY
Boathouse, an impressive boat,
approximately 25 meters in length and
20
carbon-dated to 320 AD, that was built
entirely of wood and used for seafaring by
the ancient Kingdom of Butuan.
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Features of Vernacular Architecture

▪ The builders are non-professional architects or

engineers.
▪ There is constant adaptation, using natural materials,
to the geographicalenvironment.
▪ The actual process of constructioninvolves intuitive
thinking and is open to latermodifications.
▪ There is balance between social/economic
functionality and aesthetic features.
▪ Styles are subject to the evolution of traditional
patterns specific to an ethnic domain.

Spanish Colonial 21

Architecture
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Instruments of Urbanism
▪ Reducción
▪ Encomienda system
▪ System of cities andtowns
▪ Cuadricula
▪ Colonial infrastructures

Reducción
Forced urbanization and resettlement.
22

Native peoples, many of whom had lived in small

villages or hamlets before contact with Europeans,
were forcibly relocated to these new settlements.
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Reducción
The formerly scattered barangays
were brought together and
reduced in number and made into
compact and larger communities
to facilitate religious conversion
and cultural change.

De Bajo de las campanas, under

the sound of the bells.

Encomienda
The colony was divided into parcels assigned to a
23
Spanish colonist (encomendero) who was mandated
to “allocate, allot or distribute” the resources of the
domain.
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System of
Cities and Towns
The institution of a hierarchal settlement system.

Cabecera (city) or poblacion (town), core of the

municipality. Barrios, adjacent barangays.

24

Intramuros, The Walled City.

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Intramuros
■ Patterned after the
walled fortresses of
Europe
■ Reserved for the nobility
and the clergy.

Extramuros
Bale or Fale
Living beyond the walls.
▪ Pueblos, villages outside the walls.
25
▪ Parian, a separate urban quarter designated to the
Chinese community .
▪ Dilao, Japanese community.
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Cuadricula
A system of streets and blocks laid out in a grid
pattern, with uniform precision.

The Laws of the Indies, 1573

▪ Characteristics:
▪ elevated location
▪ an orderly grid of streets 26
▪ a central plaza, a defensive wall, and zones for
churches, shops, government buildings, hospitals,
and slaughterhouses.
▪ Encapsulates the classicist theories of urbandesign
proposed by Vitruvius andAlberti.
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Plaza Complex
Grid pattern of streets with the main
plaza at the center surrounded by the
church, the tribunal, other government
buildings, and the marketplace.

27

Plaza de Roma. Plaza complex of Intramuros.

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Colonial
Infrastructures
New building typologies and construction technology
was introduced.

Churches
Edifices for religious conversion.
28
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Parts of a Church
▪ Altar mayor, main altar.
▪ Sagrario, tabernacle.
▪ Pulpito, pulpit.
▪ Retablo, elaborately ornamented altar screen.
▪ Sacristia, where the priest and his assistants put on
their robes before the mass.
▪ Coro, choir loft.
▪ Tribunas, screened gallery.

Church Complex
▪ Church
▪ Convento, parish house or rectory.
▪ Campanarios, bell towers. 29
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Basilica Minore del Santo Niño; Cebu. (Oldest church in thePhilippines.)

30

Bantay Church (Shrine of Our Lady of Charity); Ilocos Sur. (Belfry served as a watchtower for pirates; Neo-Gothic.)
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Carcar Church (Church of Sta. Catalina de Alexandria); Cebu. (Minaret-like bell towers; Neo-Mudejar.) by Jhaypee Guia

31

San Sebastian Church, Manila. (The first and only all-steel church inAsia; Neo-Gothic.)
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Manila Cathedral; Intramuros, Manila. (Restoration, Fernando Ocampo; Neo-Romanesque)

32

Baroque Churches of the Philippines, UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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San Agustin Church; Intramuros, Manila.

San Agustin
Church
Intramuros, Manila.

The Church of the Immaculate 33

■
Conception of SanAgustín.
■ First church to be built in Luzon.
■ Only structure in Intramuros to
survive WWII.
■ High Baroque style retablo.
■ Ceiling paintings in the trompe l’oeil
style.
■ Chinese fu dogs at the entrance.
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Paoay Church, Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

Paoay Church
Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

■ Saint Augustine Church. 34

■ Most outstanding example in the
Philippines of 'Earthquake
Baroque'.
■ Volutes of contrafuertes
(buttresses) and in the pyramidal
finials of wall facades.
■ Massive coral stone belltower.
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Miag-ao Church; Miag-ao, Iloilo.

Miag-ao Church
Miag-ao, Iloilo.

■ Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church 35

■ Stands on the highest point of
Miag-ao, its towers serving as
lookouts against Muslim raids.
■ It is the finest surviving example of
'Fortress Baroque'.
■ The facade epitomizes the Filipino
transfiguration of western
decorative elements.
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Santa Maria Church; Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur.

Santa Maria
Church
Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur.

36
■ Church of Nuestra Señora de la
Asunción.
■ Situated on a hill surrounded by a
defensive wall.
■ Separate pagoda-like bell tower at
the midpoint of the nave wall.
■ The brick walls are devoid of
ornament but have delicately
carved side entrances and strong
buttresses.
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Conservation
These legislations ensure their proper safeguarding,
protection, conservation, management and use as
religious structures, as declared National Cultural
Treasures, National Historical Landmarks, and as World
Heritage properties.
▪ RA 10066 (National Heritage Law)
▪ RA 10086 (National Historical Commission of the
Philippines Law)

Fortresses
Characterized by heavy stone walls, moats, and grid
road layouts. Bastions, keeps, and watchtowers were 37
also built to cover blind spots.
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Fort Santiago
Intramuros, Manila.

A citadel built by Spanish navigator

and governor Miguel López de
Legazpi for the newly established city
of Manila in the Philippines. The
defense fortress is located in
Intramuros, the walled city of Manila.

B1

Parts of a Fort
▪ Cortinas, thick perimeter walls.
▪ Bastiones or baluartes,four-sided bulwarks skirting the
cortinas on both ends. 38
▪ Fozo or Foso, moat.
▪ Casamatas, stone embrasures where artilleries were
propped up.
▪ Calabozo
▪ Herreria
▪ Amacenes
▪ Alojaminetos
▪ Garitas
Slide 76

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Institutional Buildings
Monumental civic architecture epitomized the
colonial institutions under the Spanishgovernance. 39
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Ayuntamiento
Intramuros, Manila.

■ Also known as Casa del

Ayuntamiento, Casa del Cabildo,
Casa Consistorial, or Casa Real.
■ As a seat of colonial governance, it
housed several administrative
offices and archives.

Palacio Real
Intramuros, Manila.

40
■ Also known as Palacio del
Gobernador General.
■ Residence of the highest official of
the land.
■ Malacañang Palace, the summer
residence of the GovernorGeneral.
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Other civic buildings

▪ Real Audiencia, or Tribunal, trial court.
▪ Aduana, customs house.
▪ Hacienda Publica, treasury.
▪ Municipio, Casa de Municipal, or Casa Real, a smaller
version of the Ayuntamiento in the provincial towns.
▪ Casa Hacienda, expansive structures housing spaces
for the administrators and his workers on a landed
estate.

Educational and
Scientific Buildings
The various religious orders fulfilled themissionary
tasks of bringing education, healthcare, and social 41
welfare to the indigenous subjects.
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Schools
University of Sto. Tomas, Manila. Oldest
established university inAsia.

■ Colegio or universidad, found in

the urban areas.
■ Escuela primaria, elementary
schools.

Hospitals

▪ Hospital Real, first hospital; built by theFranciscans;

catered only to theSpaniards.
▪ Hospital de San Gabriel, for the Chinese in Binondo. 42
▪ Hospital de San Lazaro, for the lepers.
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Observatories
Observatorio Astronomico y
Meteorologico de Manila

■ the Manila Observatory; established

by the Jesuits to assist in
forecasting typhoons.

Industrial Buildings
Because of the Hispanic urban program, living
standards were elevated through urban 43
infrastructure and public works.
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Bridges
■ Puente de España (Bridge of Spain),
built after the destruction of Puente
Grande (first and only bridge
crossing the Pasig River) in the
1863 earthquake.

Train Stations
■ The Tutuban Station of the Manila-
Dagupan railway line; served as the
main terminal for all northbound
destinations. 44
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Lighthouses
■ The Pasig Farola, the oldest
lighthouse in the Philippines;also
known as the San Nicolas
lighthouse.

Water System
■ The Carriedo Waterworks installed
the piped-in water system. The
water was offered to the public free
of charge. 45
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Commercial Buildings
Spain attempted to establish an Asian trading empire
to be based in Manila. Soon the city became one of
the major colonial port cities in Southeast Asia.

Shops
■ Alcaiceria de San Fernando, very
first large commercial structure;
silk market in Binondo; housed
stores for Chinese merchantsand 46
government offices.
■ Tabacaleras, tobacco and cigar
factories; Cigarreras, female
workers.
■ The bahay na bato was later
retrofitted to have room for
commercial function.
■ Sari-sari store and carinderias.
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Hotels
■ Hotel la Palma de Mallorca, Hotel
de Paris, and Hotel de Espana,
foremost hotels in Intramuros.
■ Casas de huespedes, boarding
houses; less expensive lodgings.

Banks
■ Banco Español-Filipino de IsabelII,
first bank built; initially housed in
the Aduana.
47
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Domestic Structures
Dwellings reflecting the differences in social class.

Accesorias
Apartment dwellings

48
■ Evolved from the need of migrant
laborers for cheap housing in
commercial and industrial areas.
■ Vivienda, each unit; has a zaguan,
sala and sleeping quarters.
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Bahay na bato
A housing prototype which combined elements of
the indigenous and Hispanic building traditions to
prevent the dangers posed by fire, earthquakes and
cyclones.

49

VIGAN’S elegantQuema House is one of the few remaining in their authentic and original state
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Arquitectura Mestiza
▪ A new hybrid-type of construction, coined by Jesuit
Francisco Ignacio Alcina, which refers to structures
built partly of wood and partly of stone.

Characteristics of a Bahay na bato

▪ Generally has two storeys, at times three.
▪ The ground floor is made of cut stone or brick, the
upper of wood. 50
▪ Windows: ground floor, grillworks; second floor,
sliding shutters with capiz shells or glass panels.
▪ Capped by a high hip roof with a 45-degree-angle
pitch.
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Bahay na Bato, ground and second floor plan.

Parts
Ground floor
■ Cochera, driveway or
garage. 51
■ Zaguan, vestibule or
storage; usually for the
caroza.
■ Entresuelo, mezzanine
area, for offices or
servants’ quarters.
■ Cuadra, horse stables.
■ Cocina, kitchen.
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Parts
■ Escalera, wooden
staircase.

Parts
Second floor
■ Caida or ante-sala, interior
overhanging veranda; most 52
immediate room from the
stairs.
■ Sala, living room.
■ Baño, bathroom.
■ Latrina, toilet.
■ Cocina, kitchen.
■ Comedor, dining area.
■ Azotea, outdoor terrace,
located beside a balon or
over an aljibe (water cistern).
■ Cuarto, bedroom.
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Parts
■ Galeria volada or corredor,
flying wooden gallery.
■ Oratorio, praying area.
■ Callado, wooden fretwork on
top of partitions.

Parts
■ Pasamano, window sill.
■ Ventanillas, vents
beneath the window sill 53
which reach to the floor.
■ Barandillas, wooden
balusters.
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End of Module 4
Part 1

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