One of the more famous structures built during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines was the Ocampo Pagoda Mansion. This mansion in Quiapo, Manila, Philippines looks like a pagoda with a three-storey structure with a seven-storey tower at the northwestern corner. The vision of the design was a Japanese castle. This mansion was commissioned by Jose Mariano Ocampo on the eve of Japanese invasion in the Philippines in 1936 -1941…
One of the Chinese influences in the built environment of the Philippines are shophouses. They are usually found in Chinatowns in almost every major city in the Philippines. A shophouses is a building type that is both a commercial as well as a residential place. Usually the commercial space is at the bottom while the residential units are at the top of the building. These types of houses became a…
The Binanwa house of the Ata Paquibato tribe features a roof decoration called Manok-Manok. True to its name, it resembles the head of a chicken, and the feature is usually associated with the house of the datu. The manok-manok usually tells the story of the number of feuds won for the tribe by its datu. “Ata” is a name for a group of a cultural community referring to those who…
The Astana Darul Jambangan or the Palace of Flowers was the palace of the Sultanate of Sulu based in Maimbung, Sulu, Philippines. Destroyed by a typhoon in 1932, this architectural gem is believed to be the largest royal palace in the Philippines. Astana are royalty houses of the Tausug Moro Cultural Community which are believed to have originated in Astanah Putih, in Umbul Duwa in the municipality of Indanan on…
Miradors are small rooms at a tower located at the highest floor of the house and used as a lookout. You have seen this before, especially in older houses. It’s usually topped by a weather vane, and marked with a letter O, which stands for ‘oeste,’ Spanish for west. The mirador is an element in older architecture tracing back to the earlier days when castles had turrets or lookout towers…
Whether this image of an old-school kitchen sink and dish rack evokes memories of your childhood or your dread of washing dishes, you would not believe the cultural influence of this architectural feature. In one study, proponents noted how some residents living in low-cost medium rise housing projects still converted a portion of their house to accommodate the area for washing and drying dishes. In Philippine theater set designs, the…
The history of Philippine plumbing pails in comparison–We’re not kidding, the etymology of the word ‘kubeta’ comes from a crude and early system of flushing the toilet, and refers to the initial device used to do so. Cubeta apparently refers to the Spanish term for the pail or bucket. In 1902, the American colonizers introduced the use of the toilet via a pail conservancy system. This was known as the…
Despite the historical and cultural effects of architecture on Filipino homes, there is nothing quite as charming as having one’s own dirty kitchen upon which to prepare home-cooked meals. The dirty kitchen or ‘abuhan’ brings back so many memories, too. For those of us who love to cook, the dirty kitchen was our teacher: it taught us how to make our own fire, including the art form of the proper…
The Mandaya house is wholly made of carefully selected bamboo flattened into slats and held together by horizontal bamboo strips or a rattan. Ascent to this single room with a small kitchen area is through a removable single-notched trunk of a tree. Traditionally, its elevated floor line served as one of the safety measures against attacks of other ethnic groups in the periphery of Davao Oriental. These warring conditions made…
Verandahs sit at a peculiar location in homes such as indigenous homes, bungalows and modern-day houses. It is part of the house but not quite, despite roofing. It is outside, but not there yet. It is within the property, but there is a much, much more private space indoors. These open-air galleries are usually enclosed with railings and are often located at the fronts and sides of homes. The word…
