“I am a Filipino, I love my country, I practice architecture, in that order.”
—Architect Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa
IN 1991, Architect Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa visited Pampanga to witness firsthand the aftermath of Mount Pinatubo’s devastating eruption.
The man behind the iconic designs of the Coconut Palace and the Edsa Shrine, to name a few, recounted his account on the foreword of the book, titled Beyond the Bahay Kubo: 16 Climate-Conscious Tropical Homes by Mañosa. He wrote that off the main highway, amid ashen rice fields and collapsed structures, he saw a curious sight: “A bahay kubo had miraculously survived.”
Mañosa posited the structure’s steeply pitched thatched roof allowed the ash fall to roll off the sides rather than accumulating at the center, the very problem that spelled doomed to most of the other buildings around, whether made of stone or concrete. He added that the pliable bamboo posts enabled the native structure to withstand the eruption’s initial shocks.
“The bahay kubo has survived the test of time because it’s a design that works,” the famed architect writes in the book. “That’s why it continues to inspire me nearly six decades after I first embarked on the practice of architecture.”
That 1991 encounter, however, was more conviction than ignition of Mañosa’s pledge to promote local design. He added that as a young architect, he championed what he called “Philippinism”, a form of response “to the wholesale importance of foreign architectural models in a misguided attempt to embrace a false ‘modernism’”.
“These models were unsuited to our climate and culture, and though they may be beautiful to look at, they were impractical to maintain and uncomfortable to live and work in.”
Mañosa’s notable Filipino-inspired design principle is evident in each of his projects, including the Banaue Rice Terraces-inspired San Miguel Building and the Amanpulo Resort in Palawan.
Mañosa’s daughter Bambi, the eldest of three offsprings, said she remembers her dad saying, “I design Filipino, nothing else.”
The director of Interior Design of Mañosa & Co., Bambi recounts growing up in an nationalistic environment fostered by her dad with the mantra “What are you doing to help your country?” She said the elder Mañosa walked the talk in both practice and advocacy.
And it wasn’t only in architecture. Mañosa even responded to the lack of creative toys for kids in the market and designed some himself, with a touch of national pride, of course. The outputs are called “Bobitoys” and each product carried a Filipino name. There’s a pull toy called “tipaklong” and a train named “Bicol Express”.
As for his strong suit, the bahay kubo has always been a focal point for Mañosa. “It’s very organic. When people talk about green architecture now, it’s something that he used to practice way back. He was doing that even before it became a buzzword.” Bambi said, adding her dad constantly pushes for the upgrade of the bahay kubo design to reflect today’s standards.
Wooden portraits of Mañosa’s projects, along with his toy creations and message to embrace local architecture and materials, were recently displayed in an exhibit at Alabang Town Center (ATC) and TriNoMa in Quezon City, as part of the ongoing Arkitektura Festival 2017. The event aims to educate and inspire the youth and professionals on architecture, and is being staged at different properties of Ayala Malls until October. Arkitektura Festival Director Sarri Tapales said they are promoting an approach to design that is in harmony with the living principles of nature and the human being.
The Mañosa exhibit, titled Mañosa: Beyond Architecture, was launched at the National Museum in February.
“There was more to the man than what people saw him build—because his structures were also a process of building better lives,” Bambi said at the exhibit’s opening at ATC. “Mañosa: Beyond Architecture allows visitors a close inspection of his original drawings and models from his body of work, including plans and projects never before seen by the public.”
Topping off the display are new and archival photographs, examples of vernacular materials and furniture and interior elements. There will also be audio-visual presentations, offering insight into the renowned architect’s diverse practice.
Aside from the Mañosa exhibit, Ayala Malls has two other collaborations with the Arkitektura Festival for this year. One is a multisensory art installation by Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ Ani ng Dangal awardee Teresa Barozza, titled Vocalizations. It runs nightly from 6 to 9 pm until October 8 at Greenbelt.
The other was a digital showcase of Filipino design alongside international selections, recently on view at the Greenbelt 5 Gallery. Part of the exhibit was a preview of 50 contemporary worldwide expressions of organic architecture at the Ayala Museum. Moreover, the Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines (CFIP) also mounts the show titled Silya, where award-winning chair designs using native materials will be featured. The CFIP will also be hosting talks with designers on the weekends of September at the Greenbelt Gallery.
In addition to these shows were lectures at the Ayala Museum in late-August for architecture students and practitioners. Industry experts, such as Gregory Burgess and Richard Coleman, manned the panel.
According to Maricris Bernardino, Ayala Malls marketing head, Ayala Malls is more than a convergence area where people shop and dine, but a group that is at the forefront of arts and culture that is intent in presenting the global Filipino.
She added Arkitektura at Ayala Malls will continue next year, as they look at bringing the festival to students in Quezon City and the residents of Bacolod.
“[Festival Director Tapales] said ‘let’s bring this down to the regular people who don’t have to be designers’, because, really, everybody has a principle of what beauty is, or how we should live,” Bernardino said, adding the festival’s message is more important today with the current construction boom in the country. “Let’s not forget the basic principles of building. We need to have beautiful places, and we still need to have gardens.”
This call to give importance to the environment, coupled with the rise of Philippine architecture, is in many ways the fulfillment of Mañosa’s dreams.
Bambi said during his dad’s exhibit at the National Museum, they collected about 500 personal letters addressed to the elder Mañosa, now 86 years old. One student wrote to ask him to come and teach Filipino architecture in his school. Bambi added dad gets a kick out of those letters.
“He’s been like the lone voice in the wilderness for a very long time,” Bambi said. “Now, it’s so nice to see when you go to different events, you see a lot of Filipino crafts already, and that there’s a demand for it. It makes him happy. He’s saying: ‘Finally, we’re getting there.’”