Francisco "Bobby" Tronqued Mañosa (12 February 1931 – 20 February 2019) was a Filipino architect considered one of the most influential Filipino architects of the 20th century for having pioneered the art of Philippine neovernacular architecture. His contributions to the development of Philippine architecture led to his recognition as a National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture in 2018. Although he was popularly known as the architect of the

Coconut Palace Coconut Palace, also known as Tahanang Pilipino (), is a government building located in the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Manila, Philippines. It was the official residence and the principal workplace of the vice president of th ...

, his other notable works include the

EDSA Shrine The Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace, Our Lady of EDSA, or more popularly, the EDSA Shrine is a small church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila located at the intersection of Ortigas Avenue and Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Bara ...

, the Mary Immaculate Parish (Nature's Church) in Las Piñas, the Davao Pearl Farm, and Amanpulo resorts. Mañosa devoted his life's work to creating a Filipino identity in architecture, advocating design philosophies that harken "back to the

bahay kubo The ''bahay kubo'', also known as ''payag'' (Nipon) in the Visayan languages and, is a type of stilt house indigenous to the Philippines. It often serves as an icon of Philippine culture. The house is exclusive to the lowland population of ...

and the

bahay na bato ''Bahay na bato'' (Tagalog, literally "house of stone", also known in Visayan as ''balay na bato'' or ''balay nga bato; in Spanish as Casa Filipino'') is a type of building originating during the Philippines' Spanish colonial period. It is an ...

,” and other traditional vernacular forms. Mañosa became known for combining these traditional forms and indigenous materials with modern building technology to create structures which he felt were those best suited to the Philippines' tropical climate.

Early life and education

Mañosa was born in

Manila, Philippines Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

on 12 February 1931, growing up in a genteel neighborhood on Azcarraga Street (later renamed Recto Avenue). His parents were María Tronqued, one of the early actresses of Philippine Cinema, and Manuel Mañosa Sr., a Harvard-educated sanitary engineer who was director of the

Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

from 1947 to 1955. Nicknamed "Bobby" in the American-inspired fashion of the era, he played

jazz piano Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

and initially wanted a career in music, but studied architecture at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...

on the insistence of his father.

Career

Mañosa was known for his advocacy of what has been called "Philippine neovernacular architecture." His design aesthetic incorporated Philippine design motifs and local materials such as coconut and local

hardwoods Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

Inspiration from Japan

Mañosa spent a year in Japan immediately after his graduation from college, because his father insisted that he spend "at least one year somewhere in the world" Mañosa opted to go to Japan, which had also inspired architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

. He was struck by the way that Japanese architecture reflected a consistent design which drew from Japanese culture, regardless of how elaborate the building was, or whether it was traditional and modern. His wife Denise, whom he married at around this time, recounts that this experience inspired Mañosa to pursue a design aesthetic with a similar consistency, reflective of Filipino culture.

Inspiration from the Bahay Kubo

Upon coming home from Japan, Mañosa began working in the family architectural firm, Mañosa Brothers, with his brothers Manuel Jr. and José. But he began insisting that he take on projects that were Filipino in design, rather than the

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

or International style buildings that were in vogue at the time. Mañosa developed a modern architectural style whose touchstone was the traditional Filipino square house, the ''

''. He used indigenous materials and experimented with new technologies so that it would be usable in a modern context. Philippine architecture historian Gerard Lico describes Mañosa's style, saying:

"His approach to traditional design is based on the ability of the architect to identify the essential building elements and to translate them into a contemporary image. His architecture is not a mere mechanical mimicry of vernacular architecture, which many would think to be locked in time. He initiated a contemporary mode that uses and revitalizes the knowledge from previous generations, recovering age-old constructive methods and finishing materials, emphasizing their optical and thermal qualities.”

Among his ''bahay kubo''-inspired works are the stations of Manila Light Rail Transit Line 1 network.

Breakthrough: San Miguel Corporation Headquarters Building

Mañosa's breakthrough as an architect happened while he was still working at Mañosa Brothers, when the firm was hired to design the new headquarters of

San Miguel Corporation San Miguel Corporation, abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally founded i ...

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 425,758 people. Loca ...

. The brothers designed a building which was inspired by the Banaue rice terraces, with “

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

” design features which were ahead of the times.

The Coconut Palace

Mañosa's insitance on only taking on projects with a Filipino identity eventually led him to leave Mañosa Brothers and put up his own firm. Because he had built up his name designing the San Miguel Corporation headquarters, he was asked by

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the dictato ...

to build the "Tahanang Pilipino" (lit. Filipino home, often referred to as the

), within the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex. The project became controversial, because the opulent design was paid for with government funds and was soon cited as a prominent example of Marcos'

Edifice Complex The term "edifice complex" was coined in the 1970s to describe Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos' practice of using publicly funded construction projects as political and election propaganda. Built with a Brutalist architectural style, perhap ...

excesses. The palace was completed in time for

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

's visit in 1981 for the beatification of

Lorenzo Ruiz Lorenzo Ruiz ( fil, Lorenzo Ruiz ng Maynila; zh, link=no, 李樂倫; es, link=no, Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila; November 28, 1594 – September 29, 1637), also called Saint Lorenzo of Manila, is a Filipino saint venerated in the Catholic Church. ...

. Mrs Marcos invited him to stay at the newly constructed palace, but the offer was declined by the Pope because it was too opulent given the level of poverty in the Philippines. But it eventually became a guest house for celebrity visitors of the Marcoses until they were deposed and exiled by the civilian-backed

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of c ...

in 1986. Although the controversy and the relative disuse of the building since its construction, the Coconut Palace has come to be recognized as one of the most prominent examples of Philippine neovernacular architecture, and made Mañosa a highly-sought-after artist.

The EDSA Shrine

After the Marcoses were sent into exile in 1986,

Jaime Cardinal Sin Jaime Lachica Sin ( zh, t=辛海梅, 辛海棉, poj=Sin Hái-mûi, Sin Hái-mî; August 31, 1928 – June 21, 2005), commonly and formally known as Jaime Cardinal Sin, was the 30th Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila and the third cardinal fro ...

of the

Archdiocese of Manila In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

began conceiving of a shrine that would celebrate the

which had deposed them. Cardinal Sin's appeal for people to rally in the streets had played a pivotal role in assuring that the uprising succeeded without the need for bloodshed, and Philippines' large Catholic majority characterized its success a "miracle." So the Cardinal approached Mañosa about designing a shrine commemorating the event. Mañosa had first proposed a completely different design for the shrine, above-ground and based on the ''bahay kubo''. However, this design was disapproved when "an influential member of the committee" insisted on a Spanish design for the church. Mañosa walked out on the project, staying true to his "I design Filipino, nothing else" policy. Mañosa's wife later quoted him saying to the committee: Cardinal Sin asked Mañosa to reconsider, so Mañosa came back and developed a new "People’s Plaza" design which would be used for the actual project. The

was completed in 1989.

The Parish church of St. Joseph (Bamboo Organ Church)

Between 1971 and 1975, the Saint Joseph Parish Church, home of the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ, and the surrounding buildings were restored to their 19th-century state by Mañosa and partner Ludwig Alvarez, through the administration of Rev. Fr. Mark Lesage, CICM, to bring back the 19th-century look of the church and to re-position the main altar to face the people, as required by the new Ecumenical Church guidelines.

Personal life

By the 2010s, Mañosa was a retired but decorated architect. His three children all work for the family company, Mañosa & Company. Isabel ("Bambi"), the eldest and only daughter, is the head of the interior design department, as well as a director of Tukod Foundation, a foundation of the Mañosa Group which advocates the advancement of Filipino design, art and aesthetics. Francisco Jr. ("Dino") acts as CEO of the entire Mañosa Group, and is the founder and CEO of Mañosa Properties. Francisco's youngest son, Angelo ("Gelo"), carries on his father's architectural legacy as the CEO of Mañosa & Company. While not working on his projects for the company, Mañosa was also part of the jazz band The Executive Band. He played piano for the band. In 2012, Mañosa fell and cracked two

vertebrae The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...

which had to be fused in order to heal. He also needed heart bypass surgery in order to repair a life-threatening ventricular blockage.

Death

Mañosa died on 20 February 2019, due to prostate cancer. He was 88. Mañosa's remains received full state honors when laid to rest at the

Libingan ng mga Bayani Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB, , ) is a national cemetery within Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) in Metro Manila, Philippines. First established in May 1947 as a fitting resting place for Philippine military personnel fro ...

Works

Churches

* Mary Immaculate Parish (Nature's Church) *Assumption College Chapel *Quadricentennial Altar *Risen Lord Parish Church * Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace, Our Lady of EDSA *St. Joseph Church (Las Pinas) *World Youth Day Papal Altar *Mary, Mother of God Parish (Muntinlupa)

Residential

*Mañosa Residence (

Ayala Alabang Ayala Alabang, in terms of land area, is the third largest barangay in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, Philippines. A large portion of it came from Barangay Alabang. Its land area of includes Alabang Town Center, Ayala Alabang Village, El Molito, Mad ...

) *Arnaiz Residence *Cahaya "The Sanctuary" *Diego Cerra Homes *Floirendo Residence *Hoffmann Residence *Hofileña Residence *Pabahay - Bayanihan *Pabahay -PNP *Valenciano Residence *The Astley Residence - Timberland Heights

Commercial

*Eagle Ridge Building *JMT Corporate Center *The New Medical City (built in 2002) *Nielson Towers (Makati) *Saztec Building *Sulo Restaurant

Institutional

*Aquino Center * Ateneo Education Building * Ateneo Professional Schools *Bamboo Mansion *Centro Escolar University *

* Corregidor Island War Memorial *Environmental Research Center *Elsie Gatches Village *Lanao del Norte Provincial Capitol *Learning Child *Philippine Friendship Pavilion *St. Andrew's School ( Parañaque)

Other

* Manila Light Rail Transit 1 stations *

2019 Southeast Asian Games cauldron The 2019 Southeast Asian Games cauldron is a structure at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac, Philippines and was made for the 30th Southeast Asian Games with National Artist Francisco Mañosa responsible for the design. It wa ...

(Arch. Bobby Manosa's last project)

References

External links

http://www.manosa.com/
* http://www.tukodfoundation.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Manosa, Francisco 20th-century Filipino architects 1931 births 2019 deaths People from Muntinlupa National Artists of the Philippines People from Manila University of Santo Tomas alumni Deaths from cancer in the Philippines Deaths from prostate cancer Burials at the Libingan ng mga Bayani