Roque Ruaño Garrido, O.P. (August 16, 1877 – March 5, 1935) was a Spanish priest-civil engineer. He was known after he drew up plans for

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 Mig ...

(UST) Main Building, the first

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

-shock resistant building in Asia, which was constructed at the Sulucan property of the

Dominican order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of C ...

in city of

Manila 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 ...

Early life

Born on August 16, 1877 in

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, Fr. Roque Ruaño submitted himself in faith to the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of C ...

in 1894. He first arrived in the Philippines on July 21, 1904. Upon arrival to the country, he served his first few years in the

Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers ...

as Father Rector. He transferred to the

and was able to obtain a Doctorate in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

.Hall of Fame: "Thomasian Engineer Journal", p 31. Thomasian Engineer Media, 2007

Significant design

Fr. Roque Ruaño practiced his Engineering expertise well. As a proof, he was the builder of the Dominican Residences in

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines ...

and

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen ( pag, Baley na Lingayen; ilo, Ili ti Lingayen; tgl, Bayan ng Lingayen), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has ...

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its c ...

. His most precious project and the same time UST's pride, the

UST Main Building The Main Building of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila, Philippines functions as the university's administrative center, and home of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law, Faculty of Civil Law, University of Santo Tomas ...

, the first earthquake-shock resistant building in the Philippines. It is with no doubt the infrastructure was well made, it has withstood the challenges of time, from the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Marcos dictatorial regime to the revival of democracy and until now, history is still being made. Present studies show, the design of the Main Building is consistent with modern building code and regulation.

Life at the University of Santo Tomas

Fr. Ruaño was also a professor in the then- School of Civil Engineering of the University of Santo Tomas. The subjects he handled were

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

, and

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

s and lighthouses. He also became the Dean of the College and Regent from 1930 to 1935. He was also a representative in various international conventions in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

(1926),

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

(1931) and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(1932).

Death and honor

The good prelate engineer died on March 1, 1935, due to

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

. In honor of his achievements, an edifice was named after him. It was in the corner of

España Boulevard España Boulevard is an eight–lane major thoroughfare in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, named after Spain, the country that formerly held the Philippines as an overseas territory. True to its name, several Spanish names abound the ...

and A. H. Lacson Avenue (formerly ''Gov. Forbes''), at first it was called Architecture and Engineering Building. In its inauguration in 1950, the site was named after him, the Roque Ruaño Building which houses the students and faculty members of the Faculty of Engineering and the Institute of Information and Computing Sciences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruano, Roque 1877 births 1935 deaths University of Santo Tomas faculty University of Santo Tomas alumni Spanish civil engineers

Early life

Significant design

Life at the University of Santo Tomas

Death and honor

See also

References