POST MODERN in MANILA

Sevilla, Jan Kenneth S.                                                                                                                                    THEDES2

“HOW POSTMODERN BUILT THE CITY OF MANILA?”

Can manila achieve its fullest potential at this point of time? Can there be a change in the way the people see manila today. Metro Manila is one of the largest cities in Asia. With more than 10 million people living on it. After roaming the streets of manila to take some pictures. I can say that the city manila has become one of the most chaotic city in the world, also a fact. Because of the different building that composes it. The mixed of building types of almost everything. Metro Manila is a city that might have been one of the greatest city that can be built into our current time. It is once consider as the jewel of harbour. Now what has happen? The suburbs of manila now surrounded by squatter areas.  Air filled with pollution and a fact that many people lived on garbage dumps. Metro manila has many people surpassing it maximum capacity. Resulting to many residences of metro manila to squat basically anywhere. Now where is the architecture there? Basically metro manila is like a compilation of all styles of architectures. It’s somewhat good and somewhat bad. Living in manila for as long as I can remember I have seen many buildings. Manila is called once as the cosmopolitan heart of Southeast Asia. Now many residents here built house simply just to have a house to live in. They apply the styles they see from anywhere. That’s the reason why it has become like a fruit salad. Mixed with every ingredient they see. This kind of thinking spread to the city of manila and basically it has become one of the characteristics of manila until today.  But in a way Metro Manila is in a way finding a way not to be left out by other countries. They are finding a way to make new landscapes similar to other places in other countries. It is very depressing to see that the potential of manila has not been not been achieve to its fullest. It is such a waste seeing the spaces looking like that when basically it can look a lot better. It really has the potential to be one of the most successful cities in the world. The Roads that used to be beautiful is now nothing but a memory. The bay’s that used to have that beautiful view of the clean water and fresh air now filled with garbage and squatter settlers. EDSA is also a very historic place in manila. It used to be one of the most beautiful spot in metro manila before but now all of that was gone with its concrete overpasses and traffics everywhere. It is such a waste. The fresh air that used to come from the river now smells like crap because of the garbage of the unwanted settlers there.  The places where once consider to be beautiful in manila now a distant memory. The city of manila supposedly was designed to have wide spaces for boulevards and green spaces and neo-colonial architecture. Who would have thought that? Right? The buildings in Ortigas and Makati is filled with post modern buildings. With its colourful buildings. With its columns and massive volumes. Its amazing actually how they cope somehow the cityscape of Singapore somehow. With Its skyscrapers and all that. You could see that the Architects really strive to not be left out. But also one of the reasons why many buildings in Metro manila are post modern, Is could be because of the architects. Architects during post modernism era acquired this   kind of style. Until this time Architects somehow applies this kind of postmodernism design. Streets that used to have many trees beside it was design in classical style. Even if it is surrounded by many tall building and most of the trees are gone and replaced by city lights somehow It shows that metro manila in some way has improved. There is also the Manila metropolitan theatre. It showed an art-deco piece with gilded statues, grillwork of birds of paradise and stained glass. There is also as Mehan garden, a botanical garden during the Spanish colonial period. There is the rizal park is the only standing park from the past until the present time also this is where the Filipino national hero was executed, Dr. Jose Rizal. Many of the people appreciates this kind of architecture.  Metro Manila is truly a museum. The resident in manila unconsciously is adopting the post modern characteristics in their own house or buildings. Their expressing what they like and adopting what they see from different places and adding this features to their own making their house or building post moder-ish. It is kind of convenient for them I think because they have the freedom to do whatever to their house not caring about what their neighbours would say. Manila is really filled with post modern buildings.  Many buildings have come and go. I’ve remember what john L. Silva said that every building destroyed to build new one loses one part of its history. We lose something that explains who we are as a nation, who we are from the past. Where we came from and where we are going. How we live, how we adopt and more.  Some also until today remain standing but its natural purpose today was not used. But it is just for tourist and historical purposes. That also adds the post modern effect to the city of manila. Old remains and new enters. They were mixed together. After the destruction of World War II. The manila kind of started from the beginning. In order to save money the used of used materials became prominent throughout all the building also to save money that is why they recycled the materials. It’s quite impressive for the architects to think in that way. When everything is down they found a way, a solution to their problems. That is also I think why post modern spread into the city of manila until today. I think until today they used recyclable materials to save money all what is needed is creativity.

Well of course roaming and observing the metro manila is a different experience. Seeing the catastrophe that has happen to the city of manila. But it’s not all bad.  I think that is the reason why we are here.  That is the reason why we, students of architecture are here. We are studying the –isms. Of architecture. The styles so that we could fix what has been destroyed and end this chaotic way of architecture. I’m not saying it’s bad but I believe we can do better. We can make this city to achieve its fullest potential. Of course it will be hard and it takes time but We can. Now at our time which everything is possible. If you ask me if I love Metro Manila? I think with its museum like landscape. It’s alright. I love it. Because even if our building is mostly post modern I can see that the Filipino architects is trying their best to cope to new ways to make it better. They realize that Metro manila has that potential, as I was keep repeating from the start, to be the best or at least one of the best cities. We can have our own style of architecture. I think we have the capability to have one. Post Modernism is not a bad thing. I think it is made especially for freedom of expression and the wants for self satisfaction.

Doing this critique made me see what I don’t see. It made me appreciate what we once have, what we have and what we can have. It made me realize how lucky we are to have a city like metro manila but we did not appreciate what we have until its gone. Now we are in a city full of post modern building. We are in a city were all styles are used. We are the ones to blame why this catastrophe happened to our city but this also made me realize that we can also be the solution to our problem. We should think about what we build and just not for the sake of building but to the sake of contributing what we learn to our natural practice as architects. I am proud to those architects whose trying their best to fix what has been broken, to regain what has been lost. I also took ten photographs of building and house in which  I think is a post modern in a sense that it shows different styles of architecture. In a way it shows the freedom of expression on it. And shows that it has used many colours. It may have been very literal but I think that is what post modernism is.  I only took ten pictures but the city of metro manila is filled with many post modern buildings surrounding its environment. I can say this really helps me.