Postmodern Architecture Pictures

Postmodernism Architecture in the Philippines

We were given an assignment in our THEDES2 class (Theory of Design 2) to observe and look for postmodern architecture buildings in manila, and critique how these buildings formed the city. While I was looking for postmodern buildings in Manila, I’ve observed that most of the buildings are in art nouveau and neo-classical style. While in Makati, almost all the buildings are in international and brutalism style. But in Taguig, particularly Fort Bonifacio Global City, I’ve noticed that most of the buildings are built in postmodern and international style.

Postmodern architecture came about because of modernity’s too formal and rigid style. The style is informal and playful. It rejects all modernism’s formalism and rawness in design. I can say that this style of architecture is about freedom of ones expression in art and as it is translated in architecture, it becomes more unique. 

The structures of postmodernism architecture in the Philippines are mainly commercial buildings, malls, and condominiums. Postmodern architecture is always very striking that’s why I think it becomes a big asset for commercial businesses to use this style in their structures. On the other hand, Filipinos are very conservative when it comes to family that’s why Postmodern architecture is not well used in designing homes. 

Fort Bonifacio Global City is a well urbanized rising city of Metro Manila. It is located near Makati and is said to be an extension of Makati City. It is a beautiful and well-planned city. And in a few years now, I can say that it can be compared to Singapore or Hong Kong’s successful cities. The city is filled with condominiums, malls and commercial buildings. And they all fit accordingly. Everything is in context with each other. The buildings are differently designed but blended beautifully with all other buildings. The city is clean and well organized. 

Fort Bonifacio High Street is I think one of the most prominent postmodern building in The Fort. Actually, it looked like a group of smaller buildings connected as one. Every shop had their freedom to design their own building according to their own theme. I think that is an idea of a postmodern style; a mixture of different styles and still blending perfectly together. The rail walks and park also made a huge impact to building, making it an interactive place for children and adults. The spaces creates different feeling and the volumes varied from shop to shop. Just across the street is the Serendra which is very much like Bonfacio High Street but more elegant and wit. This place is really nice and it has different spaces that makes the place unique and interesting. The shops and residences are built with different colors and textures. It also reminded me of piazzas that can be seen in Italy because of the fountains and spaces where people can walk.  

Another building that I find extraordinarily postmodern is the Starbucks at the Fort. Starbucks, as we all know, has its own theme applied to its  architecture. But not this one. The two-story structure is uniquely built using indigenous and modern materials. What makes this building postmodern is basically its materials and how it was used. It reminded me of the “bahay na bato” because of the windows and balcony and also the stairs. The exterior is profoundly suggesting a brutalism inspired design but inside it exhibits Philippine indigenous materials like capiz, bamboo and narra. Inside you could feel the warmth and at the same time the feeling of being at home. Even the tables and chairs has a touch of Philippine materials. It also exhibits paintings of Filipino people. The air ducts, although contrasting with indigenous materials, gives a style of a postmodern architecture. This Starbucks also has a drive thru having also a design of Philippine’s bahay na bato. The capiz window-like was used with the use of steel. 

BGC at the Fort, like Fort Bonifacio High Street, is a combination of different bars and restaurants. It also gave each restaurant the freedom of designing their own structure. Gourdo’s Cafe and shop is really a great example of a postmodern structure. The facade, where the cafe is has playful colors, shapes and volumes. The combination of different planes and volumes perfectly made it postmodern in style. The varying volumes of pots made it more lively. The main door also gives an effect of a tall door because of its continuity and similarity to the high windows. On the other side, where you enter the shop, the facade has different colors and volumes. The interior of the structure is almost modern but what makes it different is the use of blind arcade as shelves and door. I think what postmodern implies in architecture is that it is not wrong to ruin the axis, that colors can be differently paired with other colors, that volumes can rather be different from one another, and we can mix everything together as long as they blend in with the use and user of the building. Another postmodern structure there is the Ristorante Italiano L’Opera. This structure is renaissance architecture inspired. This is completely postmodern design because it brought back the renaissance style with the use of modern materials and other modern features like glass, colors and roof. Next is the Amber Ultra Lounge which is basically a black box covered with gold abstract shape on the entrance. What makes this building postmodern in design is the inequality and contrasting colors, yet it evokes something more. It makes you want to go inside and it gets your attention intentionally. Another building is the Craft Pub Grill. Again, the building is classical in design but uses modern characteristics like in material and colors. The use of color red in the entrance is contrasting against the pale background, but then, it makes the building unique and grandeur. The Scarlet Wine Lounge and Katsu Japanese Grill is two different restaurants but blended well with one another. The Scarlet’s varying lines coexisted in the Katsu Japanese Grill. The Katsu features a well ordered lines contrasting to Scarlet’s chaotic lines. But these two structures was well combined with each other. 

Another example of a postmodern structure in the fort is the mini cooper shop or simply mini.  Mini is well known for mini cooper cars. And the building itself looks like mini because of the huge text of “mini” in the facade. Another prominent element in the building is a mini cooper car placed on the wall. Postmodern design can be seen with the use of elements and colors in the mini cooper building. The interior has also display of mini cooper  roofs and logo.

The 32nd and fifth is another postmodern building at the Fort. It contains different planes and volumes. But inside it is very skeletal. The form is I think postmodern because of its different texture and materials. It also has different colors but again, blending well with glass. The other building beside it is the HSBC which also is a postmodern in style. With the use of its red theme, the building also made us of red lines to emphasize the building and the being of its name.

Another postmodern building is the St. Luke’s Medical Center. The building is postmodern because of the its different volumes. On the entrance, you would find marble balls that creates more dramatic entrance. And the ramp on the right side is somewhat maze-like. It has playful elements outside and inside. Breaking the axis also made this building different because it creates more beautiful and useful spaces. The hospital didn’t really looked like an hospital which I guess made this building very successful.  

The f1 City Center is also a great example of a postmodern building. It has different volumes. The largest volume is the tower and down below, is the vast foundation where the tower lies. It has varying design of rectangular shapes and lines. The color is also differently applied. It has also different texture and materials. But overall, the building looks unique and playful. 

Postmodern Architecture in the Philippines is becoming more successful because the people who use this type of architecture creates a marketing strategy to promote what they are selling and what they want the consumers to feel. Postmodern can really be good in economy but not always. Postmodern has also its downfall. Postmodern can really be too playful and representation. However, this type of architecture is very well adapted by Filipinos. Filipinos are very much capable of adapting. They adapt quickly but not entirely. Postmodernism is all about freedom. Freedom in terms of volumes, colors and materials. And altogether becomes more useful and active buildings. And Filipinos fought for their freedom. The way we build postmodern is also like being free. Because we break rules; rules that inappropriate, rules that makes our building boring and the same from any other buildings. Also, postmodern is like living at ease. That we should not think of what people think of us but to think of what we should do in order for us to live. 

THEDES MIDTERM

 Brutalism

"Leukemia"

This structure represents hospital bed. I made it layered 3 times because it connotes the hardship and struggle my family felt. From a small bed, it becomes larger because it becomes harder. The brutality of this structure is seen through the volumes of rectangular prisms. It also seems to be floating because brutalism suggests the floating of huge volumes.

 High Tech

This structure represents what I felt that time. I was desperate and completely down. I was numb and I didn't cared about what was happening at school. I felt alone in the middle of the chaotic world outside my walls. I was pretending okay, but I wasn't. This structure also connotes high tech architecture because in high tech, everything happens outside so the inside could have flexible and larger space.

Modernism

This is how I represent what I felt when I first heard the news. I was at first calm, hence the horizontal cube. And then I felt really shocked, hence the vertical cube. Modernism Architecture is all about straightforwardness and consistency of structures. It is about honesty and simplicity. It really shows that "form follows function".

CCP Pictures

Cultural Center of the Philippines

The Cultural Center of the Philippines or simply the CCP is one great example of a brutalist architecture style of building in Manila. Brutalism in architecture could be defined as buildings that are massively built with the prevalent use of concrete. The CCP, as I have noticed, consists of five main parts; the base, the ramp, the cantilevered, the rear and the fountain.

The base is the largest portion of the building where the minor entrances could be found. It’s made of massive concrete. It was also used to elevate the whole structure. It holds everything together as the main support. It has simple design; vertical extruded lines that creates the rawness and masculinity of the building. It also creates depth and shadows. Its quite dramatic because individuals that would enter here could see and touch it. The texture is rough and rigid as well. It is concrete in color too, most likely a shade of gray. The base can hardly be seen in the front facade making it look like floating. It plays the largest part of making it look like float because it supports everything together. 

The ramp is where the vehicles go that leads to the main entrance. It is immensely made of concrete as well, but vey flexible in terms of the form. The form is a semi-circle in shape, that symbolizes a welcoming embrace to the guests. It is very fluid and overwhelming as well. It evokes salutation and hospitality to the guests because of extravagant welcome it connotes. The texture is smooth and the color is concrete. It is very practical of its use. Aside from its use as a ramp for vehicles, people from all walks of life could experience walking or jogging here. Every morning and afternoon, many do go here and jog with their friends and families. 

The cantilevered is the part of the building that is overhanging. Its purpose is to roof the entrance and gives a larger space inside. The texture is smooth. It is plain and lucid yet it gives the momentum of the building. It creates depth and dramatic feeling being under it. It also creates a beautiful shadow down, where the entrance is. The design is simple but effective. It can be designed and redesigned depending on how you want to design it. Last Christmas, It’s design really blended well with the building. And it gives the building more attention and life. It also accentuate the overall structure because of the prominence it gives to the entrance. 

The rear is the back part of the building. It is where the hidden parts of the building is; the backstage and offices. It is huge and made out of concrete. It has windows that are made from steel that creates accent to it. It is rectangular in shape and has a color of concrete as well. It also holds the highest level of the structure where it is visible in the front facade. That small portion of the building made the CCP more interesting than ever. It may be small, but that creates illusion of how the building is assembled to many different volumes. The play of volumes can be really seen from any angle of the building. It has different volumes and shapes. It also made the whole structure rigid and at the same time fluid.

The cultural fountain is also one of the great features of the CCP. Its shape is round and flexible. It blends well with the ramp and water. It really makes sense that when there is an event, this fountain is alive, and when there is none, it isn’t. Its really making the CCP alive and cooler. It gives the CCP the attention it should have. The fountain also creates dazzling movements and light during night. The play of colorful lights made it really cultural and artistic.

Inside CCP, is a huge space divided into smaller spaces. These smaller spaces creates unique feeling because of how lights played inside. Windows are minimal but the spaces provided passage way for light. When I entered it from the ground I first noticed the extravagance use of concrete with beams, posts and staircases. It was dark inside but the small passage way of light from the staircase creates a dramatic feeling of walking up, knowing that the next level would be a different place. And yes, it is. The main area is well-lighted and has high ceiling. The chandelier is very striking as well. The red carpet and marble floor tiles also signifies power and authority. The wooden door of the main entrance to the theatre also is a piece of artwork itself. Artworks that are allover the building also creates focus and attention because of the neutral color of the building. The walls are thick and rough. I also have noticed the narrow escalator that really feels like being in a vacuum and later on be released to a huge space. The hallways are also wide. You can also view from the upper level what is happening in the ground. The highest level also has an open space enclosed with glass and gives beautiful lighting and shadows. 

   

I’ve noticed four prevalent materials; concrete, wood, glass and steel. The use of concrete is consistent throughout the whole building. Outside it is purely concrete, but inside is a combination of different materials. Wood was used as doors, walls and ceiling. Glass was used as windows and walls as well. Steel was used as frame of the glass. All of them worked beautifully together because everything blends well with concrete. 

The CCP itself speaks for itself. It is well shown on how it was built. It is a kind of building that is very representational of its use and the people who use it. The Cultural Center of the Philippines always remained as how Filipinos are as a culture and what culture the Philippines has. The building is immensely powerful, consistent and well balanced. And this building shows what filipino values and cultures they have. It is a representation of what Filipinos are. The entrance symbolizes the Filipino values of hospitality. The fountain symbolizes the life of Filipinos, Filipinos are lively and can outshine the rest. The small windows represents privacy and intimacy between their families.The way it was built represents that Filipinos are strong and independent. And the magnificent artworks and exciting features of the CCP symbolizes that Filipinos have different talents inside them, that Filipinos are unique from different nationality.

Experience of SDA Building

Treehouse Concept

A treehouse is a place where kids use to play  or to hide whenever they're scolded. It is a place where kids feel most comfortable because they're alone with their toys or sometimes with their friends. But tree houses are not just for kids. It's a place where you could interact with nature. It's a hideout place where you could feel at peace and retreat with the breathtaking surrounding. It blends with nature but most importantly it's nature friendly.

We were asked to design a treehouse for our design class. I felt really excited about it, because I really dreamt of having my own treehouse when I was young. My concept for my treehouse is a light bulb. I chose this to be the concept because light symbolizes life as well as the tree symbolizes life. Light also is a manifestation of  enlightenment and ideas. My working concepts are illuminance, shine, bright, noticeable, round and bloated. When I translated it in my design, I thought of using materials like glass, steel and probably wood. I also thought that it shouldn't be so closed like an actual light bulb but again, glass would be used for protection against rain. I think that it should be very open so you could feel the tree and nature. I also thought that I should use a spiral staircase to represent the bulb light's insulation or sleeve. When a person enter my treehouse, I want them to feel in touch with the tree. Because that is its main use; to live and feel the connection between a home and a tree. Moreover, I want my treehouse to stand out. Because light signifies focus and attention. I would use the shape of a bulb which is round so that it could shelter the tree because trees are basically round. The floor plan would be circular and it would be encircling the tree as well. It would be an open floor plan so that the tree could breathe and the air could enter the house. It would have a second floor which I could turn into a room. But it will just be a loft since I am limiting my tree house with walls. There would also be a bathroom and kitchen. So the space I've provided will be a living space where you could feel at home and free from all the noise of the city.