Skyscrapers in the City of Manila

Skyscrapers in the Philippines. Do you agree that skyscrapers today are taking over our city? Do you think that this is a good thing for us or a bad thing? Does this show power and improvement of our city? Or this is just for show? Do we need this or simply just to say that we have our own? So many questions in my mind that eventually will have an answer as I, myself explore the city of manila to observe our skyscrapers. For me personally I kind of agree that today, skyscrapers are taking over our city. Because today basically everywhere you look you will see that there is a tall building not only one but many. It is as if they are trying to compete to each other for example like who has the taller building, which has more power, which has a bigger empire. Yes you heard me right. For me a skyscraper symbolizes power and it is like an empire. Every place especially in some places like Makati city, ortigas city etc. you will see different skyscrapers different heights and different styles. It is amazing how they built that, how much money and effort and of course the time that they give to such buildings. I think that in the future there will be more skyscrapers that will be built possibly I think all the building will be all skyscrapers. With what I am seeing right now that is not impossible. Also for a fact that today many skyscraper buildings are being built what more in the future right. Having a skyscraper in our city has its up and down side. It is bad because not like normal buildings, it take a long time to be built. In needs a lot of money. More money than the usual. It is so expensive. Not only that also because if there is a fire on top of the building it will be very hard for the people to go down and for the firemen to stop the fire. What if there is an earthquake? It will be too late for the people on the top of a skyscraper to go down. With that height I doubt they will survive. Although today there are skyscrapers that are being build and had been built to withstand an earthquake you cannot be so sure that it will not collapse. I can also say that a skyscraper is not for everybody. For example it is not for people who have a fear for heights. But enough about the downside let us see what the up side of a skyscrapers. What the good thing about skyscrapers is it helps us use more space. It made use of the space from the lot upward which very convenient. Business building and condominiums are perfect examples of it. Also more skyscrapers kind of show the power of our city. Although there are more higher skyscrapers in other countries such as in new York, united states. The Philippines is trying its best not to be left behind by this powerful countries which is for me is not a bad thing but a good attitude of the Filipino people. They are striving hard to improve our country and they are trying their best. Many building in Makati are skyscrapers. It is the business capital of the Philippines. For me I believe that more skyscraper building means more opportunities for many people. In business it means more jobs for the people in residences like hotels and condominiums it means more opportunities to live in a safe and luxurious place of course for a reasonable price. Not just that I think that skyscraper in the city of manila has history in it6. Somehow it tells who we are and what we are capable of doing. Skyscrapers here in manila I think most of it is very post modernist in a sense that it has many styles compiled in one. Different architectural styles like gothic, Romanesque and many more. So you see there are many good things that a skyscraper here in manila can contribute to our living. For me skyscrapers show power and wealth of a company or a person. Here in the Philippines many skyscrapers are owned by some of the richest people. In architectural relation, for me also it shows power because of its tall height you will really have to put your heads up just to see the whole thing. When I see a huge building that I like I really admired it a lot. I always want to go inside and roam around the place. I also want to go to the rooftop to see the whole city or its surroundings. I feel relaxed with the air caressing my skin. In a way I feel powerful being in that very high position. In a way it gives you authority.  I think that is what a skyscraper really likes the people in it to feel. To feel powerful and above than other. Roaming the city and seeing how much development really had surprised me. I was like a little ant compared to the gigantic buildings that surrounds me. In a it makes me proud to be here in manila. Because seeing this skyscrapers around the city. It really shows that a Filipino and the Philippines has more potential that it can imagine. It shows were not outdated and we can be a better country, a better society if we just believe and work hard. I cannot say that we do not have our own style in building skyscrapers for now. But that is the reason why students today are studying and learning the art of architecture. I know that in the future we will have our own style that we can be proud of. The start of the skyscrapers only shows that our city is improving because from the past years the skyscrapers are not that common in our city. I believe that the availabity of the materials also influence this kind of building types to be made because from the past years I think the materials to build skyscrapers were not that easy to acquire and the machineries needed was not invented yet. But now we have all the resources that we need are all in the tip of our hands. All we need is use them it is now easier and faster I guess that is also another reason why skyscrapers here in our city had evolved. I think that it is just a big waste when they are destroying old building to make a new one because every time they destroy that they also destroy one part of our history which is very important but I cannot blame them because I know that they are only doing this such things because this is for the greater good of our city of our country. We are going to make new history with this new buildings. Well back to the building. Have seen many skyscrapers in my life and I can say that the skyscrapers here in the city of manila is not the best. But I consider it better than others. If you are looking for a place in the Philippine, in manila particularly, where you can see skyscraper I would recommend you to go to Makati. Makati City is the Philippine's main business area. Most of the biggest global companies operating in the country locate their head offices in the city. It's dense skyline, a smaller version compared to New York's, is the most organized and gorgeous looking among the business districts in the country and is being rivaled by Mandaluyong City's Ortigas Business District, Manila's romantic bayside skyline and the newly emerging Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. You can see all within Metro Manila. It is a really different feeling if you go there to experience the high grossing building there. Of course there are skyscraper outside the Makati area. I have a list of some skyscrapers located here in the Philippines. The first one is The Philippine bank of communication or commonly known as the PBCom tower. It is the tallest skyscraper here in the Philippines until today. it is a 52 storey building it is in Makati and was built in the year 2000. Another is the Tower of power, it is the Transmitter of GMA Network,237 meter high. tallest man-made structure in the Philippines until the completion of PBCom Tower. It is located in Quezon City. In the same area is the transmitter of the ABS-CBN Network. The competition of GMA Network. I am talking about the Millenium transmitter, a 228 meter high building built in the year 1969. The year the building was built really shows the improvement of the building. It gets higher and higher as the years past. Next is the GT International Tower located also in Makati buil in the year 2001 and 47-storey high building a beautiful skyscraper that will truly get your attention. The St. Francis Shangrila Place in mandaluyong built in the year 2009, a very new building. A 60-storey building. And currently the country’s tallest residential and twin tower. If you’ve seen this building you will notice that it really stands out because of its humongous size. Even in Mandaluyong City you can see the improvements through time. Next in our list is the Petron Megaplaza in Makati a 45-storey building built in the year 1998. It is the former tallest building in the Philippines. It is a very beautiful skyscraper built with glass. I think it is gorgeous. The Union Bank Plaza in Pasig. A 49-storey building built in the year 2004. It is the tallest building in the Pasig district. Then there is the Golden Empire Tower which is the tallest building in manila. Was built on 2002 and is a 57-storey building. This building for me shows real power. It is very interesting. The One Corporate Centre in Pasig. A 45-storey building and was built on the year 2009. For me this building is different because unlike others, this building is not that edgy because of its smooth sides that gives a beautiful effect. The BSA Twin Tower in Mandaluyong. Was finished at the year 2000, it is a 55-storey building formerly the tallest twin towers in the Philippines. I think it is a simple twin tower with pointy roofs. The Pacific Plaza towers in Taguig. This skyscraper is currently the tallest building in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig city.For me this building really shocked me. It really got my attention with its very futuristic look. It is really an eye candy. The Robinson Equitable Tower. It is the former tallest building in the Philippines in the year 1998. It is a 45-storey building. Pretty much the highest building at that time. Most common use for skyscrapers are condominiums, residential. Until today many condominiums, dorms, apartments are being done because of our growing population one way to solve this is make use of all the available spaces that we can use.

Over all conclusion to what I have learned. I learned that skyscrapers help us in our lives and it shows the evolution of our country not only our country but the evolution of our lifestyle. It makes us proud that we were able to build this kind of tall gigantic buildings in our city. We may not have the tallest and the most grandeur skyscraper but I can say that we are not left out and we have skyscraper buildings of our own. My observation gave me answers to my questions. It helped me appreciate the small and big things that we have. I had a great time exploring the city looking for skyscrapers that I can say really is outstanding for me. I hope that someday when I finished my course Architecture, I will be given an opportunity to design and build a skyscraper that I can be proud of and the all people will never forget.

Photos of Skyscrapers in Manila: