The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) or the Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas is situated along the reclaimed land of Roxas Boulevard in Pasay, Metro Manila. The whole complex covers 88 hectares of land. It is a government owned corporation and was established on September 8, 1969 by Imelda Marcos during the Marcos regime. It caters performance and exhibition venues for both local and international productions.
Leandro V. Locsin,
the National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture in 1990, designed CCP
and also the other buildings along the vicinity of the complex. He applied his
signature style, the use of
concrete and
brutalist facades in his designs.
“He used to say that reinforced concrete is our country’s ‘natural
material’ because of its ample supply, economy, durability, beauty, and the
skill that the Filipino craftsman inherently possesses to render it
artistically.” – Leandro “Andy” Locsin, Jr.
The building was
massive and raw. It is a square-shaped building made of concrete with very few
windows. It has two ramps in front surrounding an octagonal fountain with
lights. According to speculations, Architect Locsin criticized the total cost
of the structure ranging from 15 million pesos which escalated to 50 million
pesos and as a sign of a subtle protest, he designed the building itself to
look like a toilet bowl when you look at it from the top view. I did not
actually notice that the structure has a resemblance to a toilet bowl until I
read the rumors but maybe it is just like Henry
Sy’s fingerprint façade on the
Henry Sy Sr. Hall in De La Salle University.
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| (TAKEN FROM A MOVING CAR) |
Last September 20, 2016, my blockmates
and I went to CCP in order to study and document the place. We were supposed to
go there around eight to nine in the morning but we ended up arriving at eleven
because of what we call “Filipino time” and of course, the traffic. I was actually
pretty excited to go because it was my first time to enter and explore the
place but I was always curious about what was on the inside and what it looked
like because we would always pass by the whole complex whenever we are going to
Mall of Asia (MOA) although knew that there was a museum inside because of the
posters outside.
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| MY FAVORITE PART OF THE WHOLE STRUCTURE |
The first thing that
greeted us when we went inside was a grand staircase and a couple of artworks.
It had the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) vibe to it probably because
of how it was presented. When we went up, there was a big open space and grand
chandeliers because that is where the main entrance is located.
On the second floor,
there were more artworks and we even found a scale model of the whole complex
and and another but just the CCP alone.
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| ARTIST FINISHING HIS MURAL |
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| MURAL IN PROGRESS |
A lengthy mural
painting was still in progress on the third floor but a particular scene caught
my attention because it depicts one of the major endeavors that our country is
facing today. We were even lucky enough to witness an artist finishing his
mural for an exhibit about Mars Ravelo’s works. Even though there were only a
few windows on the whole structure, as I have mentioned earlier, I think that
the dim lights actually set the mood for the artworks.
We were not able to check out the
theaters and some of the parts of the building were actually restricted and
creepy because either the lights were really dim or there were none at all. It
was just a little disappointing because when we were about to go around the
exterior of the structure, it rained so we just decided to go around it while
we were riding the car that is why some of the photos I took had rain drops on
it but I think it kind of added a filter to it so it was not that bad.
After going to CCP, we attempted to go
in PICC but the guard stopped us before all of us were even out of the car so
we decided to do the same thing and circle the structure while we were in the
car and same goes for the Manila Film Center.
All the structures
that comprises of the CCP Complex were very distant from what we see along Taft
but it is not far enough from all the traffic. Even though the streets were
busy outside, the inside of the building was very tranquil and quiet as if it
somehow separates you from the world.
We are often asked in our History
of Architecture (HSTARC) classes if there is such a thing such as Filipino
Architecture and that particular question is very simple yet hard to answer. It
would always make us think hard or even left us speechless and I think
buildings like these are tangible proofs that there is, we just have to take
the time to go and see for ourselves.
It saddens me a lot that not a lot of
people appreciate these kinds of structures anymore. It seems like everyone
have already moved on and forgotten its significance and importance to our
culture and identity. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have gone to CCP if it
wasn’t for this blog entry and the way I look at it now has completely changed.
Before, I saw it as an old and boring structure, what more the people who are
not studying architecture? They probably would have thought the same, or even
worse. Now that I have finally experienced it, I think that more people should
visit the structure and even non-art students would appreciate once you go
inside.
