An Essay on the American Colonial Period and Contemporary Traditions on Philippine Architecture

THE AMERICAN COLONIAL AND CONTEMPORARY TRADITIONS The American tradition in Philippine architecture covers the period from 1898 to the present, and encompasses all architectural styles, such as the European styles, which came into the Philippines during the American colonial period. This tradition is represented by churches, schoolhouses, hospitals, government office buildings, commercial office buildings, department stores, hotels, movie houses, theaters, clubhouses, supermarkets, sports facilities, bridges, malls, and high-rise buildings. New forms of residential architecture emerged in the tsalet, the two-story house, and the Spanish-style house. The contemporary tradition refers to the architecture created by Filipinos from 1946 to the present, which covers public buildings and private commercial buildings, religious structures, and domestic architecture like the bungalow, the one-and-a-half story house, the split-level house, the middle-class housing and the low-cost housing project units, the townhouse and condominium, and least in size but largest in number, the shanty. History The turn of the century brought, in the Philippines, a turn in history. Over three centuries of Spanish rule came to an end, and five decades of American rule began. The independence won by the Philippine Revolution of 1896 was not recognized by Spain, nor by the United States, whose naval and military forces had taken Manila on the pretext of aiding the revolution. In 1898 Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States, and after three years of military rule the Americans established a civil government. With a new regime came a new culture. The English language was introduced and propagated through the newly established public school system. A new consciousness developed among the native population as American colonial policy focused on education, public health, free enterprise, and preparation for selfgovernment. The landscape was transformed as highways, bridges, ports, markets,

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