Picutres, micro and mini & design plan

Information

It is known as the Binondo Church, also known as Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, aka Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish, aka The Minor Basilica and National Shrine of San Lorenzo Ruiz ). It was built, Spanish Colonial style and it consists of the original octagonal bell tower, a Cupola, A Dome and a Gabled Roof and it is clearly symmetrical. Masses held in the Binondo Church are still on-going today, with languages spoken such as Tagalog, English, and different variations of the Chinese language which consists of Hokkien and Mandarin.

Architects profile

It was designed by many architects, one of which was Architect Domingo de la Cruz González.

History of the building

The Binondo Church was built in 1596, serving as one of Manila’s oldest churches that is still being used today, though due to the damage caused by natural disasters, such as typhoons, earthquakes (years, 1645, 1863 and 1880) and also having to withstand the Second World war, many of the original parts of the Binondo Church have been reconstructed. Today, the only original part of the Binondo Church that still stands, that was constructed in 1596 is the octagonal bell tower, which is positioned on the right side of the church. Despite of the repetitive renovations and repair, the Binondo church still has its original stone walls.

Added features

The reconstruction of the Binondo church was completed in 1984. The new features that were included were a new church centre and a monastery, which was added at the back of the church. On the interior, there was the improved altarpiece inspired by the exterior of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The dome at the main altar was also a replica of the dome in St. Peter’s Basilica. The interior was mostly marble; inspired by the Sistine Chapel, while the paintings on the ceiling depict the mysteries of the Holy Rosary and some important events in the bible.

Purpose/Function

It is being used/and has served as a Christian place of worship. The purpose of the erection of this structure was for mainly for religion, particularly for the Christian faith, which was heavily influenced by the Spanish people during that time.

Trivia

The baptistery of Binondo church is the exact spot where Lorenzo Ruiz (the first Philippine saint) and Ignacia del Espiritu Santo were baptized.

Source :(http://heritageconservation.wordpress.com/2006/07/27/binondo-church-manila/)

Andres Bonifacio and his second wife were married two times and the first wedding was held in Binondo Church.

(Source: http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Andres-Bonifacio-His-Great-Life-137730.html)

Essay

I chose to present Binondo church because it is one of the remaining historical churches in the country that define Philippine history and culture, then and today.

The Binondo church has a very unique and colourful interior. The first thing I saw when I entered the premise, was the decorative paintings that were displayed overhead. The paintings, in the crossing of the arcs in the ceiling, were of some of the holy figures from the bible and depicted important events mentioned in the bible. The ceiling was overcrowded with depictions of the bible; to me it symbolizes the faith of the Filipino people - the fullness of their faith and their religiousness.

The Binondo church has very distinct Spanish features; it portrays the way of life for the Filipinos during the time the Spanish people lived in the Philippines. To me, the big giveaway was the use of colours. The use of pink, blue and yellow showed its Spanish heritage.To be honest, due to old age and the lack of maintenance, Binondo church may not have much of an effect compared to other churches in Manila. The physical state of the church currently is dull, but I do believe, if certain repairations were made, without altering or touching the original elements of the church, to preserve the history of the structure, it will receive more appreciation that what it is getting now.

As you know, the Binondo church had a few encounters with natural disasters, such as earthquakes, typhoons, war, etc. Although much of the structure’s originality is not seen today since there was constant rebuilding and renovations of the Binondo church, in my opinion, the repetitive renovations and improvements showed the on-going faith, love of their religion and strong determination of the Filipino people.

America is known for their houses, opportunities &most importantly, mcdonalds.

American colonial

We are getting so close to modern present day architecture. I’m excited.

By looking at the structures that were built during the American Colonial era, we can already see a gist of the architecture that is present in America today. I can say that all the houses that we’re built during different time periods of that era look familiar- they all look like houses that ive seen in movies. For instance, (1700 – 1860) French Colonial- this style looks like it was featured in that movie “Interview with a vampire” or for the (Colonial Revival period : 1876 - 1955), it looks like houses that ive seen in that other movie “home alone”, that I’m sure you are all familiar with. The houses classified under the neoclassical look like the houses that are always being featured on that TV segment cribs.

My personal favourites from these different styles are federal, Colonial revival and Builder's Colonial / Neo-colonial, for the obvious reasons. They are the most “polished” and luxurious looking, compared to all the styles but it is also clearly seen that it had loosely borrowed ideas from the past. For example, their temple like entrances, and the use of shutters seen were, well we can say, “Inspired” by Colonial Revival houses.

These styles were adapted for contemporary lifestyles, evolving and improving along with the progress and the advancement of America.

barbe-roque architecture.

The first time I had ever heard that word was during piano lessons a year ago. We studied the baroque period and their style, musically. And somehow, I can relate the music to the architecture, and the heavily powdered faces of the women of that time.

Baroque architecture concentrated more on heavily ornamenting the interior, and not so much on the exterior. They had ornate decorations and curving facades. I think they were trying to make the interior space of a structure very classy and luxuriant. The interior would have either a marble finish, or just a fake finish faux finish, which was just paint.They also had stuccos, which was an external façade characterized by a central projection and also practiced illusory effects.

During the rococo era, the difference was the palette-it consisted of softer and paler colours than the rich primary colours and also had darker tonalities.

Renaissance architecture. I still have trouble spelling that word

This era and its style arose when people became more conscious towards self-awareness and humanism, no longer on religious aspects - which we have been seeing a lot with the eras' before the renaissance era. The renaissance period was also an era of reviving of classical forms.

The newest structural element that was introduced during the renaissance period was the double shell dome , where as you can tell from the name, had double walls, and an opening at the tip. There was also a “Loggia.” A Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature which came originally from Italy. They are often an open space, which could be a corridor or could be used for a different event, which was at ground level (sometimes, even higher) on one side of the exterior of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or openings or holes in the wall. We can differentiate the renaissance era from other periods by its apparent use of columns, rounds and domes (The use of domes also originated during this era) -and also its revival of proportion.

The renaissance era was also divided into three further periods;

Early renaissance, which lasted through the 15^th century.

High renaissance, which was during the 16^th century

&”Mannerism”, which went on during the 16^th to early 17^th century.

Each different period introduced different architectural structures, and had different characteristics which set them apart from each other. For example, during the 15^th century (early renaissance) since the renaissance style was still in its early stages, it displayed simple modular proportions and clarity of design. They also accomplished some technological advancement.

During the 16^th century (high renaissance), again, since renaissance architecture was still in its early stages, it showed harmony and clarity. During this period they also came up with “tholos” which was a domed rotunda surrounded by columns.

Then during Mannerism, the renaissance style evolved and started to show complexity, sophistication and novelty in its structures.

emo architecture

Definition of Goth·ic (gthk) : often gothic Of or relating to a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate.

2. Gothic Barbarous; crude. - (Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gothic )

Goth/gothic does not refer to one specific field, instead it is a culture which applies to people, architecture and beliefs. The word Gothic or Goth may refer to the “Gothic” stereotype, where the people in this circle which are those who we normally tend to think (due to the exaggeration of media and books) , are defined as those people who believe in the use of dark clothes (all the time) ,extreme use of eyeliner/guyliner and how they ultimately praise “vampires”, ideas of the end of the world and other sadistic ideas.

Goth may also refer to the era which began in mid-12^th century, medieval middle ages. During this time, when Christianity flourished, the growth of other beliefs and other ideas also grew. However, gothic architecture in contrast, was well known for the growth of churches. Other than the use of grotesque looking gargoyles, I honestly have no idea why they called this era “Gothic”. The growth of magnificent churches, vast in height, with the use of colour tinted windows, seemed majestic, and definately not “grotesque, mysterious, and desolate”, which is rather contradicting, in my opinion.

For example, churches, after learning from their mistakes from the Romanesque, they started adding flying buttresses to support the weight of the arches, and with that, they were able to add more windows, which brought more light into the churches; again, I do not know the relativity to how making a church brighter and more cheerful could lead to the categorizing of being gothic -which is usually related to being dark and gloomy. So Gothic architecture had no relation to the “gothic” stereotype that we are all familiar with today. Even the gargoyles had nothing do with sinister ideas, they were made as a way to chase away evil spirits and a way to frighten the not so educated society of that medieval era, (they were also used as some form of drainage system).

I believe that this era marked engineering advancement towards the structures. Architects learned some new ways of making roofs and of supporting walls, especially with the groin vaults and the flying buttress. They introduced pointed arches, which lessened the pressure of archs, so instead of pressure being pushed sideways with rounded archs, pressure was contributed downwards. This lessened the thickness of walls, and the use of material. Also, the introduction of flying buttresses was another smart move - they could finally install more windows to let more light in.

ROMANISHUQUE ARCHITECTURE

Romanesque Architecture. It displayed a combination of features from the Roman and Byzantine era. The Romanesque era which lasted from about 1000s to the 1100s, Christianity spread rapidly throughout Europe (Spain, England, Italy, France, Germany, etc.), where during this duration, a large number of churches were erected. This was brought on by the freedom of worship/religion (particularly Christianity) that was practiced at that time. Romanesque architecture was somewhat a dedication to Christianity. A city was often built around a church.

Romanesque architecture has several distinct features. Its heavy, large walls were made to support the ceilings, and the structures had a very raw, block like appearance. For example, the San Vittore alle Chiuse, Genga, in Italy. It had massive walls and only small window openings, and this is because bigger window openings will not be able to hold the thick weight of the walls. Although small window openings did allow light to enter, it was not enough, thus the development of buttresses in the next era of Gothic architecture. It can be said that Romanesque architecture is the first, the most raw-est of the series in the development of churches and such. Romanesque architecture was the starting point of Gothic Architecture.

Another distinct characteristic of Romanesque architecture is the columns used at that period. They were large and thick, just to support the weight of the ceilings. They also practiced the new use of repeating patterns of columns which has never been done previously.

The common type of structure that was built during this era were churches/ places of worship. These churches had apparent attributes which clearly showed that they were from the Romanesque era. Besides the use of repeating patterns of columns, they also used arches and openings, different types of vaults and roofs, and even followed a kind of “template” for the layout of churches. The template was in the shape of the cross and had specific functions for different areas of the church. Romanesque architecture also rehearsed symmetry, with towers on both sides of the church.

I think that Romanesque is kind of like another form of prehistoric architecture. In its very raw form, it is developed later on, in the Gothic era.

Roman Reaction Paper

If you look closely, the Romans in a way revolutionized Greek architecture to create a new style of their own. Compared to the Greek structures, their structures had very similar elements involved such as in the columns they built. Even though it is obvious that the Romans used the same columns as the Greek, the Romans went in a new direction and added the arches and domes. One thing we can definitely differentiate from the two eras is that Greek architecture mainly derived from the inspiration of religion and Gods while Roman architecture displayed newfound engineering skills and also, prestige. When I think about the Roman era, back in Junior school when we studied about the Romans in a basic level, I remember thinking about how the Romans had a large number of places to socialize in, such as in bathhouses, etcetera. I was right! You can spot the Roman architectural style mainly in the public dwellings they built, unlike the Greek, who made their structures which the main purpose was for the worship of their Gods, although even in the Roman period, religion still played its part.

I think the Roman era marked the start of a new direction for architecture. From the prehistoric up to the Greek period, we saw patterns of structures being built based on religion whereas in the Roman age, they started considering the public and the growing population even more and more. I guess you can say, the growing population became a problem and the solution to this problem created the new Roman architectural style. I also read somewhere that there was also a shift in materials used by the Romans. They started using a new building material- cast concrete, as it was cheaper and required less work to handle. I conclude by saying, although the origin of ideas did come from the Greek, the Romans created and improved these ideas to create structures that make an impact even on modern architecture today.