José Marìa Zaragoza, unappreciated architect
Asian Journal
January 2005
A WELCOME addition to the extremely limited bibliography on Philippine architecture, the monograph, "José Marìa V. Zaragoza: Architecture For God and Man," reintroduces an unappreciated architect who practiced during a forgotten period in Philippine history.
In the monograph, Rubén D. F. Defeo and Ma. Lourdes Zaragoza Banson traces Zaragoza's professional achievements and personal philosophy developed during his career starting in 1938 and ending with his death in 1994. Archival images document his work. Recent photographs by Edwin Obceme record surviving Zaragoza architecture.
For years only Spanish colonial structures were considered as the narrow focus of Philippine architectural heritage. Today interest has slowly expanded to include the heritage of the American colonial period, although little appreciation exists for the architecture of the recent past and its significance to Philippine cultural development.
The monograph is one of the first to correct that oversight. It is hoped that it will inspire other writers and scholars to bring the past back into light.
Lost period
The last 50 years are a lost period in the collective Philippine memory. The immediate postwar period were momentous years, resulting in the halcyon days of political and economic stability of pre-Marcos Philippines.
It was a stimulating time. Asia recognized the Philippines as a regional leader whose quality of life ranked next to that of Japan. We were certainly no backwater country then.
The Philippines was the only totally Asian country blending Philippine, Spanish and American influences, drawing visitors from neighboring countries who traveled to Manila for infusions of its multi-cultural milieu so evident in the unique lifestyle of the city and reflected in its architecture.
It was said that at that time, Manila, especially the sweeping seaside vista of Dewey (now Roxas) Boulevard, manifested a distinct visual identity unlike any other cityscape in Asia, a cityscape more attuned to the Latino seaside boulevards of Rio de Janeiro in sight and feel.
It is within this context that the architecture of Zaragoza should be viewed.
Zaragoza graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila in 1936, passing the licensure examinations in 1938 to become the 82nd architect of the Philippines.
Early in his career he initiated a vigorous personal correspondence with the great Frank Lloyd Wright, culminating with a visit to the master's Arizona atelier in 1956. However, unlike his contemporaries who looked towards the United States for inspiration, Zaragoza found his in Europe and Latin America. That influence set him apart.
Zaragoza, a deeply religious man, earned a diploma in liturgical art and architecture from the International Institute of Liturgical Catholic churches in Rome. The religious structures completed during his career are Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tala (1950), Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City (1954), Villa San Miguel in Mandaluyong (1954), Pius XII Center in Manila (1958), and finally, the controversial expansion of Quiapo Church (1984).
After a study of his accomplishments, Zaragoza emerges as an unnoticed figure worthy of deeper study in the protracted search for that elusive "Filipino Architecture."
Grounded in Philippine architectural vocabulary, he distilled traditional forms derived from the Spanish colonial era into the simplified, unornamented shapes of the International Style of the 1950s.
The arcades of the Santo Domingo Church Convent in Quezon City is classic 1950s Zaragoza architecture: simple, unornamented, modern but serenely elegant, evoking all of the familiar visual reminders of old Spanish colonial cathedrals in the Philippines without its baroque trappings.
Strong impact
The strong impact of Zaragoza on Philippine houses is likewise unrecognized. His designs develop the visual framework for the popular "Spanish style" of architecture favored in residences of the 1950s and '60s.
Although no such style exists in Spain, the genre was called "Spanish style" in Philippine residential architecture, best illustrated in Zaragoza's 1951 Casino Español de Manila that still survives in excellent condition on San Luis St. between Taft Avenue and San Marcelino in central Manila.
The Casino Español features a series of interior courtyards framed with arcaded loggias, arched door and window openings. Terra cotta tile frames the edges of low-pitched roofs. Heavily varnished wooden beams support sloping interior ceilings. In the rooms are red cement tile floors and plain painted concrete walls.
This was the prototype of houses built during the era, many of which still survive today. It was residential architecture so appropriate to the pulse of the time that reflected the Spanish-influenced roots of the Philippine lifestyle that was lost when the era ended.
In 1960 the internationally eminent Brazilian architects Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa invited Zaragoza to be among the guest architects participating in the massive project of designing Brasilia, the new capital for Brazil.
The Latino imprint on Zaragoza was indelible.
His post-Brazil work, notably the facades of the Meralco Center on Ortigas Avenue and Philbanking Building in Port Area (both built in 1965) and the Commercial Bank and Trust Company Building in Escolta, Manila (1969) insinuate the subtle flowing Latino lines of Brazilian architecture.
Evoking Niemeyer's cathedral in Brasilia, Zaragoza crowns Union Church in Makati (built 1975, now demolished) with a crown of folded concrete plates.
He follows the tradition of South American architecture of exploiting the exuberant plasticity of concrete to construct flowing, sculptural designs for Virra Mall in Greenhills (built 1975, demolished January 2005), Saint John Bosco Parish Church in Makati (1977) and Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Shrine in Sucat, Parañaque (1979).
In the time line charting the development of Philippine architecture, the contributions by Zaragoza are unrecorded. This monograph is the first step at documenting those contributions and in making architects, educators, historians and the public aware of José Marìa V. Zaragoza and his place in that forgotten period of Philippine history.
Published by ArtPostAsia, "José Marìa V. Zaragoza, Architecture For God, For Man," is available at Fully Booked in Power Plant Mall, Makati. Proceeds will benefit a Zaragoza family housing project for the needy. Contact publications@artpostasia.com (INQ7).
