During the British occupation in 1762, the church was destroyed by bombardment and left in ruins. It was rebuilt in 1862, but destroyed again in 1863 by an earthquake. During the Battle of Manila in 1945, the church was completely destroyed, leaving only the facade, nave walls, and bell tower standing. The church’s reconstruction began in the 1950s and continued on and off until 1984. A new and higher roof structure was built during the postwar reconstruction, and the remaining walls and bell tower were reinforced and repaired. A short wing juts out to the left of the nave and behind the facade, which is an unusual feature of the facade. It can be seen in early twentieth-century photographs as a connecting wing to the Dominican convalescent home, which was converted to Fabrica de Puros, a cigar factory, in the nineteenth century.
The current facade is divided into three vertical sections and two horizontal sections, which are capped by a triangular pediment with balustrades. With the post-World War II reconstruction, the balustrade vanished. The portal is located in the center, which is wider than the two sides. The facade is flanked by quadrilateral towers that extend all the way to the pediment’s base. The entire front section is adorned with niches. The pediment, too, has a niche. A five-story bell tower stands to the right of the facade, its upper four octagonal stories resting on a quadrilateral base. Each story has decreasing dimensions, giving the bell tower the appearance of a pagoda. Earlier engravings show an octagonal pointed roof that soared like a spire on the bell tower, but by the early twentieth century, this roof had been replaced by a dome, as seen in the current church.
Aside from the church, other significant religious structures were constructed in Binondo during this time period, including the Hospital de San Gabriel on the site now occupied by Plaza Cervantes and the Church of Nuestra Seora de la Purificacion in Baybay (San Nicolas today). However, when the residents of San Nicolas were relocated to Binondo, this church was abandoned. Initially, the majority of these structures were made of bamboo and grass. However, the Spaniards desired long-lasting structures that reflected the significance of their mission. As a result, they introduced stronger construction materials based on Spanish and Mexican technology , such as lime concrete/mortar, stone, and clay bricks and tiles. More durable building materials, such as native hardwoods and adobe, or local volcanic tuff, could be sourced locally. Clay ladrillo y tejas (bricks and tiles) could be fired locally, sometimes right on the construction site.
Although there is no evidence that the Chinese built structures such as houses and temples in the Philippines prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, it is widely assumed that they passed on their construction knowledge to their mestizo descendants. Those who rose to the rank of maestro de obra (master builders) pioneered the post-and-beam construction style popular in China. This method of building produced structures that were low, wide, and close to the ground. If a vertical structure was required, the builders would stack several layers rather than constructing a single straight structure.
Binondo Church’s bell tower exemplifies this style of construction. This post-and-beam construction was also used for the roof’s framework to better support the weight of the clay tiles. As a result, rooflines with flaring corners, similar to those found in Chinese temples, were created. Furthermore, early friar and missionary chronicles document the Chinese’s critical role in construction. Augustinians and Jesuits hired Chinese as master carpenters, masons, and artisans, and they even taught some of them how to paint and sculpt religious images in the Spanish tradition.
Trading and hacienda agriculture were the country’s main economic activities between the 17th and 18th centuries. It resulted in the emergence of a new economic class comprised of Chinese merchant traders and Filipino professionals. The newly wealthy class used the materials and technology used to build churches and convents to construct two-story homes known as bahay na bato (stone house) as a status symbol. Apart from being expensive, these homes were distinguished from their less affluent neighbors by the use of intricate ornamentation such as carved transoms and elaborately carved doors and furniture. Another influence of Chinese architecture, whose structures are often distinguished by their heavy use of ornamentation, could be considered the love of ornamentation.
But, in addition to providing shelter, these houses served as a hub of commerce for the sangley merchants. In many cases, the ground floor of the house would be a place of business for the owner, such as a retail shop or workshop. This resulted in the development of shop houses, which can still be seen in Binondo today. The entresuelo, literally “the space between floors” or mezzanine, was another feature of the house. These were originally intended to be servant’s quarters, but were later converted into home offices by some sangley merchants. If the owners did not use them as offices, they were converted into private rooms that boarders could rent.
By the nineteenth century, some bahay na bato had overhanging balconies. These were popular with pedestrians because the overhangs provided shade from the sun and rain. When more storefronts adopted this architectural feature, it became possible to walk the entire length of a street while remaining protected from the elements. The installation of toldas (awnings), usually in cloth, but some awnings would be more permanent, made of metal and wood, greatly improved protection from the elements.
Until the 1750s, trade between the Chinese and Spaniards was primarily conducted on board Chinese junks docked along the Pasig or near Intramuros . It was decided that a location on land where locals and Chinese traders could meet and conduct business was required. It would also be a location where Chinese goods could be inspected and assessed for customs duties. The Spaniards also designed the structures to separate the locals from the transient Chinese. This is due to internal security concerns rather than religious concerns.
In 1752, a site across the Pasig River was chosen, and construction on what would later be known as the Alcaiceria de San Fernando, or San Fernando’s Silk Market, began. It was a two-story octagonal-shaped structure with an inner courtyard designed by Fray Lucas de Jesus Maria. The lower floors were designated for commercial use, while the upper floors were designated for residential use. The lot and layout of the Pedro Guevarra School on San Fernando Street still bear traces of the Alcaiceria.
Europe experienced dynastic change during the 18th century. The Hapsburg dynasty was succeeded by the Bourbons, who boasted of being enlightened rulers. This extensive royal line produced monarchs and nobles who ruled in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and other countries, eventually becoming the ruling family of most of Western Europe. The Bourbons’ economic and political policies were modernizing, in keeping with the spirit of the Enlightenment, which began in France and spread throughout Europe. To wean the Philippines off its reliance on the galleon trade, the government encouraged the development of large-scale cash crop agriculture to be traded on the international market. The Real Sociedad Economica de los Amigos del Pais, a group of entrepreneurs and others from the private sector who pushed for economic reforms in the Philippines, aided the government’s work. By 1781, the colony’s economy had changed as a result of the introduction of tobacco as a cash crop and the monopoly on its sales, development, and export as a means of increasing government revenue. However, a location was required for both the production and storage of cigars. This was resolved when the Dominican friars donated to the monopoly their convalescence house next to Binondo Church. The factory that was built there was later known as the Fabrica de Puros.
Binondo grew in importance as a commercial center not only for Manila, but for the entire colony. However, with the town’s emergence as a business center came new requirements. The first requirement was storage space for both raw materials and finished goods. This resulted in the establishment of warehouses known as camarines, bodegas, or almacenes. These were usually made of stone or brick because they needed to be strong and sturdy. They ranged in size from a small shed measuring five by eight feet to one that resembled a two-story house at the time. They distinguish themselves from other structures by having a simple facade, a sufficient number of grilled windows, and a lack of ornamentation.
Another need that arose during this time was housing for the large number of migrant workers and their families who arrived in Binondo to work. As a result, a new type of dwelling known as accesoria arose. These were one- or two-story structures with multiple enclosed spaces that were rented out to different occupants. Each accesoria had a ground-floor entrance, a sala, and an extra room. The kitchen and bathroom were typically shared with the other occupants.
Binondo Heritage Area…
La Insular Cigar Factory, circa 1920 (Edward Delos Santos/Pinoy Kollektor)
Binondo was a thriving pueblo by the nineteenth century. While the tobacco monopoly ended in 1880, economic activity in Binondo continued to grow. More commercial and industrial structures were being built, such as the La Insular cigar factory, which was constructed in 1884 on the site of the old Fabrica de Puros. La Insular was the business of Joaquin Santamaria, Luis Elizalde, and others. The building was designed by Juan Jose Hervas y Arizmendi and was neoclassical in style. It had a semicircular arch for windows as well as a balustraded parapet with finials. A neo-Mudejar colonnade of twin but thin columns rising to two floors supported a balustraded balcony on the third floor. At regular intervals, the balustrade was broken up by plinths on which three-branched iron lamp posts with glass globes were mounted. The distance between the colonnade’s 11 arches alternated between narrow and wide, with the central arch being the widest. This varied the rhythm of the arches and broke the monotony of arches of equal width. In the Mudejar style, the arches had filigree-like lattice work. La Insular became one of the district’s most recognizable landmarks until it was destroyed by fire in 1944.
Binondo Heritage Area…
Hotel de Oriente (Colorized by Eduardo S. Sison, John Tewell Collection)
As disposable income increased in the late nineteenth century and foreign firms established operations in Binondo, a market for theaters, restaurants, and hotels arose. People could now afford to spend more money on recreational activities. The most well-known hotel was Hotel de Oriente, which was also close to Binondo Church. Built in 1889, it quickly became known as the best hotel in the Philippines, and for a time it was the only hotel. The hotel’s primary asset was its location. It was one block north of Binondo Church, near Calle Rosario, and a few blocks to the docks along the Pasig and the Puente de Espaa, which spanned the north and south banks of the Pasig, in front of Plaza Calderon de la Barca (now Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz).
Binondo Heritage Area…
Shop houses with overhanging balconies and toldas on Calle Rosario, now Quintin Paredes, in Manila’s Chinatown (Leo Cloma Collection)
The hotel was designed by Juan Jose Hervas y Arizmendi, who also designed the neighboring La Insular, and was built by Don Manuel Perez Marqueti, the father of Luis Perez Samanillo, who owned the art deco Perez Samanillo building along Escolta. Hervas was well-known for designing the Ayuntamiento in a neoclassical style. He was tasked with designing a hotel on a $100,000 budget. The hotel had 83 rooms on three floors, stables for 25 horses, an attic, in-room toilet and bath, running water, electricity, and telephone service.
The entrance and roof were tiled, while the upper floor was made of wood covered with hooked rugs. The facade was divided into seven bays and featured a narrow arcade with Mudejar arches. The central arch, which corresponded to the entrance, rose to the third floor’s top, while flanking arches rose to the second floor’s top. The windows were tall and wide, with ventanillas (small windows) beneath them, to accommodate the humid and warm tropical weather. These ventanillas were protected by iron grilles for security reasons. The rooms were furnished with tropical hardwood furniture with rattan solihiya (caning).
Americans arriving in 1899 flocked to the Hotel, which was considered plush for the time. Its facade provided a lovely view of Plaza Calderon, which featured manicured lawns and two cast iron fountains on either end. It opened up to a view of the Estero de la Reina and the San Fernando Bridge, which crossed it and linked Binondo to neighboring San Nicolas. Its cuisine was also well-known, with an international menu. It served Spanish and Mexican dishes in addition to its regular menus of French cuisine. Its curry was well known and was often compared favorably to the best in Bombay and Calcutta. Large prawns, Bombay duck, fried breadfruit, and grated coconut were also available.
When the hotel’s owner, Don Manuel Perez Marqueti, died in 1899, his widow sold it for $160,000. Walter Fitton, an Australian, purchased it for $350,000 in 1900 and later sold it to Sellner’s Manila Investment Co. Ah Gong, a Chinese food and wine distributor, restaurateur, and food purveyor with a large store on Calle Echague, leased it from Sellner’s. The hotel’s services declined under Ah Gong. In 1903, the Philippine Commission tasked architect Edgar Bourne with investigating the purchase of the hotel for $675,000 because it was the only well-appointed hotel of sufficient size to attract tourists. But, seeing the Oriente’s limitations, the Commission began planning for a larger hotel along the scenic Manila Bay, to be known as the Manila Hotel, which opened on July 4, 1912.
Binondo Heritage Area…
Binondo canal, Manila, circa 1920 (Leo Cloma Collection)
Binondo’s architecture was also influenced by government policies. In order to reduce traffic accidents and create space for loading and unloading, an ordinance was enacted in 1869 requiring buildings on corners to have a chaflan (beveled or chamfered corner). As a result, plazaletas, or small eight-sided open spaces, sprouted up on every street corner. The Philippine-Chinese community began campaigning for the establishment of a Chinese consulate in Manila in the late nineteenth century. This was the community’s response to what they perceived to be discriminatory and exploitative practices on the part of the local Spanish authorities. Their efforts were rewarded in 1898, when the consulate was finally permitted to open. The local Chinese community was successful in establishing the first local Chinese school, the Anglo-Chinese School or Tiong Se Academy, with the assistance of the consulate. They also assisted in the establishment of the community’s cemetery, hospital, and temple. Chong Hok Tong Temple is notable because it was the first structure built in the traditional Chinese style in the area.
Binondo remained the colony’s economic hub after the arrival of the Americans in 1898. Aside from trading and manufacturing, financial institutions such as banks, underwriters, and insurance companies began to establish offices in Binondo, transforming it into a financial center. With the opening of the Philippines to world trade in the mid-century, Escolta, which was originally a farm for horse fodder, was already developing as a business district by the end of the nineteenth century. It grew even more as more American and European businesses established themselves in Manila.
As business grew, businessmen adapted by using architectural design to project an image of being modern and open to new ideas. They were able to do so by introducing new building techniques and materials, such as the Kahn concrete reinforcement system. El Hogar by Don Antonio Melian is a good example of this. Built in 1914, this Beaux-Arts style building broke the two-story height barrier and conveyed modernity by using concrete as a building material.
Binondo Heritage Area…
El Hogar building by the Pasig River (A Philippine Album: American Era Photographs 1900-1930 by Jonathan Best. The Bookmark, Inc., 1998.)
The primary economic activity of the local Chinese community shifted from manufacturing and hacienda agriculture to distribution. Mariano Uy Chaco and his son Uy Vet were two of the more successful figures in this field. The Uy Chaco Building, their corporate headquarters, was the grandest and tallest structure of its time. Samuel Rowell, an American architect, designed the six-story structure in 1914. It was also made of concrete, like El Hogar, but it conveyed its modernity through an art nouveau motif. It was a gateway landmark into the district due to its proximity to Jones Bridge.
Between the 1920s and the early 1940s, construction activity was unabated. Companies attempted to distinguish themselves from one another by constructing structures with the most distinctive architectural styles. These structures were designed by architects such as Andres Luna De San Pedro and Fernando Ocampo.
Binondo was severely damaged following WWII. During the reconstruction period, new construction methods and materials such as reinforced concrete, steel, and glass were introduced. Unlike previous structures, the newer structures were distinguished by the use of cubic form and geometric shapes, as well as the absence of ornamentation. Aside from the challenges of reconstruction, Binondo now competed with newly opened business districts such as Makati’s Ayala Center. But there were still businessmen like George Ty who were willing to put their trust in Binondo. When he founded the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company in 1962, he chose Binondo as the first branch location. It was housed in the Wellington Building, Binondo’s most modern structure at the time. Built on the site of the Insular Cigar Factory, the building is notable for its use of the International Style, as evidenced by its brise-soleil facade (sunbreaker). The building’s design was considered cutting-edge at the time, and the style was copied by other buildings in the area.
As Binondo’s population grew in the postwar years, so did the demand for housing. However, as land prices in Binondo skyrocketed, developers and builders began to modernize the accesoria by constructing apartments four to seven stories high. These apartments, unlike the accesorias of the Spanish era, had their own separate bathroom and kitchen facilities. Elevators were now installed to help residents on the higher floors. The Ligaya Building on Alvarado Street is a prime example of this type of structure.
Attempts were made in the postwar years to highlight Binondo’s Chinese heritage through architecture. The five friendship arches built in traditional Chinese style around the district are the most visible evidence of this. Chinese Buddhist temples like the Seng Guan temple on Narra Street, as well as family ancestral halls like the Kim Siu Ching Foundation on Santo Cristo Street, help define Binondo’s ethnicity. A number of commercial and residential structures, such as the pagoda-style roof of the Imperial Sky Garden on Ongpin Street, have also used Chinese architectural design elements.
Binondo was no longer Manila’s main business district between the 1980s and 1990s. Nonetheless, it had a thriving business community and some of the city’s highest real estate prices. This persuaded some developers that the market for office space was still viable. The Tytanna Plaza on Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz and the State Investment Center on Juan Luna Street were among those constructed during this period. The tallest structure in Binondo, the 33-story postmodern inspired World Trade Center designed by American architect Michael Graves, was also built during this time period. Developers also began to construct taller housing structures, resulting in the introduction of condominiums such as the Numancia Residences on Numancia Street and Binondo Terrace on Alvarado Street.
San Nicolas, a neighboring district where the Dominicans established a church in the 16th century that was eventually absorbed by Binondo, was also undergoing redevelopment. This district was spared World War II destruction because of the Puente de San Fernando, which crossed the Estero de Binondo and connected with San Fernando Street. A large number of bahay na bato from the late 1800s and early 1900s escaped destruction. These were typical of Spanish-era shophouses, with the ground floor dedicated to shops and the upper floor to residences. As the area redevelops and real estate prices rise, whatever houses survived the war are being demolished and replaced by high rises.
Two trends emerged in the 2000s. First, developers are constructing ever-taller structures. Despite not having the highest land prices in the metropolitan area, Binondo is still expensive due to land scarcity. As a result, developers are forced to build upward. Warehouses, too, are increasingly being built as multistory structures rather than low and wide structures. This is to meet the growing demand for storage space among traders from mainland China, and it is equipped with freight elevators, backup generators, and closed-circuit television for security. Second, the newer structures being built are primarily residential rather than commercial. In fact, no new office buildings are being constructed, and some 1960s and 1970s office buildings are being demolished to make way for new condominiums. This is also in response to the increasing number of mainland Chinese traders wishing to live in Binondo.
Binondo’s architectural heritage is in grave danger.
Post navigation