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Casa Manila Museum

As you enter Casa Manila Museum, like the other houses that make up the Plaza San Luiz complex, has commercial establishments on the ground floor, and residential areas among its upper floors. The house evokes Filipino-Spanish opulence, from its ornate high ceilings and baroque walls, to its Castilian flooring, Victorian wood furniture, and tropical slats and ventilations.

At the close of the Second World War, the vast majority of buildings in the Spanish walled city of Intramuros lay in ruins. In 1980 the Intramuros Administration decided to construct Casa Manila, a three storey structure modeled on the Binondo house of the prominent merchant Don Severino Mendoza. (The architect chosen for the project was the distinguished Filipino architect and the Intramuros Administration's town planner, J. Ramon. Faustmann, FPIA, FPIEP.) The Casa Manila is a grand house similar to those that rich Spaniards and Filipino illustrados (those Filipinos who became rich when Manila was opened to trade with the rest of the world in the 19th century and had a taste for European culture and travel) would have occupied in Intramuros in the period 1850-98.

Open:

Tuesday - Sunday, 9pm - 6pm

Address:

Plaza San Luis Complex, General Luna cor. Real Street,  Intramuros, City of Manila, Metro Manila

Fee:

P75

REFERENCE

Wagner, 2005-2019, Casa Manila Museum, A Description of each floor, Manila, https://www.fabulousphilippines.com/casa-manila.html

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San Agustin Church and Museum

Nearby attraction is the Philippines' oldest stone church, San Agustin Church bore witness the 400-year-old Spanish rule in the country. Part of the San Agustin Church is the San Agustin Museum where different artistic works of historical and cultural significance can be seen.

The San Agustin Church was the only building left intact after the destruction of Intramuros in WWII. Built between 1587 and 1606, it is the oldest church in the Philippines. The massive facade conceals an ornate interior filled with objects of great historical and cultural merit.

The museum is housed in the Augustinians' former monastery, right beside the famed San Agustin Church. First built in the late 16th century, the museum building has undergone numerous renovations over the years, including extensive restoration after World War II left it in near ruin, and a more recent renovation.

Open:

Daily, 9am - 12nn,  1pm - 5pm

Address:

Gen. Luna St.,  Intramuros, City of Manila, Metro Manila

Fee:

P100/P200

San Agustin Church

REFERENCES

Two Monkeys Travel, 2017, Museum of the Philippines an online guide, Manila, https://twomonkeystravelgroup.com/instramuros-binondo-travel-guide/

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Archdiocese of Manila

HOLA!! The Archdiocese of Manila Museum displays religious and ecclesiastical artifacts dating from the Spanish colonial era.  These include gifts to the Archbishops of Manila from members of royal families and from important Spanish personalities. 

Open:  Daily, Monday to Thursday 9 - 11:30 am, and 1:30 - 4:30 pm, Friday 9 - 11:30 am

Address:  3rd floor, Arzobispando Building, 121 Arzobispo Street, Intramuros, Manila

Fee: Free Admission

REFERENCE

Unknown, 2007, the International Council of Museums, Manila, Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/museumsofthephilippines/directory/metro-manila/archdiocesan-museum-of-manila

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Bonsai Library and Museum

It is an old building in times of Spanish colonization in Intramuros, Manila. The museum contains local endangered plant species, where you can see displayed along with imported trees. Each bonsai and good trees has a lot of valuable information and unique on its own.

The museum is home to local endangered plant species like is-is, molave, camachile, kalyos, balite, tinta-tinta, sampaloc, yang-ya, bantulinao, kamuning, limosito, malabayabas, bignay, kulasi, bantigue, and mulawin-pusa, among others. They are displayed along with imported bonsai trees such as Chinese elm, crab apple, suimae, ficus nerepholla, pyracanta, blue bell, Singapore’s sinamono, serissa phoetida, and yellow doggie.

Every bonsai represents/expresses/ symbolizes something, peace, love, hate, I guess that’s why some painters/artists uses the same colorway or color blending when making arts about plants. It helps the artist to express how he/she feels by just putting effort on how the colors are placed.

REFERENCES

Visit Bonsai Library and Museum on your trip to Manila or Philippines. (n.d.). [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.inspirock.com/philippines/manila/bonsai-library-and-museum-a3140044897

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Light and Sound Museum

Then we will visit another museum that is focused on Philippine history and highlights Dr. Jose Rizal's life and heroism. The Lights and Sounds Museum wasn’t just a museum, it was an experience center. Statues of the different Filipino heroes were placed inside the Lights and Sounds Museum. Each scene is to be “experienced” one by one. It is dramatically narrated by a voice over with some background music. The lights are also in place to direct the attention of the audience to the main characters. The lights will help you to appreciate the arts more and helps you feel the emotion in it.

A diorama of one of the battles fought between the Filipinos and the Spaniards. The museum was divided into different rooms.

REFERENCE

Drozie, Reynelan. (n.d.). Light and Sound Museum. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/reynelandrozie.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/light-and-sound-museum-august-2015/amp/.

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Silahis Center

And we will end our tour by visiting a place with an exclusive jewelry and souvenirs that comes from different parts of the Philippines, The Silahis Arts & Artifacts.

Silahis Center is a multi-storey shop that sells antiques and Philippine arts and handicrafts. With its wide selection of artifacts, an entire floor serving as an art gallery and its location in a beautiful old building in the Walled City of Intramuros, the shopping experience is more like visiting a museum than a store.

In this souvenir shop you will be able to know and buy the different products that originates from different parts of the philippines.

Knowing where something comes from helps us from determining what kind of art/s was used it also helps us understand what the artist feel about that art he/she makes and why he/she makes it.

REFERENCES:

Primer Media Inc. (2018, March 3). Silahis Center in Intramuros: Showcase of local heritage and artistry. Retrieved from https://primer.com.ph/travel/2018/03/03/silahis-center-in-intramuros-showcase-of-local-heritage-and-artistry/.

De Ridder, Djengy R  | Flores,James P.

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Paco Train Station

An old abandon train station witnessed a heroic scene during World War II including the Battle of Manila. It was originally built across Plaza Dilao in 1915, which was during the American colonial period. This is also the last station beside Quirino Avenue before turning left towards Pres. Sergio Osmeña Highway. As the passer by they can only admire the columns from Ancient Greek architecture and the intricately carved eagles at the top.

Rail (2012)  Philippines: Manila Old Paco Railway Station. Retrieved from http://railwaystations.blogspot.com/2012/09/philippines-manila-old-paco-railway.html

The Commonwealth Government employed the administrations of William Parsons—a similar architect behind Manila Hotel, the Manila Army and Navy Club Building, Manila Elks Club, Philippine General Hospital, the Philippine Normal School, the University Hall of the University of the Philippines in Manila, The Mansion House in Baguio, and the sky is the limit from there—to structure the station. Parsons' motivation for his structure was the Penn Station in New York.

The Neo-Classical railroad station taught numerous explorers for a considerable length of time until the wicked Battle of Manila in February 1945. After the tragic event, the station was halfway destroyed in 1996 by a businessman who had plans to build up a shopping center in its place. The construction didn’t push through because of financial problem and up to this moment it is abandoned.

De Guzman,N. (2019). There's Art Hidden Inside This Abandoned Manila Railway Station. Retrieved from

https://esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/paco-railway-station-history-a1729-20190301-lfrm

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Gaiety Theater

The Gaiety Theater is a stand-alone art deco cinema house located at M.H.Del Pilar Street in the Ermita, Manila district of the city of Manila. It was designed by Juan Nakpil, National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture, in 1935.The construction of these early theaters in the City of Manila provided the venue for early forms of entertainment like bodabil, a local adaptation of vaudeville, with most eventually converting to movie theaters with the growth and popularity of Philippine cinema in the metropolis.

The Gaiety Theater was first owned by Harry Brown, the American producer of La vida de Jose Rizal, the first feature film produced in the Philippines. It was known for showing art films patronized by expats and old Spanish families. During the Second World War, its operation was stopped until Karl Nathan obtained permission from the Japanese authorities to reopen it, which at the time was owned by a prominent Filipino family with whom Nathan had struck an agreement, provided he could get the Japanese permit. Tickets to this theater during the Japanese occupation were cheap as compared to other movie houses in downtown Manila. The theater was also used as a place of worship by the Jesus is Lord Cosmopolitan Church.

Until it was demolished in 2016 several families acting as caretakers of the old cinema were living inside. According to them, there were efforts to resurrect the Gaiety Theater in the 1990s but it failed. As of 2014, the theater was closed and the building remained in a dilapidated state. The roof of the building collapsed years ago leaving the cinema house open to all weather elements contributing to its fast deterioration.

Revolvy, L. (2019). "Gaiety Theater (Manila)" on Revolvy.com. [online] Revolvy.com. Retrieved from https://www.revolvy.com/page/Gaiety-Theater-%28Manila%29?mt=1 [Accessed 2 Dec. 2019].

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Aduana Building

also known as the Intendencia, was a Spanish colonial structure in Manila, Philippines that housed several government offices through the years. It is located in front of the BPI Intramuros (formerly the site of the old Santo Domingo Church) at Plaza España, Soriano (Aduana) Ave. corner Muralla St. in Intramuros.

This two-story governmental structure follows a Neo-Classical tradition, with an emphasized horizontality and symmetrical form, particularly on the design of its facade. The central bay had three arched entrances and two principal staircases built around the two atriums. The window-like portals opening out to small balconies were framed with pilasters topped with ornate capitals and were adorned with elaborate geometrical grille work. 

The building served as a central treasury. In the 20th century it turned into the Central Bank Building and a concrete vault was worked in the chamber. The building was damaged by war but was repaired and remained as the Central Bank until the completion in the 1970s of a new Central Bank along Roxas Blvd. The structure was harmed by fire and left surrendered for quite a while and remained abandoned. The structure is presently being restored to become the National Archives for records of the Spanish colonial period. Reclamation started in 1996 during the centennial of the Philippine Revolution.

Ignacio,T. (2015) National Archives of the Philippines. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20150101114803/http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=2&i=181

Ranada,P. (2019) Aduana ruins in Intramuros one step closer to restoration Retrieved from

https://www.rappler.com/nation/232511-intramuros-aduana-ruins-closer-restoration

Synaptic,A. (2018) The Ruins of Aduana Building. Retrieved from https://spectralcodex.com/the-ruins-of-the-aduana-building/

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Manila Metropolitan Theater

It is Philippine art deco structure that used to house of plays and other artistic performances that kept on falling apart. It is located near the Mehan Garden located on Padre Burgos Avenue corner Arroceros Street, near the Manila Central Post Office. It was designed by architect Juan M. Arellano and inaugurated on December 10, 1931.

As the biggest venue at that point built inside the Philippines, drove the Met to be acknowledged as the nation's first "national theater," facilitating social exhibitions, social events, and masterful undertakings.  The MET was eventually abandoned again in the 1990s after GSIS received full ownership.

atler,P. (2018) Inside The Manila Metropolitan Theatre Restoration. Retrieved from https://ph.asiatatler.com/life/inside-the-manila-metropolitan-theatre-restoration

The Metropolitan Theater façade resembles a stage being framed by a proscenium-like central window of stained glass which carries the name “Metropolitan” with flora and fauna motif surrounding the label. This helps bring in light to the lobby. It was highlighted on both ends by the curving walls with colorful decorated tiles in resemblance with the batik patterns from Southeast Asia. There are also moldings of zigzag and wavy lines that go with the sponged and painted multi-colored massive walls. The wall that framed the stained glass is a segmented arch with rows of small finials on the upper edge of the wall. Angkor Wat-inspired minarets crown the top of the concave roof which suggested its status as a theater back in its prime days. Located in the entrance are elaborate wrought iron gates which are patterned into leaf designs and various lines. Accenting the ground level are Capiz lamps and banana-leaf formed pillars which go alternately with the theater's entrances.

GMA News Online (2013) Kasaysayan at misteryo ng Manila Metropolitan Theater,aalamin sa 'I-Witness'. Retrieved from

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/publicaffairs/iwitness/317318/kasaysayan-at-misteryo-ng-manila-metropolitan-theater-aalamin-sa-i-witness/story/

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Old Philippine National Bank Building

The PNB Building was constructed from 1962 to 1965 and was inaugurated in 1966 by its namesake and tenant, the then-state owned Philippine National Bank (PNB). PNB occupied the building until 1996 when the banking firm was privatized. The PNB moved office to Pasay. The PNB was the main government finance body prior to the establishment of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippines' central bank. It then housed the City College of Manila before it was abandoned.

The Urban Roamer (2016)  From Crystal Arcade to PNB Building to…Gone? The Saga of an Escolta Address. Retrieved from https://www.theurbanroamer.com/saga-of-an-escolta-address/

In January 2015, the building sustained damages from a fire which lead to the owner of the building, the Manila City Government to demolish the building.

The architect of the PNB Bank is Carlos Arguelles with David Consunji as the building's contractor. The architectural style of the building is considered to be that of the International Style which is described to have complemented the climate and context of its immediate vicinity, the Escolta area, according to architect Dominic Galicia, president of the Philippine office of the International Council on Monuments and Sites. The building is 12-storeys high. The line of the building is also a vertical and horizontal line, because the structure is likely an upward building that’s why the line is vertical and horizontal. Texture, the texture of old PNB building is now a rough texture because it got burned. As for the shapes, it’s a geometric shape you can notice it outside the building that it has a square shape. For the form, the building is 3D building because the architect shows the used at construction scale, these include the following main methods: extrusion (concrete/cement, wax, foam, polymers), powder bonding (polymer bond, reactive bond, sintering) and additive welding. Color, some side of the building is still white but most of the side of the building is dark color because of the burn. The value, the contrast is dark it shows the black color. For the space, the structure of the building filled with content that’s why I can say that it is positive space. The composition is noticeable as the sqaure design of the building is showed that’s why the building is attractive. 

Lico,G.R. (2016)  ARCHITECTURAL sketch of the PNB building. Retrieved from https://m.inquirer.net/lifestyle/220218

Following the 2015 fire, the Manila City Government under the administration of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada decided to demolish the building after it deemed the building structurally unsound. The building's demolition was earlier proposed in 2010 under Estrada's predecessor Alfredo Lim after Romy Lorenzo of Geltd Developers and Managers Group Inc., a developer claimed that the PNB Building is at a risk of collapse should an earthquake strike the city. The demolition was condemned by heritage conservationists, since the PNB Building is presumed to be an Important Cultural Property under the National Cultural Heritage Act and has suggested to retrofit the building instead.

Wikipedia contributors. (2019, August 4). Philippine National Bank Building (Escolta). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:57, December 2, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philippine_National_Bank_Building_(Escolta)&oldid=909355496

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Capitol Theater

Pre-war Manila was a city of entertainment, its streets lined with nightclubs, cabarets, theaters, cinemas, and social clubs. The city had so much theaters that some were built right in front or beside each other. So, along the stretch of the beautiful Escolta is a first-class theater that many members of the alta sociedad prefer, which is the Capitol Theater.

The Capitol Theater sits on prime land at the western side of the Escolta, once the country's premier business and shopping area north of the Pasig River. The Capitol Theater is one of the city's many cinema theaters, but not the Escolta's only cinema as its rival (later sister) theater Lyric is only two buildings away from the Capitol.

Photograph by Joel Vivero Rico

The Capitol Theater was built in 1935, and a masterpiece of National Artist Juan F. Nakpil de Jesús, who also designed the Pérez Samanillo Building together with the great Andrés Luna de San Pedro. It was designed and built in the art-deco style of architecture, an architectural style that was prevalent in the 1920s and 1930s. The Capitol had a total of eight hundred seats, and one of Manila's air-conditioned theaters. One interesting feature of the Capitol was its design. Inside the theater, Nakpil made use of double balconies, which was then a rare architectural design. Its lobby adorned murals designed by the triumvirate composed of Filipino modernists Victorio C. Edades, Carlos V. Francisco, and Galo B. Ocampo. According to documents, Nakpil originally commissioned Edades to work on the mural. Edades then chose 'Botong' Francisco to be his assistant, who then brought with him Ocampo. The three had just returned from the United States and hoped to change the Philippine art scene long dominated by the masters Fernando Amorsolo and Guillermo Tolentino.

Ramos,B. The Ruins of the Capitol Theater Post-WWII occupied by thr Silver Slipper Club, a nightspot catering mostly to U.S. servicemen. Retrieved from https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/03/31/19/goodbye-to-capitol-escolta-is-losing-another-significant-heritage-building

There are other interesting things about the Capitol Theater. Its façade has two bas-relief sculptures designed by Italian sculptor and expatriate Francesco Riccardo Monti. Monti's other works also include the bas-relief sculpture called 'Furies' at the old Meralco (then Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company, now the Manila Electric Company) Building along Calle San Marcelino, sculptures atop University of Santo Tomás' main building, and the sculptures at the Quezón Memorial in Quezón City.

The Japanese occupation came about in 1942, with the defeat of the combined Filipino and American forces in Corregidor. During the war years, the Escolta still continued to be the center of gravity in the city. Since most theaters in the city featured American films before the war, they were banned from being showed by the Japanese High Command. The Capitol instead showed local films, live production acts, and Japanese propaganda tools. It has been said that Fernando Poe Sr. was a film producer in the Capitol during the Japanese occupation.

Recently, the Capitol's interior has been abandoned, leaving only its façade. Several small business establishments and a restaurant used to operate inside. As for the line of the building it is strong lines and soft curves outline the pleats of the gowns worn by the muses.For the texture, fascinated with the texture on the side of this Art-deco building demolition, it's like looking at the innards of a huge old fossil.The shapes on this building was made of organic shapes because the building was made of free formed and also a geometric shape because some structures are precise.The form of the building is 3D because it is an actual building and you can touch it. Color, the color of the building has faded that’s why the color that you can only see in the building was color white and some dark color.Value, the value of the building is now white and dark because of the structure of the building now.Space, positive space because the building was filled of different interiors. Composition, a building that is made of both of the vertical surfaces have low-relief figures depicting two Filipina muses which are portrayed wearing native dress or 'traje de mestizas' and local fauna which include carabao head. This was done by Francesco Riccardo Monti.

There are initiatives done to preserve the historic Escolta. The Escolta Commercial Association is an organization composed of owners of business establishments along the Escolta. Also, another intiative called 'Hola Escolta' was made in 2012 which seeks the revitalization of the Escolta.

Rubío, P., Rubío, P. and profile, V. (2019). Capitol Theater. [online] Arquitecturamanila.blogspot.com. Available at: http://arquitecturamanila.blogspot.com/2014/03/capitol-theater.html [Accessed 2 Dec. 2019].

Rom, Khyla | Sangilan, Steffanie B.