Go Philippines: National Artist of the Philippines

Showing posts with label National Artist of the Philippines. Show all posts

Friday, August 19, 2011

Pablo Antonio, National Artist in Architecture

Pablo S. Antonio, National Artist in Architecture (1976) pioneered modern Philippine Architecture. His architecture adapts the Art Deco techniques which is dominant motif during his time. His design is based on simplicity and clean structural design. The lines are clean and smooth, and where there are curves, these are made integral to the structure. He believes that function come first before elegance. Antonio's design focus on the maximum use of natural light and cross ventilation, He strives to make each building unique, avoiding obvious trademarks. Antonio himself has been quoted as stating that "buildings should be planned with austerity in mind and its stability forever as the aim of true architecture, that buildings must be progressive, simple in design but dignified, true to a purpose without resorting to an applied set of aesthetics and should eternally recreate truth".

Antonio was born in Binondo, Manila in 1901, orphaned by age of 12 and did part time job in daytime to supplement his study at night. He studied architecture in Mapua Institute of Technology and later transfer to University of London after securing scholarship from Ramon Arevalo, the engineer in charge in Legislative Building (now National Museum of the Philippines where Antonio assist in the design and construction). He graduated in 1927 for only three years of study (normal is 5 years).

In 1933, he designed the Ideal Theater in Avenida, Rizal Avenue which is one of his major works that made him prominent in architecture. The founder of Far Eastern University, Nicanor Reyes, deal with him to make several buildings in the campus. The FEU campus is considered as the largest ensemble of surviving Art Deco architecture in Manila, and in 2005, it received an Honorable Mention citation from the UNESCO for the body's 2005 Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation.

Antonio's other major projects includes Manila Polo Club in 1950, Lyric Theater, Galaxy Theater, Life Theater, Scala Theater, Ramon Roces Publications Building (now Guzman College of Science and Technology), Capitan Luis Gonzaga Building, Boulevard-Alhambra apartments in 1937 (now Bel-Air) and White Cross Sanitarium in 1938.

In 1976, he was he was named National Artist of the Philippines, he was only the second architect so honored, after his contemporary, Juan Nakpil.

Ideal Theater in 1930s design by National Artist Pablo Antonio in 1933

Ideal Theater on the left designed by Pablo Antonio and on the left is State Theater designed by Juan Nakpil

Far Eastern University designed by Pablo Antonio in the late 1930s

Facade of White Cross Sanitarium designed by Architect Pablo Antonio in 1938

Image Source
Manila Polo Club by Pablo Antonio

Guzman College of Science & Technology formerly Ramon Roces Publications Building

Boulevard-Alhambra (now called Bel-Air) Apartments Building in Roxas Boulevard designed and built in 1937

Life Theater in Quezon Blvd. Manila

Lyric Theater along Escolta Manila

Galaxy Theater by Pablo Antonio

National Artist of the Philippines Award in Architecture

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Jose Garcia Villa's Literature

Jose Garcia Villa was the first Filipino National Artist for literature, an award-winning poet here in Philippines and in United States. He is known for his "reverse consonance" style in poetry such as "said" and "days". He is also popular in his style for "comma poems" with every word with commas making the reader pause for every word, slowing the pace of poem resulting to what Villa called "a lineal dignity of pace and movement".

Jose Garcia Villa is the son of personal doctor of Emilio Aguinaldo, Simeon Villa. He was born on August 5, 1908 in Singalong , Manila. He enrolled in school of Medicine, shifted to Law school, but realized his passion is arts. He start in painting but later focus in creative writing after reading Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson.

In 1929, he published an erotic series of poems called "Man Songs" which tend UP Administrators to suspend him from the University and even fined of seventy pesos for "obscenity" by the Court of First Instance. During that time he won P1,000 from the Philippine Free Press or his "Mir-i-Nisa" which he used to migrate to United States. He enrolled at the University of New Mexico and finished Bachelor of Arts Degree. In 1942, after the released of "Have Come Am Here", he introduced his "reversed consonance" rhyming scheme and in 1949, he introduced his comma poems.

Villa's major works are Philippine Short Stories in 1928 (best 25 short stories, 1929), Footnote to Youth (short stories,1933), Many Voices (poems, 1939), Have Come Am Here (poems,1941), Selected Poems and New (1942), and A Doveglion Book of Philippine Poetry (1962).

Villa's awards includes Guggenheim Fellowship, Academy Award for Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letter on 1943, First Prize in Poetry Category in UP Golden Jubilee Literary Contests on 1958, Pro Patria Award in Literature and Heritage Award for Poetry and Short Stories on 1961, Honoraris Causa doctorate degree for Literature in FEU on 1959 and the prestigious National Artist Award for Literature on 1973.

Here is a sample of Villa's work, an excerpt from "Have Come Am Here" lyrics (1942):

In my desire to be Nude
I clothed myself in fire:–
Burned down my walls, my roof,
Burned all these down.

Emerged myself Supremely lean
Unsheathed like a holy knife.
With only His Hand to find
To hold me beyond annul.

And found Him found Him found Him
Found the Hand to hold me up!
He held me like a burning poem
And waved me all over the world.

Next is "The Anchored Angel" with style using commas:

And, lay, he, down, the, golden, father,
(Genesis', fist, all, gentle, now)
Between, the, wall, of, China, and,
The, tiger, tree, (his, centuries, his,
Aerials, of, light) —
Anchored, entire, angel!
He, in, his, estate, miracle, and, living, dew,
His, fuses, gold, his, cobalts, love,
And, in, his, eyepits,
under, the, liontelling, sun —
The, zeta, truth — the, swift, red, Christ.

The, red-thighed, distancer, swift, saint,
Who, made, the, flower, principle,
The, sun, the, hermit's, seizures,
And, all, the, saults, zigzags, and,
Sanskrit, of, love.
Verb-verb, noun-noun:
Light's, latticer, the, angel, in, the, spiderweb:
By, whose, espials, from, the, silk, sky,
From, his, spiritual, ropes,
With, fatherest, fingers, lets, down,
Manfathers, the, gold, declension, of, the, soul.

Crown, Christ's, kindle, Christ! Or, any, he,
Who, builds, his, staircase, fire —
And, lays, his, bones, in, ascending,
Fever. Verb-verb, king's, spike — who, propels,
In, riddles! Six-turbined,
Deadlock, prince. And, noun,
Of, all, nouns: inventor, of, great, eyes: seesawing,
Genesis — unfissured, spy: His, own, Arabian,
his, love-flecked, eye!
The, ball, of, birth, the, selfwit, bud,
So, birthright, lanced, I, hurl, my, bloodbeat, Light.

And, watch, again, Genesis', phosphor, as,
Blood, admires, a, man. Lightstruck,
Lightstruck, into, the, mastertask,
No, hideout, fox, he, wheels, his, grave, of,
Burning, and, threads, his,
Triggers, into, flower: laired,
In, the, light's, black, branches: the, food, of,
Light, and, light's, own, rocking, milk.
But, so, soon, a, prince,
so, soon, a, homecoming, love,
Nativity, climbs, him, by, the, Word's, three, kings.

— Or, there, ahead, of, love, vault, back
And, sew, the, sky, where, it, cracked!
And, rared, in, the, Christfor, night,
Lie, down, sweet, by, the, betrayer, tree,
To-fro, angel! Hiving, verb!
First, lover, and, last, lover, grammatiq:
Where, rise, the, equitable, stars, the, roses, of, the, Zodiac,
And, rear, the, eucalypt, towns, of, love:
— Anchored, Entire, Angel:
Through, whose, huge, discalced, arable, love,
Bloodblazes, oh, Christ's, gentle, egg: His, terrific, sperm.