José María Vélez Zaragoza (December 6, 1912 – November 26, 1994) was a Filipino

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Education

Zaragoza took up BS Criminology at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

where he graduated in 1936. He placed 7th in the licensure exams in the 1938. He also had a diploma in liturgical art and architecture from the

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

-based International Institute of Liturgical Art. At the Hilversum Technical Research Center in the Netherlands, he obtained a diploma in comprehensive planning.

Career

During the earlier years of his career, Zaragoza had meetings with American architect

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

culminating with a visit to Wright'

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...

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in the

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in 1956. However, unlike his contemporaries, Zaragoza looked into

European architecture The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

for inspiration instead of drawing from American architecture.

Religious buildings

Zaragoza was involved in designing several religious buildings such as The Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tala,

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan (; ), is a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most populous city in the Philippines. Caloo ...

completed in 1950; the

Santo Domingo Church Santo Domingo Church, formally known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila, is a Roman Catholic parish church and national shrine in Quezon City, Metro Manila in the Philippines. It is under the jurisdict ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

and the Villa San Miguel in

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong ( ; ), officially the City of Mandaluyong (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly-urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popula ...

both which was finished in 1954; the Pius XII Center in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

completed in 1958, and the expansion of the

Quiapo Church The Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno (), commonly known as Quiapo Church and canonically as Saint John the Baptist Parish, is a prominent Catholic basilica and national shrine in the district of Quiapo in the city of Mani ...

completed in 1984, a project met with some controversy. He was invited by Brazilian architects

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...

and

Lúcio Costa Lúcio Marçal Ferreira Ribeiro Lima Costa (27 February 1902 – 13 June 1998) was a Brazilian architect and urban planner, best known for his plan for Brasília. Early life Costa was born in Toulon, France, the son of Brazilian parents. His ...

to be one of the guest architects in designing

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, which was planned to be the new capital city of

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. Zaragoza also designed the former Union Church of Manila, a shell-shaped church that resembled the Philippine Exposition Hall in New York of 1936. This church building, dedicated in 1975, was torn down in the late 1990s to make room for a new Union Church of Manila on a portion of the same site. Zaragoza also designed the Saint John Bosco and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Overall, he designed about 45 churches and religious centers.

Other buildings

Zaragoza also designed the Meralco Building and the Zaragoza building, and he contributed to the design of the

National Library of the Philippines The National Library of the Philippines ( or , abbreviated NLP, ) is the Philippines' official national library, repository of information on cultural heritage and other literary resources. It is located in the district of Ermita, Manila, Ermit ...

and to the design of the Bataan Power Plant of the

National Power Corporation The National Power Corporation (, also known as NAPOCOR, NPC or National Power) is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to provide electricity to all rural areas of the Philippines by 2025 (known as "mission ...

. Altogether he designed 36 office buildings, 4 hotels, 2, hospitals, 5 low-cost and middle-income housing projects, as well as more than 270 residences.

Style

Zaragoza derived traditional forms from Spanish colonial architecture and combined it with simple, unornamented designs of the

International style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

. This design was evident in the arcades of the

in Quezon City. His style had an impact of designs of houses. The visual framework of the "Spanish style" architecture which was favored in residences from the 1950s to the 1960s was derived from his designs. The "Spanish style" is not widely used in Spain but the name was an adopted term in Philippine residential architecture. Among Zaragoza's works this style is most evident in his design of the 1951 building of the Casino Español de Manila. After his involvements in Brazil, his later works had influences from Brazilian architecture as evident in the Meralco Center in Ortigas and Philbank Building in the Port Area, Manila both finished in 1965. The Commercial and Bank Trust Company Building, completed in 1969, in Escolta, Manila, incorporates subtle flowing Latino line design.

Religious involvements

Zaragoza became an ambassador of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

to the Philippines. He was also conferred the Gentiluomo di Sua Santita (Lay Member of the Papal Household) by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

for his contributions to the Catholic Church, allowing him to serve as a lay attendant of the Pope in the

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

Death

He died on November 26, 1994, at the age of 81 in Manila, Philippines. His remains were later re-interred in the

Libingan ng mga Bayani Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB, , ) is a national cemetery within Fort Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) in Barangay Western Bicutan, Taguig, Philippines. First established in May 1947 as a fitting resting place for Philippine mili ...

and was accorded a state funeral.

Awards

* 1973: ''Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan'' (Stalwart of Art and Culture) Award, awarded by the City of Manila. * 1977: ''Gold Medal of Merit'' awarded by the Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA), bestowed to him by his mentor

Juan Nakpil Juan Felipe de Jesús Nakpil, KGCR, KSS (born Juan Felipe Nakpil y de Jesús; May 26, 1899 – May 7, 1986) known as Juan Nakpil, was a Filipino architect, teacher and a community leader. In 1973, he was named one of the National Artists fo ...

. * 2014: ''National Artist for Architecture'', conferred by the

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

through Proclamation No. 812.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaragoza, Jose Maria 1912 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Filipino architects Filipino diplomats University of Santo Tomas alumni People from Quiapo, Manila National Artists of the Philippines Burials at the Libingan ng mga Bayani