South East Asian Art and Architecture: Philippines

  • Ancient Philippine culture is not just a mere extension of a Southeast Asian matrix of culture

  • Philippine prehistoric life was exposed to culture, spiritual influences were reshaped to suit the environment, skills and needs of the inhabitants

  • Cultural Interchange between Philippines and other Asian countries occurred through migration and trade.

Pre-Colonial

  • Crudest forms of stone tool have been excavated in Batangas, Cagayan, the Central Luzon area, Davao, and Palawan.

  • Palawan and Batangas stand out in cultural research because artifacts have helped in defining the forms of our hazy pre-colonial culture

  • Foot hills of Lemery, and Taal, Batangas the digging sites have yielded man-made tools (original stone roughness to the skillfully made sharp blade-like examples.

  • Systematic stratified excavations gives proof of continuous human habitation for over 40,000 years

Tabon Cave (Lipuun Point, Palawan)

  • country’s earliest human remains so far with a skull dated about 20,000 B.C.

  • the Skull is known as the Tabon Man. Named after the bird that laid thick layers of dung on the floor of the cave

    A. Art

    • Colonizers used art as a tool to propagate Catholic faith through beautiful images.

    • images of the Holy family and the saints were introduced through carced santos, engravings in estampas and estampitas and through wall paintings

      1. Paintings

        a. Paete Artists

        • works by Josef Luciano Dans, earliest recorded painters

        • Langit Lupa at Impierno - three level painting

        • Purgatoryo - shows 8 forms of punishment

        b. Damian Domingo y Gabor

        • opened the first formal fine arts school, the Academia de Dibujo

        • Tipos del País - literally meaning Types of the Country, a watercolor painting showing different types of inhabitants in the Philippines

        c. Jose Honoranto Lozano

        • Developed a style that combines both tipos del pais and genre paintings by forming the letters of the patron’s name from figures of people

        d. Juan Novicio Luna and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo

        • first international Filipino artists that won the God and Silver medals in the Madrid Exposition

        • Luna’s ‘Spoliarium’ and Hidalgo’s ‘Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho’

      2. Sculpture

        a. Retablo

        • Houses of the tabernacle

        • cabinet of saints

        b. Relleves

        • carved images in relief

        • may only show holy images in religious scenes

        c. Juan de los Santos

        • earliest known sculptor

        • few works may be found at San Agustin Convent Museum

      3. Graphic Arts

        a. La Doctrina Christiana en la Lengua Española y Tagala

        • first book printed in the country published by dominicans

        • a woodcut engraving of St. Dominic by Juan de Veyra, a Chinese convert

        b. Estampas and Estampitas

        • Prints of miraculous images featuring portraits if saints and religious scenes

        • copper etching became more populsr

      4. Architecture

        a. Bahay na bato

        • an evolved bahay kubo with improved air circulation and lighting

        • a two-storey house with upper floor overhanging the first floor

        • Ground floor has:

          • Zaguan - storage area for carriages

          • Cuadra - horse stable

          • Bodega - room used to keep old furnitures and palay bins

          • Entresuelo - mezzanine found on the floor of the master of the house, the door is found underneath his bed

          • Patio - enclosed courtyard and adjacent to the zaguan

        • Upper floor has:

          • Caida - all purpose room or hall in fromt of the stairs

          • Sala - living room

          • Comedor - dining room

          • Cocina - kitchen

          • Dispensa- room for food storage

          • Comun or Latrina - service toilet

          • Bano or Paliguan - bathroom

          • Balcon - balcony

          • Cusrto, Alcoba and Dormitorio - bedroom

          • Aljibe - cistern used for storage of collected rainwater

        • Structural elements - Yakal used for floor joists, narra used for floor boards. Wooden pegs, wood joinery works, wrought iron nails used as fasteners for the flooring and metal fasteners for main structural members

        • Protective element - steep hipped roof, later replaced by galvanized iron sheets. overhanging eaves to protect unwanted heat and etc.

        • circulatory elements - first three steps as marble and the rest is wood

        • Decorative elements / furnishings - different forms from ceiling to the furnishings found in every room

        • Peinadora - vanity table

        • Escritorio - writing table

        • Bastonero - hat rack

        • Lancena - chinese cabinet and buffet table in one

        • Baul - store linens

        b. Ecclesiastical structures

        • Laoag Church in Ilocos Norte by Fr. Joseph Ruiz known for its sinking bell tower

        • Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte, Earthquake Baroque style architecture. largest bell from 30 sacks if coins donated by townspeople

        • Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) built by Franciscans using bamboo and nipa materials

        • San Agustin Church built out of adobe stone and lime mortar with Neoclassical-Baroque style.

        • Minor Basilica of San Sebastian is an example of Gothic revival architecture. Only steel building church

        • Taal Church in Batangas, the biggest spanish church in the country

        c. Forts/ Military structures

        • Fort Santiago - one of the oldest fortifications in Manila. Headquarters of the armies of several foreign powers in Philippines

        • Baluarte de San Diego - spade-shaped bulwark inside the historic district of Intramuros. created from the remains of the upper portion of a circular watch tower

        • Nester Senora de Guia, Intramuros first stone fort in the country

        • Fort San Pedro in Cebu, first fort in the country as a military defense structure built by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi

        d. Plaza Complex

        • in the spanish regime in the typical colonial settlement. also known as “Pueblo”, the center of social and religious activities

American Colonial Era until Modern Times

Domestic Architecture

  • Chalet - simple respectable house for those moving up to the middle class. a single-storey raised slightly above the ground with and extended veranda in front

  • Split level houses

  • “California” style bungalow - distinguished by horizontal appearance, wide eaves, large porches and multi-light doors and window

  • Burnham Plan

    • Planned by David Burnham and executed by William Parsons

    • development of the waterfront and location of parks and parkways

    • street system from one district to another

    • development of waterways and transportation

  • Classic Revival Style

    • adopted by architects Juan Arellano and Antonio Toledo

    • UP Diliman

    • Manila Post Office

    • Manila City Hall

    • Philippine General Hospital by William Parsons

  • Art Deco Style

    • Crystal Arcade by Andres Luna de San Pedro ise of partial glass

    • Metropolitan Theater by Juan Arellano

    • FEU by Pablo Antonio

  • Painting

    • Classicism

      • Fabian dela Rosa - noted for his realistic portraits, genre, and landscapes in subdued colors. First dean of the UP Fine Arts School. Work: Rice Planters

      • Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto - first and among the few Filipino painters that captured the different striking colors and character of the country’s magnificent sunlight. Work: The Offering

    • Modernism

      • Carlos “Botong” Francisco - his trademark fluid lines and brilliant colors filled up the entire History of Manila mural at the Manila City Hall, defying the rules of linear perspective set by the local academy

      • Victorio C. Edades - The Builders painting will be known as the first ever Modernist painting in the country. Work: The Artist

      • Galo B. Ocampo - Brown Madonna, Filipinized western canonical iconography. Work: Deposition

    • Thirteen Moderns - group of artists who were reacting to the academic style of Luna and Hidalgo and to the sweet style of Amorsolo

      • Diosdado Lorenzo

      • Vicente S. Manansala - major proponrnt of Cubism

      • Hernando R. Ocampo - first purely non-representational art in ph. Work : Genesis

      • Cesar T. Legaspi - depiction of the masses. Work : Gadgets

      • Demetrio Diego

      • UST Faculty Members Bonifacio Cristobal and architect Jose Pardo

      • Arsenio Capili died durinng war

      • student assistants Ricarte Purugganan

      • Anita Magsaysay-Ho - the only woman in the group. works are sharply outlined figures of bandanna wearing peasant women. Work : Mending the Nets

      • Fernando Zobel - Carroza, depiction of a carriage carrying the Virgin Mary

      • Jose Joya - pioneered abstract expressionism. dynamic spontaneity and quick gestures. Work : Space Transfiguration

      • Ang Kiu Kok - unconventional paintings that bordered on the disturbing expressed nationalism and social consciousness. figurative expressionism. Work : Pieta

      • Mauro “Malang” Santos - has always come out in the vivid colors. Images of colors that remind us of the homeland

      • Arturo Luz - best known for his linear art and his series on street musicians , vendors, cyclists and carnival performers. works are characterized by sophisticated simplicity and exemplify sublime austerity in the their expression and form. Work : Bagong Taon and Man with Guitar

      • Abdulmari Imao - first filipino muslim to be recognized as National Artist. Work: Mural Relief at Manila City Hall

      • Benedicto Cabrera - solitary figures if scavengers. Works: Madonna, Studies of Sabel, Waiting for the Monsoon

      • J. Elizalde Navarro - mastered the use if various media, like hardwood, metal and other objects and created mixed media works.

  • Contemporary

    • Architecture

      • seeds of Sullivan and Bauhaus School took roots in the Ph

      • Brise soleil sun breakers that are part of the architectural structure

      • concrete shell and pierced screen

      • Architectural Landmarks

        • Church of the Risen Lord Protestant Chapel

        • Arellano University Building

        • Iglesia ni Cristo Church

        • Liberal Arts and Engineering Buildings

        • Philippine Heart Center and the Quiapo Mosque

      • Notable Architects

        • Daniel Burnham for city plans

        • Juan Arellano for romantic filipino architecture

        • Arcadio Arellano for first licensed architect in the country

        • Tomas Mapua for being the first registered architect recognized by Americans

        • Andres de Luna y San Pedro sin of Juan Luna

        • Juan Nakpil

        • Pablo Antonio

        • Leandro Locsin

        • Francisco Mañosa

      • Some other Landmarks

        • Philippine Normal School

        • Philippine General Hospital - first concrete buildings erected in Manila

        • Meralco Building

        • Philippine Heart Center

    • Sculpture

      • Guillermo Tolentino - Trained in the classical style in Rome. Works: Oblation in UP, Bonifacio Monument and Tolentino’s Bonifacio Monument

      • Napoleon Abueva - produced highly stylized, simplified, and eventually abstract. Works : The Machine, The Crucifix; Mother and Child

      • Eduardo Castrillo - known for his bronze sheet monuments

      • Ramon Orlina - used glass blocks as materials