MANILA, Philippines - The informative book “Balangkas,” recently published by heritage experts who form the Committee on Monuments and Sites of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, includes a glossary of historic Philippine architectural styles that clarifies the origins and meanings of commonly used stylistic terms.

“Balangkas” points out that, in the Philippines, rarely were structures built in a single, integrated style; therefore, “it would be more prudent to be careful in describing buildings, not by alluding to styles, but by pointing out the various stylistic elements present in parts of the buildings.”

An example would be a Spanish colonial church with touches of the Baroque in its interior but whose façade may have been rebuilt with Neoclassical features.

Excerpts from the book are the definitions of some styles that appear in different eras of Philippine architecture:

Terms

Arquitecturamestiza—Used during the late 17th century by the Jesuit Ignacio Alcina to describe houses built partly of wood and partly of stone in the Visayas that combine both Philippine and Spanish elements in both architecture and construction. This is a better term than “Spanish house” to designate this mixed style that was common throughout 18th- and 19th-century Philippines.

Art Deco—Beginning in the 1920s, Art Deco consciously strove to link artistic manifestations with the machine age through industrial-looking smooth concrete, metal surfaces, geometric shapes and stylized natural forms. Prominent examples are the Perez-Samanillo Building and the Metropolitan Theater in Manila; municipal halls of Jaro; Iloilo, and Sariyaya, Quezon.

Art Noveau—Beginning in 19th-century Belgium as a style that sought to be independent of anything from the past by introducing flowing, nature-inspired forms and ornamentation, the movement spread throughout Europe as a reaction to increasing industrialization and the era’s preoccupation with reviving previous classical architectural styles. Notable examples are the De los Santos House in Malolos, Bulacan, and the Uy-Chaco Building in Binondo, Manila.

Baguio Colonial—During the American colonial era, especially between 1900 and 1940, traditional New England wood construction became popular in Baguio, the only American-built Hill Town in the Philippines laid out by the American planner Daniel Burnham in the Benguet mountains, where pine forests sheltered white-painted clapboard-sided houses, recreational and government buildings had wide window frames painted green. Brent School and a few cottages at Teachers Camp in Baguio are the few surviving examples of this endangered style.

Baroque—An art style flourishing in 17th- and 18th-century Europe that opposed the rationalism of the Renaissance which preceded it. It fused architecture, painting and sculpture in settings of constant movement. In the Philippines, the Baroque manifests in religious architecture from the Spanish colonial era only through decorative elements, most prominently seen in façades and altarpieces. Outstanding Baroque-influenced church façades are in Miag-ao, Iloilo, and Paoay, Ilocos Norte, both inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Chinese elements—The Chinese origins of the freestanding, eight-sided, pagoda-like belfries, horse-back roof and use of cutwork wooden tracery on interior walls are evident in Philippine architecture.

Churriguresque—Derived from a family of Spanish architects surnamed Churriguerra, who lent their name to a type of Baroque characterized by exuberant decoration and ornamentation that covered entire areas of space and left nothing blank, a style popular in Spain and Latin America from the late 17th century to the early 18th century. The façade of San Juan de Sahagun Church in Tigbauan, Iloilo, is an example.

Earthquake Baroque—A term introduced by historian Pal Kelemen (1961) for structures in Central America exhibiting Baroque elements framed within an architecture of squat outlines, thick walls and massive buttresses, an adaptation to the frequent earthquakes. The same term was later used to describe similar church structures in the Philippines, especially seen in Paoay Church, Ilocos Norte, which is inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Next week, more glossary terms.

“Balangkas” is available at the NCCA, General Luna Street, Intramuros, Manila. Call 5272192, fax 5272191, e-mail info@ncca.gov.ph.

Patis Tesoro demo

Patis Tesoro will demonstrate how to wear traditional Filipiniana clothing on Aug. 9, 2 p.m., at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

The affair is in connection with the exhibit, “The Art of Piña: Postura,” which features Tesoro’s traditional Philippine weaving and fabrics along with Romulo Galicano’s portraits.

Call 5230613 or e-mail info@metmuseum. ph

E-mail the author at pride.place@gmail.com.