José María Zaragoza
- Santo Domingo Church
- Meralco Building
- Casino Español de Manila (1951 building)
José María Vélez Zaragoza[4] (December 6, 1912 – November 26, 1994)[5] was a Filipino architect.
Education
Zaragoza took up BS Architecture at the University of Santo Tomas where he graduated in 1936. He placed 7th in the licensure exams in the 1938.[6]
He also had a diploma in liturgical art and architecture from the Rome-based International Institute of Liturgical Art. At the Hilversum Technical Research Center in the Netherlands, he obtained a diploma in comprehensive planning.[6]
Career
During the earlier years of his career, Zaragoza had meetings with American architect Frank Lloyd Wright culminating with a visit to Wright' atelier in Arizona in the United States in 1956. However, unlike his contemporaries, Zaragoza looked into European architecture for inspiration instead of drawing from American architecture.[4]
Religious buildings
Zaragoza was involved in designing several religious buildings such as The Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tala, Caloocan completed in 1950; the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City and the Villa San Miguel in Mandaluyong both which was finished in 1954; the Pius XII Center in Manila completed in 1958, and the expansion of the Quiapo Church completed in 1984, a project met with some controversy.[4]
He was invited by Brazilian architects Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa to be one of the guest architects in designing Brasília, which was planned to be the new capital city of Brazil.[4]
Zaragoza also designed the former[6] Union Church of Manila, a shell-shaped church that resembled the Philippine Exposition Hall in New York of 1936.[7] This church building, dedicated in 1975,[8] was torn down in the late 1990s to make room for a new Union Church of Manila on a portion of the same site.[7][9]
Zaragoza also designed the Saint John Bosco and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.[7]
Overall, he designed about 45 churches and religious centers.[1]
Other buildings
Zaragoza also designed the Meralco Building and the Zaragoza building, and he contributed to the design of the National Library of the Philippines and to the design of the Bataan Power Plant of the National Power Corporation.[7]
Altogether he designed 36 office buildings, 4 hotels, 2, hospitals, 5 low-cost and middle-income housing projects, as well as more than 270 residences.[1]
Style
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Meralco.jpg/150px-Meralco.jpg)
Zaragoza derived traditional forms from Spanish colonial architecture and combined it with simple, unornamented designs of the International style. This design was evident in the arcades of the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City.[4]
His style had an impact of designs of houses. The visual framework of the "Spanish style" architecture which was favored in residences from the 1950s to the 1960s was derived from his designs. The "Spanish style" is not widely used in Spain but the name was an adopted term in Philippine residential architecture. Among Zaragoza's works this style is most evident in his design of the 1951 building of the Casino Español de Manila.[4]
After his involvements in Brazil, his later works had influences from Brazilian architecture as evident in the Meralco Center in Ortigas and Philbank Building in the Port Area, Manila both finished in 1965. The Commercial and Bank Trust Company Building, completed in 1969, in Escolta, Manila, incorporates subtle flowing Latino line design.[4]
Religious involvements
Zaragoza became an ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Philippines. He was also conferred the Gentiluomo di Sua Santita (Lay Member of the Papal Household) by Pope John Paul II for his contributions to the Catholic Church, allowing him to serve as a lay attendant of the Pope in the Vatican City.[6]
Death
He died on November 26, 1994, at the age of 81 in Manila, Philippines.
Awards
- 1973: Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan (Stalwart of Art and Culture) Award, awarded by the City of Manila.[7]
- 1977: Gold Medal of Merit awarded by the Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA), bestowed to him by his mentor Juan Nakpil.[7]
- 2014: National Artist for Architecture, conferred by the President of the Philippines through Proclamation No. 812.[10]
References
- ^ a b c "National Artists – José María V. Zaragoza". National Commission for Culture and the Arts. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ^ Ramirez, Joanne Rae (11 December 2012). "Jose Maria V. Zaragoza: The architect who built edifices of faith". PEOPLE. The Philippine Star. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ^ National Commission for Culture and the Arts (November 26, 2017). "In Memoriam: Jose Maria Zaragoza". NCCA Verified Facebook Page. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g Villalon, Augusto (24 January 2005). "José María Zaragoza, unappreciated architect". Pride of Place. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ^ "Sagisag Kultura - Jose Maria V. Zaragoza". CulturEd Philippines. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Zulueta, Lito (30 June 2014). "José Maria Zaragoza: Master builder". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Ruben Defeo (12 July 2004). "José María Zaragoza: A forgotten architect". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ^ "The history of UCM". Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ^ "Behind the two Zaragoza-designed churches in Makati". The Manila Project. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ^ "Proclamation No. 812, s. 2014". Official Gazette (Philippines). June 20, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
- v
- t
- e
- 1973 Juan Nakpil
- 1976 Pablo Antonio
- 1990 Leandro Locsin
- 2006 Ildefonso P. Santos Jr.
- 2014 José María Zaragoza
- 2018 Francisco Mañosa
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/National_Artist_of_the_Philippines.svg/80px-National_Artist_of_the_Philippines.svg.png)
- 1973 Francisca R. Aquino
- 1976 Leonor Orosa
- 1988 Lucrecia Reyes
- 2006 Ramon Obusan
- 2014 Alice Reyes
- 2022 Agnes Locsin
- 2006 Ramón Valera
- 2022 Salvacion Lim Higgins
- 1976 Lamberto V. Avellana
- 1982 Gerardo de León
- 1997 Lino Brocka
- 2001 Ishmael Bernal
- 2003 Eddie Romero
- 2006 Fernando Poe Jr.
- 2009 Manuel Conde
- 2018 Kidlat Tahimik
- 2022 Nora Aunor
- 2022 Marilou Diaz-Abaya
- 2022 Ricardo Lee
- 1997 Carlos Quirino
- 1973 Amado V. Hernandez
- 1973 José Garcia Villa
- 1976 Nick Joaquin
- 1982 Carlos P. Romulo
- 1990 Francisco Arcellana
- 1997 N. V. M. Gonzalez
- 1999 Edith Tiempo
- 2001 F. Sionil José
- 2003 Virgilio S. Almario
- 2003 Alejandro Roces
- 2006 Bienvenido Lumbera
- 2009 Lazaro Francisco
- 2014 Cirilo F. Bautista
- 2018 Ramon Muzones
- 2018 Resil B. Mojares
- 2022 Gémino Abad
- 1973 Antonio Molina
- 1976 Jovita Fuentes
- 1988 Antonino Buenaventura
- 1988 Lucrecia Kasilag
- 1991 Lucio San Pedro
- 1997 Levi Celerio
- 1997 Felipe Padilla de León
- 1997 José Maceda
- 1999 Ernani Joson Cuenco
- 1999 Andrea Veneracion
- 2014 Ramon Santos
- 2014 Francisco Feliciano
- 2018 Ryan Cayabyab
- 2022 Fides Cuyugan-Asensio
- 1987 Atang de la Rama
- 1997 Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
- 1997 Rolando Tinio
- 1999 Daisy Avellana
- 2001 Severino Montano
- 2003 Salvador Bernal
- 2018 Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio
- 2022 Tony Mabesa
- 1972 Fernando Amorsolo
- 1973 Botong Francisco
- 1973 Guillermo Tolentino
- 1976 Napoleon Abueva
- 1976 Victorio Edades
- 1981 Vicente Manansala
- 1990 Cesar Legaspi
- 1991 Hernando R. Ocampo
- 1997 Arturo R. Luz
- 1999 J. Navarro Elizalde
- 2001 Ang Kiukok
- 2003 José T. Joya
- 2006 Benedicto Cabrera
- 2006 Abdulmari Imao
- 2009 Federico Aguilar Alcuaz
- 2014 Francisco Coching
- 2018 Larry Alcala
- National Commission for Culture and the Arts
- Cultural Center of the Philippines