American Colonial

Architecture
HOA4 Lecture Series

Prepared by Jcoo
Presented by Ar. Boggs
Philippine History
The Arrival of the Americans
Philippine History
• The Philippines established it’s First Republic under the leadership of Emilio
Aguinaldo.
• But the first Philippine Republic was short-lived.
• Spain had lost a war with the United States, but it was only a mock battle
to show Filipinos that they are enemies.
• The Philippines was illegally ceded to the United States at the Treaty of
Paris for US$20 million, together with Cuba and Puerto Rico.
• A Filipino-American War broke out as the United States attempted to
establish control over the islands.
• The war lasted for more than 10 years, resulting in the death of more than
600,000 Filipinos.
Philippine History
• The Philippines was then ruled by three military governors appointed by the
president: Gen. Wesley Merit; Gen Elwell Otis; and Gen. Arthur McArthur.

• Howard Taft
• Heads the Philippine Commission, which was in control of the development and
improvement of the islands and eventually took over the civil administration.
• He was appointed as the first civil governor-general of the Philippines.
Philippine History
• At the closing of the 19th century, the United States suddenly became a
colonial power.
• Coming out victorious in the Spanish-American war, they annexed the
Philippines among its colonial possessions.
• Guided by the rhetoric of manifest destiny, the American Military Forces
rebuilt the war-torn archipelago.
• They sought to reshape the city of Manila after an imperial image of a well
ordered and healthful tropical city.
• They deployed all its possible resources to promote and build public
architecture and sanitary facilities that signifies the American’s civilizing
mission.
 American Colonial Architecture
marked by projects in the field of education, health and sanitation, public works,
communications, transportation, resources development and conservation.
Early Years
• The early years of American occupation was beleaguered by a
succession of epidemic diseases attributed to unhygienic practices of
the natives.
• This situation therefore has marked what Americans should prioritize
in plans of developing the Philippines as its colony.
• To start with the solution, the use of the toilet was introduced in 1902
among the dwellers of the Bahay Kubo in Manila.
Public Buildings and Sanitary Facilities
The cubeta The Sanitary Barrios
• 1902- Americans introduced the use of • 1908 the concept of a well-planned
the toilet via pail conservancy system or neighborhood called Sanitary Barrio was
cubeta in Manila. introduced and led to tsalet a suburban
• Public toilets were built in congested nipa house or a simple, respectable house for
districts and the authorities had banned those moving up to the middle class.
the use of esteros for bathing and • permitted nipa houses to be built in
washing. blocks of subdivided lots. This has a built-
• The establishment of new communal in system of surface drainage, public
architecture was started combining the latrine, public bathhouses, and laundry.
functions of a kubeta, baño, and laudry.
Domestic Architecture

The Tsalet, Chalet

• Aside from the Sanitary Barrios to cater with • As an improvement, the house is approached by
health issues of the natives, the American had either an L-shaped or T-shaped stairs.
also made a way to evolve the typical Filipino • It has an extended veranda in front which is also
Colonial House. a landing porch before entering the house.
• This has resulted to a new hybrid Sanitary House • The interior space was defined by wall partitions
known as the Tsalet. - A single storey structure which divided it to rooms.
that is constructed by either entirely of wood, or • In 1912, the Bureau Health drew up the scheme
a combination of faroconcrete and wood. of a Sanitary Urban House, single detached,
• Living areas are maintained at an elevation a semi detached, row house apartments, and one
meter above ground which lower than the storey concrete tsalets.
bahay kubo – to discourage the placement of • Originally rooted from the Swiss “Chalet” which
domestic animals underneath the house. is a housing for the natives near the Alpine
Regions.
Domestic Architecture
The Tsalet, Chalet
Domestic Architecture

The Ideal Sanitary House

• The Great Fire of Manila - On the 23 May • The experiment of materials and resulted to a
1903, a great fire consumed the city burning new concept of the Ideal Sanitary House of
two thousand native houses. 1917.
• This event has also lead the American to • A refinement of the “tsalet,” the modular
develop a new concept for an “Ideal Sanitary prototype house introduced a fire resistive
House” roofing materials composed of diamond
shaped roof shingles.
• The concept was yielded in 1917 and
introduced a ARRIVAL OF THE AMERICANS fire • Moulded from concrete mixed with rice husk
resistive structure. and reinforced by wood and bamboo.
• Its modular component cement floor and wall
slabs were implanted with sawali and woven
bamboo.
• Aside from being fire resistive, the new model
of the Sanitary House has also improved
further the health condition of the native by
promoting cleaner hygienic practices.
American Architects
Edgar K. Bourne William E. Parsons
Appointed as chief of the Bureau of Was chosen by Burnham for the
Architecture and Construction of Public implementation of his directives in the
Buildings designed buildings that mimic the Master Plans of Baguio and Manila. A Beaux
impression of Spanish Colonial buildings. Arts-trained Consulting Architect.
Contribution:
Daniel H. Burnham Improvement of quality of construction
The father of the City Beautiful movement, materials and techniques:
was commissioned by Gov. Gen, Howard • Reinforced concrete
Taft to draft the master plan for Manila and • CHB
Baguio, and to design the Government • Kahn Truss System
Capitol Buildings
Dominant Styles
SPANISH MISSION REVIVAL

Characterized by a combination of detail from

several eras of Spanish Baroque, Spanish
Colonial, Moorish Revival and
Mexican Churrigueresque architecture.
The Spanish Mission Revival was then considered
as a transitional form of architecture under the
appointment of Architect Edgar K. Bourne of New
York as chief of the Bureau of Architecture and
Construction of Public Buildings.
Dominant Styles
BEAUX-ARTS Style

In French, the term beaux arts means fine arts or

beautiful arts. Based on ideas taught at the
legendary L’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, (the
French national school of architecture) the Beaux
Arts style flourished between 1885 and 1920.
Beaux Arts buildings have many of these features:
Massive and grandiose, constructed with stone,
balustrades, balconies, columns, cornices,
pilasters/pilars, grand stairway, large arches,
symmetrical façade, lavish decorations: swags,
medallions, flowers, and shields.
Dominant Styles
NEOCLASSICAL STYLE

A style which originated in Europe and in the US

from 1885-1925 reviving and combining the
Greek and Roman Classical Architecture with the
ideas of Renaissance Architecture. Also known as
Classical Revival or Beaux Arts Classicism, this
style incorporates;

grandiose symmetrical compositions and façade,

colonnaded portico with grand stair and imposing
columns, balustraded balconies, pronounced
cornices and entablatures, triangular pediment.
Dominant Styles
ART DECO

Introduced by the Filipino pensionado architects.

Also called style moderne, movement in the
decorative arts and architecture that originated in
the 1920s and developed into a major style in
western Europe and the United States during the
1930s. Its name was derived from the Exposition
Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels
Modernes, held in Paris in 1925, where the style
was first exhibited. Art Deco design represented
modernism turned into fashion.
Dominant Styles
ITALIANATE MALACAÑAN PALACE

A style which originated in Western Europe in

circa 1840-1885 reviving the elements of the
Italian Renaissance Architecture of the 16th
Century with
square cupolas or towers, elaborate classical
detailing, wide overhanging eaves with closely-
spaced decorative brackets, tall and narrow Villa Lizares (now Angelicum School) in
Iloilo
square or arched windows, L-shaped plans,
arcaded porches with balustrades, low-pitched or
flat roof.
Dominant Styles
VICTORIAN Siliman University “Hall”
(Dumaguete, Negros Oriental)
A style in Europe during the reign of Queen
Victoria in Great Britain (1837-1901) reviving and/
or combining the elements of Gothic and
Italianate styles such as;
steep gabled roof and dormers, cone-shaped
turrets or square tower with mansard roof,
intricate or richly ornamented paneling, trusses,
and braces, paneled exterior walling with either
horizontal, vertical, or diagonal design and wide
overhanging eaves with exposed rafters ends.
Dominant Styles
NEOGOTHIC

A style which originated in Europe and used in the INC locale churches
PH in the later part of the 19th Century reviving
the architecture vocabulary of Gothic
architecture. It includes;
Lofty facades, Pointed arches, Soaring spires,
Ribbed vaulting, Flying buttress, Rich
ornamentation and tracery.
Dominant Styles
NEO-RENAISSANCE

A style which originated in Italy during the period

of architectural style revival in the 19th Century
which has been characterized by;
hip type tiled roof with low-pitched or inclination,
eaves with supporting decorative brackets,
employment of details such as columns, pilasters,
pediments, quoins, and arches and often
symmetrically balanced.
Dominant Styles
STREAMLINED DECO Quezon
Institute
A later strain of Art Deco. It is simple unadorned
and linear. Notable features include a rounded
streamlined corner, glass block walls, banded
parapets, an open deck, porthole windows and
triple pipe railings. Lopez Boat
House
Dominant Styles
BAUHAUS National Library
A style originated in Germany, adopted from the Of the
design school founded by Walter Gropius. Philippines
Notable elements include an asymmetrical form,
smooth façade, regularity, cubic form, pilotis,
large windows, balconies and flat roof.
National Press Club
Maestros de Obra (Master Builders)
• During the Spanish era there were no schools of Architecture in the Philippines.
• At that time, Filipino could aspire to erect an architectural structure through the
help of a Maestro de Obras or master builder. The first formal school for master
builders was opened only during the last decade of the 19th century.
• On 14 September 1902, many of the graduates of this school joined the civil
engineers and surveyors in the country and founded the first professional
organization of architects and allied professionals
• the Academia de Arquitectura y Aguimensura de Filipinos (AAAF). It maintained
direct consultation with the American Institute of Architects (AIA). A year after, its
name was changed to Academia de Inginieria, Arquitectura y Agrimensura de
Filipinas (AIAAF). In 1904 it founded the first school of Architecture in the
Philippines.
Early Filipino Architects

Maestros de Obra
Arcadio De Guzman Arellano Tomas Fernandez Arguelles
1st Generation of Filipino Architects
• The so called first generation of Filipino Architects who studied
architecture and engineering in the United States who were
sponsored by the colonial masters.
• Together with the maestros de obras Arcadio Arellano and Tomas
Arguelles, they combined Beaux Arts elements – aesthetic
proportions, optical corrections – with the influences of modernism
and the concepts of utility and honesty of architecture.
1st Gen
Tomas Mapua y Bautista Antonio Mañalac Toledo
• first Filipino registered architect • The youngest pensionados sent to the United States in 1904
• founder and first Filipino president of Mapua Institute of • One of the first professors at the Mapua Institute of
Technology (1925) Technology
• master of Beaux Arts style and a classical revivalist • Master of the neo-classical style and has been
known for his design of the UP Padre Faura
campus buildings and Agrifina buildings.
1st Gen
Juan Marcos Arellano y De Guzman
• adhered to the principles of the Parisian Ecole des Beaux
Art system in favoured Neoclassical designs.
• He was trained in the Beaux Arts and subsequently went
to work for George B. Post & Sons in New York City,
where he worked for Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
2nd Generation of Filipino Architects
Andres Luna de San Pedro Pablo Sebero Antonio
• Son of the painter Juan Luna • National Artist in Architecture Pablo S. Antonio
• The designs of Luna de San Pedro pioneered modern Philippine architecture
were either modernist or revivalist of style. • Greatly influenced by the Art Deco style
• an advocate of modernism, his architecture is
characterized by clean lines, plain surfaces, bold
rectangular masses while exploiting the potentials of
wood, stone, and reinforced concrete.
2nd Gen
Juan Nakpil
• First Filipino member of the American Institute of
Architects
• Studied Civil Engineering at the University of the
Philippines
• 1925 he went to France to take architecture in the
Fountainbleau School of Fine Arts, and received his
diploma d’ architecture
• first architect to be conferred the National Artist Award
(1973)
• THE DEMISE of the Spanish empire at the end of the 19th Century
signaled the emergence of monumental neoclassicism in the
Philippines and signified the advent of American colonialism and its
cultural dominance.
• This style in a way gave continuity to a form of government that
shifted from Spanish to American colonial rule. A military government
was soon established to conduct various modes of pacification in the
region. The American troops pledged freedom and a more civilized
way of life. The Filipinos, with the exception of those who rebelled,
responded with great optimism.
Points to ponder
• How will you generate a “Filipinized” discipline of Architecture with
zero influence of US (or in general, Western traditions?)
• Please see Video presentation 04