ILustre

Old GSIS Building by: Architect Federico S. Ilustre

Circa: 1952
Location: Arroceros cor Concepcion Streets, Manila

History: The old GSIS building, built from 1952-1954 by architect Federico S. Ilustre.

What it is now: A parking lot.

The classic streamline modern GSIS Building designed by Federico Illustre, was built between 1952 and 1954 and there are rumors that it is up for demolition, rumor has it that the Old GSIS Building will be demolished to give way to the Supreme Court's Hall of Justice because they had swapped it with the now demolished Jai Alai Building. There are other rumors that it will be converted into SM ANNEX Manila. The Manila City Hall has allegedly given its "OK. " signal to demolish such structure. According to the Heritage Law it is a crime to demolish structures that are more than 50 years without the consent of the NCCA.

LOCATION :

Federico Ilustre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Federico Ilustre (1912–1989) was a Filipino architect who worked as an architect for the Bureau of Public Works. (now the Department of Public Works and Highways) It was during his tenure as consulting architect that some of the country's prominent postwar architectural structures were built.
Life
Ilustre graduated with a degree in architecture at the Mapua Institute of Technology, eventually becoming a licensed architect in 1937. His architectural experience however went way back, when he started out in 1935 as a draftsman in the architectural office of Juan Nakpil, as well as a stint as a furniture designer in 1936 for Puyat and Sons.[1]
He first joined the Bureau of Public Works in 1936 as a draftsman, staying in that position until the outbreak of World War II in the country in 1941. He was then promoted to the position of consulting architect iduring the Japanese Occupation. After the war, he briefly left the bureau to join the AFWESPAC of the US Army as supervising architect and assist them in the postwar infrastructure rehabilitation. In 1947, he became the supervising architect of the National Housing Commission, a position he held for two years until he returned to the Bureau of Public Works in 1949 also as supervising architect. He would remain with the public works office until the 1970s.[1]
His most notable work would be his design of the Quezon Memorial Shrine monument, a design he made for a national design competition held in 1951 for the then-planned monument for late President Manuel L. Quezon, where he won the grand prize.[2] In addition, he also designed some notable postwar structures, varying in architectural styles from high-modernism to the neo-vernacular.
Works
Quezon Memorial Shrine, Quezon City
Old GSIS Headquarters Building, Manila
Philippine Veterans Memorial Building, Manila (demolished)
Independence Grandstand, (now Quirino Grandstand) Rizal Park, Manila
Manila International Airport, Nichols Field (demolished; currently the site of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2)
Department of Agriculture Building, Quezon City
National Housing Authority Building, Quezon City
Planetarium, Rizal Park, Manila