Architecture in the Philippines: Filipino Building in a Cross-Cultural Context (Revised Edition)

By Winand Klassen (Author)

Quick Overview

This is the revised edition of Winand Klassen's incisive study about architecture in the Philippines, first published in 1986. This book is not about Philippine architecture per se because as Klassen explains, the definition of Philippine architecture will arise when the concept of Filipino identity has been clarified. In this book, Klassen present architecture and buildings, as cultural artifacts in both their passive and active aspects. They are seen both as receivers of associative beliefs and values. this does not mean of course, the book neglects to describe and analyze the physical aspects of the built environment. The use of context in the book means both the Filipino cultural context and the worldwide one. The book thus relates architecture in the Philippines to similar development elsewhere, without necessarily implying that there is always a direct influence of one on the other. Substantial changes in this book from the first edition constitute the rearrangement of illustrations to correctly match the text as they are mentioned. The very few typographical errors have also been corrected, while the plates are no longer in color to lessen the printing costs and reach as wide an audience as possible. Architecture in the Philippines is written from a designer's point of view, to be used principally by student-architects and architectural practitioners in the Philippines with the intention of narrowing the gap between the architectural historian and critic an the practicing architect.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Winand W. Klassen-- architectural historian; professor; architect of many buildings in the University of San Carlos; degree in architecture from the Catholic University of America; member of the society of the Divine Word (SVD); lecturer for the Goethe Institut in collaboration with the United Architects of the Philippines in Manila. Winand Klassen's "Architecture in the Philippines: Filipino Building in a Cross Cultural Context" 1986 is cited in the 20th edition, the latest, of Sir Banister Fletcher's "History of Architecture" 1996. Klassen's 1986 is cited in more than 35 architectural publications. Works: Church of Sts. Arnold and Joseph Retreat House; USC TC Dorms; Arnoldus Science Bldg.; Office of Populations Studies; all at USc Talamban Campus; Franziskushaus Convent; Atty. Jesus Garcia Jr. Residence and other private residences. Some of the buildings and residences Klassen designed were in collaboration with Architect Artemio S. Alcoseba, FUAP. Other Publications: "History of Western Architecture: A Semiological Approach to Architecture from a Designer's Point of View" 1980 (a Korean translation is available); Architecture and Philosophy: Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Deconstruction" 1990; "Architecture, Gods and Mortals: Setting up a World in Flux and Plurality: 1994. Winand Klassen contributed art and architecture articles for the Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society.