American Colonial Architecture

• American Colonial Architecture involved familiar local architecture combined with foreign styles and influences.
• Colonial infrastructures aimed to facilitate ventures, particularly in public health and sanitation.
• Noted were improvements in construction during this period.
• The American Colonial era saw the emergence of Filipino architects.
• There was also a local adaptation of the international Art Deco style.

Foreign Styles and Influences

• Colonial Revival Mission
• Neoclassicism
• City Beautiful Movement

Official Architectural Styles

• Colonial Revival Mission buildings used clay roof tiles, adobe, concrete, stucco, and gabled roofs.
• Colonial Revival Missions also used round arch entrances, arcades, corridors, and mirador towers.
• Neoclassicism saw a revival of using Greek and Roman orders as decorative motifs.

Urban Planning

• Urban planning ideas were based on the principles of the City Beautiful Movement.
• Urban planning included proposed ideas of organized comprehensive urban planning.

Formulaic Elements of Urban Planning

• A civic core.
• Wide radial avenues.
• Landscaped promenades.
• Visually arresting panorama.

Improvements in Sanitation

• Cubeta
• The Sanitary Barrio
• Tsalet

Cubeta

• Cubeta is also known as the "pail system".
• It was a way of introducing the concept of a toilet to dwellers of the bahay kubo.
• Public toilet sheds were installed in congested nipa districts.
• A latrine system was developed for remote areas.

The Sanitary Barrio

• The Sanitary Barrio was a neighborhood concept.
• Nipa houses were built on highly regulated blocks of subdivided lots.
• There was also a built-in system of surface drainage.
• All Sanitary Barrios had public latrines, public bath houses and laundry, and public water hydrants.
• Public latrines, public bath houses and laundry, and public water hydrants were without charge.

Tsalet

• Tsalet were "The healthy housing alternative.”
• They combined tropical features of vernacular buildings with hygienic structural principles and modern materials.
• The design of Tsalets gave premium to light, ventilation, and drainage.
• Tsalets used wood or ferroconcrete in their construction.
• Steps would lead to a veranda, floor to ceiling partitions, bedrooms, living and dining rooms, kitchens, and toilet and bath.

Improvements in Construction

• Improvements in construction came from importing American Architecture and building technology.

New Materials and Systems

• Steel-framed skeleton construction and reinforced concrete (ferroconcrete) were used for construction.
• Concrete hollow blocks were also frequently used at the time.
• The Kahn Truss System with trussed bars were placed within concrete molds for floor slabs and beams.
• Prefabricated components and precast concrete ornaments were also produced.
• Standardized plans and modularized systems were adopted for building types.

Gabaldon Schoolhouses

• Gabaldon Schoolhouses were a set of mass-produced model schoolhouses designed by William Parsons.
• Gabaldon Schoolhouses featured an elevated floor.
• They also had huge windows with capiz shutters and classrooms opening to a hallway adjacent to an open outside area.

Emergence of Filipino Architects

• The Pensionado Program was a scholarship launched by the government.
• The Pensionado Program allowed Filipino students to pursue university education in the United States.

First Generation Filipino Architects

• Carlos Baretto
• Antonio Toledo
• Tomas Mapua
• Arcadio Arellano
• Tomas Arguelles
• Juan Arellano

Carlos Baretto

• Carlos Baretto was the first Filipino architect with an academic degree from abroad and the first pensionado.
• He became one of the pioneering staff of the Division of Architecture.

Antonio Toledo

• Antonio Toledo designed the Manila City Hall.
• Toledo was regarded as the master of the Neoclassic style
• He was among the first architect-educators.

Tomas Mapua

• Tomas Mapua was the first registered architect in the Philippines.
• Mapua established the Mapua Institute of Technology in 1925.
• The Mapua Institute of Technology was the first architectural school in the Philippines.

Arcadio Arellano

• Arcadio Arellano designed the Gota de Leche Building in Manila.
• He was the first Filipino to be employed by the Americans as one of their architectural advisors.
• Arellano pioneered in the establishment of an architectural and surveying office in the country.

Tomas Arguelles

• Tomas Arguelles designed Heacock's Building.
• Heacock's was one of the major department stores of the period.
• Arguelles advocated the enforcement of the Building Code of Manila.

Juan Arellano

• Juan Arellano designed the Metropolitan Museum in the Art Deco style.
• He promoted the shift to proto-modern (art deco and streamline modern) and nativist phase of Philippine architecture.

Second Generation Filipino Architects

• Andres Luna de San Pedro
• Pablo Antonio
• Fernando Ocampo
• Juan Nakpil

Andres Luna de San Pedro

• Andres Luna de San Pedro designed the Regina Building in Manila.
• Luna de San Pedro introduced new architectural forms.
• He would incorporate modern and exotic design motifs through the grammar of art deco.

Pablo Antonio

• Pablo Antonio designed the FEU Main Building in the Art Deco style.
• He was a National Artist for Architecture.
• Antonio's buildings were characterized by clean lines, plain surfaces, and bold rectangular masses.
• He also became president of the Philippine Institute of Architects.

Fernando Ocampo

• Fernando Ocampo designed the Manila Cathedral in the Neo-Romanesque style.
• His designs involved straightforward simplicity.
• Ocampo also synthesized traditional designs with art-deco ornaments.
• He co-founded the UST School of Fine Arts and Architecture in 1930.

Juan Nakpil

• Juan Nakpil designed Gonzalez Hall, UP Diliman Main Library.
• He was a National Artist for Architecture.
• Nakpil worked largely in the Art Deco style.
• His style combined stylized flora and angular forms.

Art Deco Styles

• Eclectic and Classical Deco
• Zigzag Moderne
• Streamlined Moderne

Eclectic and Classical Deco

• Eclectic and Classical Deco is exemplified by the Cebu Capitol Building.
• This is a transitional version of art deco.
• It had a hybridized style wherein earlier historical revival styles coexist with elements of art deco.

Zigzag Moderne

• Zigzag Moderne is exemplified by the Metropolitan Theatre.
• Zigzag Moderne emanated from the contours formed by “zigzag” or stepped ziggurat.
• It is also distinct because of its lavish attention to detail and embellishment.

Streamlined Moderne

• Streamlined Moderne is exemplified by the FEU Main Building.
• Streamlined Moderne is a later phase and variation of the art deco style.
• It is sustained by the principle of streamlining, achieving an aerodynamic form with the least wind resistance.