What Makes a House Uniquely Filipino: I Design Filipino and Nothing Else
Have you ever visited Amanpulo, the luxury beach resort in Palawan with its white sand beaches, crystal clear waters, and their breathtaking casitas with a wonderful view of the sea? Or have you heard of the 30th SEA games cauldron, the infamous 55 million pesos cauldron that was lit during the ceremony and was considered to be a “priceless piece of art”? I’m pretty sure you know about EDSA Shrine, a church located at the intersection of Ortigas Avenue and EDSA Avenue to commemorate the People Power Revolution. Do you know what these three have in common? They were all designed by Mañosa and Company, Inc.
Last February 10, 2022, The Office of Career Services in collaboration with Axis held the Industry Partner Introduction Seminar with Mañosa and Company, Inc. The company was established in 1976 by the late Architect Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa, a national artist for architecture and is now being led by his son Architect Angelo “Gelo” Mañosa that aims to continue his father’s legacy in the field of architecture and design.
The company is a group of artisans who pay homage to their philosophy and design values where integrity and design is never compromised for profit and to bring pride to our fellow Filipinos. They are committed to innovation, intelligent and green designs, quality execution, social relevance, and have a wide variety of staff ranging from architects, interior designers, urban designers, planners, environmental architects, model makers, industrial designers and landscapers.
Their philosophy is to design contemporary and vernacular Philippine “Green” Architecture and to deliver Filipino Architecture for the Filipinos. They constantly ask themselves “how do we showcase the best Filipino design to the world?”, that at one glance people will notice that this is a Filipino Architecture. They have set their BHAG’s which means “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” and that would be 25 landmarks by the year 2025, and their design in every home which Architect Mañosa admitted that it will be quite challenging for them to achieve it. The company also loves to play with bamboo and coconuts in their designs and at the same time they could help local industries by getting supplies from them. Their measure of success is not about how big their project is but they measure it with how much does their client love their Filipino house, and how much soul went into the project.
At the latter half of the seminar, the guest speaker, Architect Angelo Mañosa explained some of their services which includes architectural design, interior design, master planning, furniture and industrial design. Architect Mañosa also shared the expectations that they have set for future interns that would want to work for their company. He also explained the different phases that they will go through such as the Design Development Phase, Contract Document Phase, and Construction Phase as well as the lessons that they will be gaining at the end of their internship. The last part of the seminar was a question and answer portion for students to have an opportunity to learn more about Architecture and internship expectations from Architect Mañosa. We should always remember that “Architecture must be true to itself, its land, and its people.” – Architect Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa
