P A ( n g ) L A B A S architecture + cinema Projections of Filipino Space in Film

Publication of this book has been assisted by the Ofce for Initiatives for Culture and the Arts (OICA) University of the Philippines, Diliman and Charter Chemicals and Coatings, Incorporated

2009 National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Gerard Lico Photographs contained herein are owned by their respective lm companies. Printed in the Republic of the Philippines. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Author: Gerard Lico Curation and Thematic Text: Patrick [Link] Photographic Research: Cesar Hernando Design: Gerard Lico

ISBN:978-971-814-126-7 Cover: Studio set of Bahay Kubo interior for the lm Pasang Krus produced by Sampaguita Pictures in 1939.
This book was made possible through the cooperation of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts with Ofce for Initiatives in Culture and Arts of the University of the Philippines at Diliman and Charter Chemicals and Coatings, Incorporated.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts General Luna Street, Intramuros, Manila [Link]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Architecture in 24 frames per second Tickets to Dreamscapes Design Location Enchantment Dwellers Device Bibiliography Acknowledgement

2 9 28 54 74 84 94 124 125

PA(ng)LABAS

architecture + cinema
Projections of Filipino Space in Film

Architecture in 24 frames per second

Throughout the twentieth century, lm and architecture have played out a relationship forged in space, and thus may be cast as spatial, one that mutually informs and interpenetrates. Architectural and cinematic practice thrives on the apprehension of space, taking on the esh of time and inhabiting a life of movement. The most interesting contribution of cinema to architecture is how lm creates a distinct synthetic space, through the accretion of fragmentary images over time through montage and the dogged stalking of scene in deep focus. In a way then, the house of architecture has many rooms, and the cinema roams. The title Pa(ng)LABAS is doubly coded to encompass both the concepts of projected moving image (palabas) and the exteriority of architecture (panglabas). Both posit a sense of place, a sense of locus. The collection of works dramatizes the juxtaposition of architecture and the imaginary environment of the cinema, and at the same time, probes the transformation of Filipino space, architecture, and urban landscape as visualized and mediated through the cinematic lens. A lm without architecture is unthinkable. Architecture gives lm its semblance of dimensions; setting the mood, character, time, and place for the action. It aords it the sensibility of position. Film oers a representation of movement through space in real time, approximating the architectural experience of the moving subject in an immersive milieu. Like lm, architecture has the potential to create, stage, or frame events so they assume discursive density and the rondure of signication.

At the basic level, architecture and cinema share natural built-in afnities. Architecture and cinema are both inuenced by a somewhat analogous mode of production: plan; construction: script; production. Architects and lmmakers pass through parallel routes in appropriating space and orchestrating the spatial experience and modes of perception of building occupants and movie audiences, respectively. How is architecture mediated through the language of cinema? Cinema can imitate the human eye in recording reality and evoke the kinetic experience of a body as it moves through architectural space. Akin to cinema, architecture can be programmed into sequences to unfold a spatial narrative and to conrm or negate expectations of location: origin, destination, routine, rupture, iteration, cycle, advance, retrogression, spiral. In exploring cinematic space, the viewers eyes are practically replaced by the camera. The camera can follow the eye or footstep, but cannot establish the relationship between body and vision, which is essential to the experience of architectural space. To experience architectural events is to get entangled in a web of choices, implicating the selection of path, voluntary or involuntary, conscious or unconscious. Cinema frustrates this logic or habit by providing a preselected route, where we psychologically abandon our capacity to choose and orchestrate our individual experience of space by allowing the director to maneuver it for us. The director assumes a god-like role as he controls the entire syntax of space, tempo, and movement expressed in dierent camera angles, panning, zooming,

Glass Shot of a Moorish Palace Ibong Adarna (1941) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Mayan-inspired Kingdom of Mu Enkantada ng Mahiwagang Pulo (1948) 4 LVN Pictures, Inc.

and editing techniques. Space and its process of taking root, the very essence of architecture, is now captured, re-presented and mediated by the director, rather than experienced directly. But on the other hand, the viewer may also defy the omniscience of this central aesthetic intelligence and feel lm in a range of creative ways and dispositions. This prospect is open, indeed. Conversely, the architect may at a particular level be authoritarian, too, constricting us to t into a scheme of space. But as art forms and viewers as aesthetic agencies they are not reduced to convention; they emerge in the tension between scheme and surprise. Part of this surprise is the future. Film provides architecture with an outlet for realizing visions that can never exist and conjures up experiences that in reality have not occurred. Freed from realitys nancial, logistical, and legal constraints, set designs have recreated imaginary environment from a distant past or experimented with new spatial ideas.

Film architecture is gifted with the alacrity to fulll its own visions, however impossible, in the celluloid space neither negotiating with client demands nor contending with constraints imposed by the structural engineer. With plastic freedom that disregards all formal rules of architectural vocabulary, celluloid space becomes an aesthetic laboratory for unbuilt and unbuildable architecture. Cinema, thus, becomes a forerunner of style as edices are desired before they are actually built. They are buildings, cities, and landscapes in wood, cardboard, painted backdrops, back projections, matte paintings, mirror tricks or virtually-generated digital images that come into transient existence as projected patterns of light and shadow, and an illusion played out in 24 frames per second.
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Otherworldly Landscape Zarex (1958) LVN Pictures, Inc

TICKETS
More than a century after the rst movie delighted audiences on the fourth wall of a darkened interior, movie theaters have become great Filipino congregational spaces, creating magical venue that transport moviegoers to a realm of make-believe. Philippine cinema and the space of spectatorship that it bred stood at the intersections of colonial theater and Hollywood. The Philippines cinematic dream palaces oered a fascinating escape from colonial bondage. The origin of the cinema house as a building form can be traced from the rst exhibition of lm in the Philippines, made possible by the construction of the rst electric power plant in the country in 1895. December 1896 marked the arrival of lm, and January 1, 1897 witnessed the rst public screening, just two days after the execution of Jos Rizal by ring squad. It was announced in El Comercio newspaper as Pertierras Scientic Spectacle: The Chronophotograph and screened at Fongrafo Pertierra, a hall on calle Escolta 12 (interior). Emerging slowly on the landscape, the motion picture palace in the early 20th century rose simultaneously with neoclassical infrastructures of American colonial tutelage, even contesting their presence as the new congregational space where Filipinos were captivated by the allure of Hollywood liturgy. The promise of aesthetic stimulation within the dimly-lit interiors of the cinema houses also rivaled the numinous church architecture of the previous era, employing the spectacle of disbelief and sumptuous facade. The conation of the quasi-religious aura and the persistence of vision of cinematic technology facilitated the slow but eective acculturation of the native subjects as they unwittingly participated in the rituals of devotion to the Great American Dream at the altar of projected images. In the 1930s, the heyday of the American colonial era and often referred to as the mythical peacetime, watching movies became a way of life, elevating the colonial diversion into a national pastime. A new industry rose, patterned after the studio system of Hollywood to sustain the protable demand. The fascination with moving
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images created a special kind of architecture of spectatorship that heightened the vicarious experience of ickering light and shadow within an atmosphere of illusion and enchantment. Thus, a new building typology was born, providing not only a dark rectangular hall for public screenings of motion pictures, but also a majestic place detached from reality. Architecturally, Philippine movie houses or sinehan was merely a box with a decorated faade, akin to colonial ecclesiastical structures frontal indulgences. The principal elevation of cinema buildings resorted to architectural gimmickry and fantastic ornamentation articulated at the immediate front, so designed to lure audiences inside a contrastingly dark and sparsely ornamented main viewing hall. Theatre owners realized that whimsical architecture sold tickets and gave a unique theatre identity, which the exotic motifs of Art Deco readily supplied. In the late 1920s, architects and stylists of movie houses turned to picture books of exotic cultures and archeological sources for themes and motifs, creating a cornucopia of stylized decorative elements emanating from a myriad of orientalist inuences. The tourist guidebook Manila and the Philippines, published in 1933 by the American Express Company, listed 20 movie houses and their respective addresses. From the list, only two structures survive to this today, the Metropolitan Theater (1931), decrepit but still a Manila landmark, and the last fully-functional single-screen theater, the Cine Bellevue (1933), until it was converted into a clothing store early in February 2008. Today, with the shift in spaces of spectatorship to the privacy of ones home brought about by the onslaught of television, downloadable movies and pirated DVDs, not to mention the pluralist mall environment burgeoning with cineplexes, the standalone cinema is rendered obsolete. Unwittingly, the phrase THE END which concluded every movie now describes the fate of the cinema palace of yesteryears, as these have succumbed to the swing of the wrecking ball, fading the once glorious architectural tribute to the world of extravagant imagination to black.

Life Theater (reconstructed, 1946) Pablo Antonio

Addresses of Manilas Cinematographs and Film-related Advertisement Late 19th century to early 20th century

Tickets to Dreamscapes and the Evolution of the Filipino Space of Spectatorship

The advent of cinematic technology, as well as the architectural form it gave rise to, were facilitated by the advent of American colonialism in the Philippines in the last years of the 1890s. While the Americans ruled as the new colonial masters with the mandate of Manifest Destiny, the colonial technology of ickering light and shadow proved to be a valuable instrument of assimilation transforming the natives from savage beings into cultured people. The constructed social milieu under this period underwent a gradual process of Americanization. The new colonial masters saw the potential of education and cultural reorientation by way of the public school system and the popular media, particularly cinema, to revise colonial loyalties and inculcate the ideology of American cultural supremacy. The policies in culture and education, in the guise of American benevolence and philosophy of White Mans Burden, were actually maneuvered to reiterate cultural superiority. Movies, the architecture that it spawned, and the hegemony of Hollywood in the cinema industry, would all play an indispensable part in the Americanization of the Filipino. As soon as the American colonial government was established, American and European businessmen ocked to the islands to seek their fortune through the machine called the cinematograph . When monumental public buildings of the Neoclassical style rose in the architectural landscape to project an image of American benevolence and a civilizing presence, so did motion picture palaces, but on a modest scale. While the Spanish conquistadores built monumental church edices to create a space for the propagation, conversion, and eventual pacication of the natives through Christian liturgy, the American colonial period used cinema houses as the space for assimilation, where the natives eagerly received the liturgy of Hollywood Americanism. The cinema as a colonial tool was not only meant to entertain, but to also divert the natives attention from the oppressive colonial schema and imperialist policies. As Filipinos sat within the dark escapist realm of cinema houses, they were gripped with potent doses of illusion framed by lm aesthetics and architecture to suspend disbelief about the harsh realities of colonial existence. The Philippine Cinematic Encounter The origin of cinema houses as a building form can be traced back to the rst exhibition of lm in the Philippines. Such cinematic encounters, according to lm historian Agustin Sotto, were made possible by the construction of the rst electric power plant in the country in 1895. Two years later, in January of 1897, lm began to be unreeled in 60mm Gaumont Chronophotograph, projecting patterns of light and shadow on the fourth wall of an improvised theater at the Salon de Pertierra at No. 12 Interior, Escolta. The screening was advertised as Espectaculo de Pertierra El Kronofotografo, which featured four lmstrips namely Un Homme Au Chapeau (Man with a Hat), Une scene de danse Japonaise (Scene from a Japanese Dance), Les Boxers (The Boxers), and La Place de L Opera (The Place L Opera). In September of the same year, two Swiss entrepreneurs, Leibman and Peritz, screened Lumiere lms, which depicted banal scenes from Europe at No. 31 Escolta (now near Tomas Pinpin Street). That evening, the viewing hall metamorphosed into a magical space where the audience transgressed the bounds of geography and unfamiliar cultures as such lmstrips as The Czars Carriage Passing Palace de la Concorde, An Arabian Cortege, Snow Games, Card Players and A Trains Arrival passed through the projection lens. Leibman and Peritz charged one Mexican dollar for the front seats, preferencia, and half a dollar for general entrance. There were four screening sessions each evening, every hour on the hour from six to ten in the evening. (Pilar 1977, 32) The event was advertised in the newspaper as Cinematograpo, a French patent label of a lm projector. This term would later be shortened to cine to generically refer to the lm medium, but together with the Filipino sufx han,
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that denotes a place, cinehan or sinehan would refer to a place for showing motion pictures. The movie showings continued nightly for two whole months, until the attendance dropped. This impelled Leibman and Peritz to transfer the viewing hall to a warehouse in Plaza Goiti and reduce the ticket prices. By the end of November, the movie hall had to close down due to the lack of new lms to screen. The scarcity of fresh movies may have been caused by the turmoil of the Spanish-American War, since movies were shipped all the way from Europe. Film screenings were not resumed until 1900, but overall, these initial screenings were few and far between because lms were perceived as mere eeting scientic novelties. For this reason, the films made an insignificant impact in Philippine society. Furthermore, its potential as a new medium of entertainment was not immediately realized, maintaining theatrical performances, ranging from the musical sarsuela to American vaudeville, the dominant form of entertainment. It could be surmised that the beginnings of an architecture for watching movies stood at the crossroads of colonial theater and Hollywood. Initially, the showing of motion pictures was limited, constituting a part in a theatrical program as the intermission between acts. A reversal of circumstance was impending as the new century came to the fore when movies emerged as an inexpensive alternative to theater. Movies, by then, were fast becoming a national pastime, and watching movies became a way of life. As the public of cinema settled in place, mainly in Manila and Cebu, the popularity of stage performances soon declined, reaching its lowest level in the 1930s. From Theater to Cinema Around the 1920s, the image on the silver screen was still smaller than the stage performance. Hence, it was architecture, rather than the lm medium itself, that was to be considered the most vital element to animate the entire ritual of watching movies. Between the 1910s and the 1930s, the design of cinema architecture began to distinguish itself from the legitimate theater design. Compared to classic theaters, movie theatres assumed a dierent tactic to attract potential cinema patrons from the street into the showcase, and then to lead them into a dream world concocted by lm. From exterior to interior, designers tried to wheedle out
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the patrons imagination with fantasy by utilizing architectural elements. Thus, fantasy was a necessary ingredient to substantiate the movie-going experience with a sense of astonishment. Fantasy was made possible through the various technologies of visually seductive architectural spectacle, strategically initialized at the faade of the cinema. Architectural spectacle, as dened here, could be the total manipulation of meaning-making processes through carefully choreographed spatial events that serves to mislead the subjects from reality in the face of manipulative designs. More importantly, the entire experience inside the cinema house had to be framed in such a way that the experience was potently suused with a sense of suspension of disbelief. By this technique, audiences were conditioned to be more receptive and interested, as they were cut o from the realities of their mundane existence outside the cinema premises and were transported into a rich and self-contained auditorium, where their minds were emancipated from their usual preoccupations and freed from their customary lives. The Philippine sinehan had to assume the schemes of fantasy in its richly articulated faade. In fact, in the years before the Pacic War, Filipino movie houses were just plain wooden or reinforced concrete box architectures with a decorated faade. This facadistic inection was manifested in the application of grandiose marquees and pulsating signs on the entrance faade, signaling to the people who would enter the building that it would be a totally dierent experience from their normal lives. In this dream world, spectators could more easily forget about their own lives and explore what it could feel like if they were the character on the screen. Once people entered the theater, they would pass through a series of spaces entrance vestibule, foyers, lobbies, lounges, upper level promenade and waiting rooms all of which functioned in comfort and promotion to enable audiences to escape from real life. Among those, the lobby was considered the most monumental space to stimulate the imagination of the large crowd. American Architect E.C.A. Bullock described his architectural concept for the cinema palace in a 1925 Architectural Forum article: the lobby must be a place of real interest, a place where the waiting throng may be transformed the walls and surfaces of the lobby should(permit) the theatergoers to get one vista after another, which will produce a desire to gain admittance to other parts of the house. In other

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Teatro Circo Zorilla Constructed in 1893 Savoy Theater 1920s

Vision Theater (1945) Cebu City Ideal Theater (1933) Pablo Antonio

Perspective of Ideal Theater (1933) Pablo Antonio Oriente Theater (1950s) Cebu City

Times Theater (1941) Luis Ma. Araneta Bellevue Theater (1931) Paco, Manila

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words, the lobby should be so designed and so equipped that the fascination resulting from it will keep the mind of the patron o the fact that he is waiting Thus there were many distractions in the lobby, such as stained glass, relief sculptures, ornate fountains and statuary. During the rst 20 years of the twentieth century, cinema theaters were designed to accommodate both live theatrical presentations such as the sarsuela and vaudeville, and the showing of motion pictures. So, movie palaces were designed to accommodate both live theatrical performances as well as lm features. It is also important to note that the emergence of Philippine cinema happened at a crossroads when the sarsuela was on the brink of demise. This decline, according to theater historian Doreen Fernandez in her book Essays on Philippine Theater History, could be attributed directly to the competition posed by the new lm medium. Incidentally, the early Filipino lms snatched the audiences away from the sarsuela by oering the same convention that the sarsuela had, including the predictable formulaic plot of the eternal love triangulation convoluted with emotionally-charged song-and-dance numbers. Indeed, the sarsuela died with the coming of cinema, but the architecture formerly dominated by live theatrical performances were remade to accommodate movie projecting equipment. Such spatial alterations drove the sarsuela away from its original venue, reducing the sarsuela as the provider of esta entertainment in the barrios. (Lico, 1998) In fact, when the rst Filipino lm, Ang Dalagang Bukid, was made by Jose Nepomoceno in 1919, the sarsuela was literally transplanted into the lm medium. The lm was an adaptation of a popular sarsuela of the same title and featured the original leading actors of the theatrical version. It was a silent picture, but live actors sang and declaimed their lines behind the screen as their image was projected onto the screen. This marked the symbolic transition from stage to screen. As lm claimed its space from the domain formerly ruled by theater, it was imperative that theater design be realigned to conform to the givens of lm technology. Cinema architecture necessitated adaptive interventions applied to existing theaters based on technical criteria imposed by moving pictures. Renovations, demanding new design parameters, had to be undertaken. At this point, theater design accounted for the following: audiences line of sight in a seated position in relation to a projection machine; a marked reduction or complete elimination of the orchestra pit and stage, and; the elongation of the length of the theater to magnify the projected image, among others.

The venerable Circulo Teatro Zorilla at Calle Azcarraga (now Recto, particularly on the site presently occupied by Isetann Department Store), built in 1893, was no exception to the motion picture craze, as it began showing movies in 1909. The grand circular theater, made chiey of wood, deteriorated in less than 40 years of existence, prompting owners to demolish the building in 1936. Just a stones throw away, the Manila Grand Opera House, built in 1902 and designed in the manner of an opera house, began to integrate and alternate movies in its programming. The building featured tiers of boxes around the main oor, above which was a dome. Burned in 1943, it was later reconstructed after the Pacic War. Post-war reconstruction plans required the elimination of the tiered boxes, as it had to follow the standard movie house conguration that divided the space into main oor, loge and balcony. From then on, it became a cinema palace, with the infrequent vaudeville show on the side. For a long time, the Manila Grand Opera House enjoyed a prominent place in the cultural arena until it was reduced to ashes by a mysterious re in the late 1970s. It is through the pages of history that we remember this building as the venue of the rst Philippine Assembly in 1907. A Wooden Box with a Decorated Faade No other contemporary description recreates as vivid an account of an early 1900 cinema space than the 1906 published memoir of the Englishwoman by the name of Mrs. Dauncey. The details in her diary, though tainted with a European bias, could be considered useful in the reconstruction of the movie houses of the period. In one of her passages, she noticed that the cinehan she went to was an empty basement, (which is actually either a remodeled accessoria or bodega), carrying a large sign in glass letters lighted from behind by electricity in the most approved European fashion. (Pilar 1977, 33) As early as the 1900s, a strong interest in the movies began to manifest, and theaters specializing exclusively in the showing of motion pictures began to mushroom sporadically. At that time, entrepreneurs came to recognize the promising prot of attracting the Filipino masses to the movies. Thus, a lot of large-capacity theaters were transformed into movie houses where audiences could enjoy not only movies, but also live stage performances. Generally, there was nothing great about the architecture of these cinemas, except that they were modest theaters or viewing halls tted with a projection machine, a screen, and rows of benches or uncomfortable chairs. In fact, the early venues for cinema were converted illventilated warehouses or bodegas constructed of wood.

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In 1902, British businessman Walgrah established a viewing hall called Cine Walgrah at No. 60 Calle Santa Rosa, Intramuros. That same year, the Gran Cinematograpo Parisien was inagurated at No. 80 Calle de Crespo, Quiapo, by Spaniard Samuel Rebarber. In 1903, a scenographic painter named Jose Jimenez constructed the rst Filipino-owned movie theater. This was the Cinematograpo Rizal at Azcarraga Street, in front of Tutuban Train Station. In 1904, a warehouse at the back of Quiapo Church at Calle Evangelista was converted into a cinema named Cine Orpheum. Another warehouse on Ongpin Street metamorphosed into Cine Cervantes. In 1907, Dr. Valentin Guidote retrotted an accessoria along Legarda Street in Sampaloc to become the Cine Moderno. Breakthroughs in cinema architecture were to ourish only in the 1910s as foreign businessmen tried to outrace each other in opening the rst cinema palace in the Philippines. In July 1910 (coincidentally, the year also marks the construction of the rst palatial movie theater in Paris), American entrepreneur Albert Yearsley transformed the Cine Orpheum into a movie house named Majestic. It was trumpeted by a Manila newspaper as the most modern cinema palace in the Orient. According to Sotto, the building amounted to P80,000 and had asbestos curtains and concrete walls making it re-proof. There were 2,600 seats and 50 boxes, while the stage was 70 feet long and 54 feet deep. A unique ventilation system permitted fresh air into the theater. Yearsleys competitor, Frank Goulette, opened his theater, Cine Anda, in the same district, a day ahead of Yearsleys announced schedule of opening. Goullete came out the victor in the race to build the rst true cinema palace in the Philippines. By the 1910s, the American consumerist culture permeated Filipino society. Filipinos fast became avid consumers of lm. American and European lm-distributing agencies were established in Manila. Among these was the Path Frres Cineme, which began to lease and sell lm projection gears. With these phenomena at hand that assured the constant supply of lms at introductory prices, the showing of lms increased, necessitating the conversion and construction of new theaters. These theaters included It, Paz, Cabildo, Empire, Gaiety, Ideal, Lux, Tivoli, Comedis, Apollo and Cine Savoy, all of which appeared between 1909 and 1911. Most of these theaters were strategically located near or within the stretch of Calle Azcarraga (now, Claro M. Recto Avenue), earning its title as

the rst movie row of Manila. Likewise, the construction boom of movie theaters reached the provinces that had electricity. From the 1910s to the 1930s, Hollywood companies established their overseas ofces in the Philippines and had exclusive cinema houses for showing their lms: the Ideal Theater for MGM; Universal for Universal Studios; Avenue for Warner Brothers; Ever for 20th Century Fox; State for Colombia Pictures, and so forth. Typologically, Philippine movie houses of this period could be likened to a box with a decorated faade. Exteriors of cinema buildings resorted to architectural gimmickry and fantastic stylism expressed only at the immediate front. These frontal indulgences were designed to lure audiences inside a contrastingly dark and sparsely ornamented main viewing hall. The seating arrangement of early cinemas was no dierent from what we have today. In the early days of cinema, however, it had a way of segregating people according to social status and economic class. The audience oor was divided into sections the palcos (boxes), the butacas (orchestra seats), and the entrada general (general admission). With the advent of sound in 1927, there were signicant changes in the design concept of movie houses, for at that time, lm became more dynamic, which was comparable to stage performance. Thus, there was no need to combine lm experience with live show and orchestras anymore. The movie palace with full stage facilities began to decline. On 3 August 1929, Radio Theater presented the first talkie: Fred Warings Pennsylvanian Syncopation. This was achieved by synchronizing phonograph records with the lm. The sound was faint and mufed in parts. As expected, the audience complained. The real thing, however, was not long in coming. On 12 October 1929, Leon Britton, a British engineer, arrived in Manila with 35 cases of equipment and 35,000 feet of lm. The next day, he presented a program of optically recorded sound lms at the Lyric Theater Rainbow Man, Steamboat Bill, The Marionettes at the Opera, and A Trip to the London Zoo. Talkie fever gripped Manila at once. Filipino lms dubbed live behind the screen by stage actors were advertised as talkies. The price of sound equipment was prohibitive

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State Theater (1935) Juan F. Nakpil

Main Theater (1950s) Juan F. Nakpil

Capitol Theater (1935) Juan F. Nakpil

Avenue Theater (1939) Juan F. Nakpil

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by Filipino standards; it would take a few more years to import and master the technology. Acoustical consideration became an issue in the design of movie houses. Despite these limitations, however, Filipino cinema took o and became the countrys most popular entertainment. Movie Theater Aesthetics from Art Deco to Modernism The late 1920s and 1930s witnessed the construction of cinema palaces designed by foremost architects of the period. These were rst-run movie houses showing only American movies. Escolta and Rizal Avenue were a movie bus seventh heaven. The aesthetics of movie palaces of the era were designed to astound the people, to awe them with its size and grandeur, to remove them as far as possible from their modest ats and toil-worn lives and make them feel, for the mere price of a ticket, like kings and queens in a castle. Theatre owners realized that the cutting-edge design of architecture sold tickets and gave a unique theater identity. Coincidentally, the preferred style was Art Deco. In architecture and design, it was also a time to break away from neoclassic Beaux Arts tradition and welcome moderne style. The fashionable Art Deco aesthetic swept the fancies of architects and designers. This stylistic departure was made possible through the cultural osmosis and diaspora of Filipino architects in the 1920s. The homecoming of the second generation architects Andres Luna de San Pedro, Pablo Antonio, and Juan Nakpil who after studying abroad and observing the various trends in Europe and America, initiated a deection from the Parisian Beaux Arts tradition and ushered the Art Deco sensibility. Later, in the 1930s, these same personalities would be at the forefront of the streamlined moderne idiom in the Philippine pre-war architectural milieu. The word Art Deco is derived from the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris. The Paris World Fair showcased more than a hundred pavilions representing twenty European, African, and Asian nations with the aim to catalyze a wider application of decorative arts in light of technology and mass-production. The inuence of the Art Deco style had a worldwide following in the period between the two World Wars. It reached its pinnacle in the 1930s and was hailed Jazz Age Baroque, which permeated virtually every palimpsest of the design world, making their appearance known in Hollywood lms, fashion, applied arts, furniture, interior design, graphic design, industrial design, sculpture, painting and architecture.

Art Deco was a synthetic form of stylization mediating between the traditional and avant-garde. Building silhouettes of the Art Deco asserted themselves in profuse abstraction and stylization, rich ornamentation, colorist eects, dramatic massing in simplied geometric forms and exotic imagery derived from polyvalent archeological sources. The recurring motifs in Art Deco ornaments include spirals, sunflowers, steps, zigzags, triangles, double triangles, hexagons, fragmented circles, nautilus shells, sunbursts, gazelles, abstracted vegetal forms, fountains, geometric motifs and chevrons, which are rendered in low relief with sharp angular contours. The most obvious expression of Art Decos opulence was often found in movie theaters, where the lavishly decorated interiors completed and reiterated the experience of escape oered by talking pictures. The zenith of this stylistic was embodied in Juan Arellanos Metropolitan Theater (1931), where Filipinized forms were found in the details, such as Philippine oral motifs, bamboo banister railings, carved banana and mango ceiling reliefs, and Batik mosaic patterns. In the 1930s, the design of cinemas gave way to smooth curves and the aura of precision and exactitudes of the streamlined style with its signication of the power of the machinery. Designers responded to economic constraints of the time by eliminating from the structure the abundance of applied ornament in favor of a more austere variant of Art Deco known as streamlined moderne. Inspired in part by great transatlantic ocean liners, the new style featured aerodynamic curves, smooth wall surfaces and steel railings, often marked by the signature trio of horizontal speed stripes that were meant to suggest motion. The streamlined moderne in the Philippines was considered the precursor of the International Style. Its architectural translation was based on horizontally-oriented buildings with aerodynamic curves, at roofs, glass blocks, banded windows, tubular steel railings, speed stripes, mechanistically smooth wall surfaces and interiors that were far less sumptuous. It paralleled the imagery used by industrial designers for airplanes, ocean liners, locomotives, automobiles and household appliances. The archetypal streamlined building was simply a horizontal rectangular container with rounded corners or semi-circular bays, with a smooth building skin with punctured porthole windows, and surmounted by a parapet or projecting thin slab roof. Pablo Antonios Ideal Theater (1933) and Luis Aranetas Times Theater (1941) exemplify the adaptation of streamlined moderne.

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Metropolitan Theater (1931) Juan Arellano

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Pablo Antonios rst architectural work for cinema was the Ideal Theater (1933), originally built of wood in 1908 on Rizal Avenue. The Ideal Theater was a statement in streamlined Art Deco aesthetics. The entrance to the theater is anked by two massive pillars in between vertical bands. During the Japanese occupation, Ideal was made an exclusive theater for Japanese movies. The Lyric Theater in Escolta was Antonios deviation from Art Decos machine aesthetics. Here, he abandoned streamlining in favor of an exotic Middle-Eastern theme. The faade features a wide central bay bounded by smaller bays on both sides, segmented by protruding pilasters pinnacled by nials. The middle bay is dened by pointed Islamic arch windows, which is further delineated by a bell-shaped emblem at the center. The Lyric was destroyed during the war. Juan Nakpil, a maestro of the Art Deco language, designed the Capitol Theater (1934) in Escolta and the State Theater (1935), Avenue Theater (1939) and Galaxy Theater in Rizal Avenue. State and Avenue Theaters were rebuilt in 1946. Nakpils ziggurat-like Capitol Theater survives today in Escolta after it reopened in 1947. The building extols symmetric balance and Art Deco motifs of recessed geometric grillwork (squares overlapped by circles) on the central tower over the entrance marquee. The Art Deco grilles are framed by large square pillars in receding bands that bound the square top. The planar surface anking the grillwork defied monotony through the placement of stylized maidens dressed in barot saya in bas-relief, as they carry the symbols of cinema and sound on both sides. Luis Araneta designed the Times Theater (1941) on Quezon Boulevard. To grace its opening with American presence, it was no less than Gen. Douglas MacArthur who inaugurated the theater. Times Theater was the rst to utilize backlighting as a decorative eect to its faade. It features an undulating wall broken in the middle by a at concrete surface. Vertical window strips on the undulations are capped by small curving eaves. It was also the rst theater to install permanent equipment with ozone to cleanse and deodorize the air inside. Life Theater (1941) on Quezon Boulevard was a rst-class cinema devoted only to Filipino movies. The white faade fuses Art Deco streaming and neoclassicism with its exaggeratedly scaled round columns tipped with conical nials.

Bellevue Theater (1931) in Paco is a small neighborhood theater that exudes the theme of Orientalism along the Neo-Mudejar Art Deco strain. The theater is symmetrical, with the central plane of elaborate concrete pierced work dominating the buildings composition, anked by two rectangular volumes topped by domes on both sides. At ground level, the cinema opens into a small foyer that leads to a psuedo-grand staircase, which is guarded on both sides by gilded sculptures of Harem maidens. Two emergency doors, on opposite sides and in the form of pointed arches, coheres with the facades claims to symmetry and Indo-Saracenic maneuvers. Cathay Theater (1937) in Gandara, Manila, was located at the core of the Chinese community. It was the only theater to solely showcase Chinese movies. We can only surmise that its architecture must have been Sinicized Art Deco architecture. Cinema houses were also erected outside Manila, like Vision Cinema (1935) built in the Beaux Arts revivalist style in Cebu, as well as Pines (1939) and Session Theater (1930s), utilizing Art Decos plasticity, in Baguio. Watching movies was temporarily interrupted with the coming of World War II. The Pacic War grounded the motion picture industry to a halt in 1942. Importation of Hollywood movies was banned. At the height of the Japanese occupation, movie houses breathed new life to the ailing Philippine theater as moviemakers turned to the stage. Though these theaters were intentionally designed for movies, some were provided with a stage of ample depth and had provisions for an orchestra pit. Stage shows regained their stronghold in the entertainment scene and, at the same time, ushered an important phase in the development and revival of Filipino theater. In November 1945, surviving from the ashes of war, movie houses began to reopen one by one. Movies provided a venue to cushion the impact of war upon the Filipino psyche. Theaters that renewed their commitment to their audience included Lyric, Metro, Coco, Rajah, Confucius, Alegria, Globe, Apollo, Astor, Zest, and Manila. By the post-war years and the next two decades, the popularity of modernism also had a profound eect on movie palace design. The concept of modernism encouraged designers to abandon exaggerated architectural ornament to pursue the merit of modern architecture: the application of new technology, austere geometry,

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Plaza Santa Cruz 1941 20

simple surfaces and lower cost. From then on, ornate downtown showcases merely became monuments to the past, as the new theaters incorporated the language of the International Style. The concurrence of post-war reconstruction and the Golden Age of Philippine cinema provided a suitable condition for the landslide increase in the number of movie houses, as moving pictures allowed Filipinos to recover from the psychological traumas of war. By 1950, there were about 450 movie houses in the Philippines. Life and Dalisay Theaters solely showed Filipino movies produced by the Big Four studios: LVN, Sampaguita, Premiere and Lebran. In the fth decade of the century, Pablo Antonio dominated the scene in the production of modern cinema spaces. He can be credited as the Father of Philippine Cinema Palaces due to his numerous works, such as the Ideal Theater (1933, Theater, and Alterations and Enlargements, 1954-1955), Lyric Theater (1935), Life Theater (1946, Theater and Auditorium, and 1954, Reconstruction and Enlargements), Lyric Theater (1947, Rehabilitation), Scala Theater (1947), and Galaxy Theater (1955). The Galaxy Theater (1955) was praised in Design Magazine as a monument to the progressive architecture in the Philippines. In Antonios words, it was so designed to serve its physical requirements honestly and featured with great simplicity, the theater possesses the power, beauty and the soul of modern architecture. Antonio called this structure architecture in the nude since the structural framework had been left bare: unadorned in controlled pattern for harmony, the resulting usage of structure both as an architectural element being the product of vision and progressive planning so essential to honest architecture. Technologically, Galaxy Theater was the rst theater designed for wide-screen formats such as cinemascope and cinerama. It also claimed to have the distinction of the largest proscenium opening and the biggest panoramic picture screen in the Far East in the 1950s. Also in the 1950s, Juan Nakpils Ever Theater in the Avenida was notable for its elegant lobby. The Ever Theater was the rst to use glass as a prominent architectural material. Here, glass was vividly articulated on both the faade and the lobby. The lobby features a staircase with aluminum railing winding up to the balcony section along a mirrored wall. Bauhaus-pioneer Walter Gropius hailed it as a beautifully designed piece of work. I am impressed with the

treatment of the lobby, the choice of materials, the cantilevered monumental staircase with the side mirror, and the manner in which the auditorium has been successfully designed. The 1960s was, for Nakpil, a time for looking forward to more geometric lines. At this stage, Nakpils architecture espoused a vociferous pronouncement of the International Style. The profusion of folded plates as structural members spurred the utilization of diamond-shaped supports on the exterior. The interiors emerged as a sumptuous play of textures pebble-washed oors, adobe screen walls, wooden stairs and screens with a natural nish. An example of this new style is the now demolished Rizal Theater (1960). This theater introduced the concept of the one-oor auditorium in which orchestra, lodge and balcony formed one uninterrupted slope. The seating arrangement was to be replicated in movie houses that came later, especially for those found inside the mall. By the late 1950s and 1960s, the rise of the television began to threaten the existing downtown movie palace. Sooner or later, together with the expansion of the suburbs, people stayed home and switched on the boob tube. The downtown movie showcase dropped dramatically from then on. With the drop in audience attendance, movie theaters, aside from adapting new cinematic technologies, began appropriating the kitcsh and glitz of the so-called Googie Architecture popular in Southern California in the 1960s. Googie is loosely classied as a humorous but futuristic style of vernacular architecture that thrived as a commercial style, applied to coee shops, restaurants, roadside signs, gas stations, movie theaters, car washes, malls and motels. Eventually, even residential areas swiftly embraced this kooky metaphorical style. This phenomenon approximates and reimagines the suburban expansion in American cities. Thus, as we adapted the Californian bungalow as our residential architecture, so did we carry the whole baggage of Californian suburban imagery. The movie houses built during this time were clad in Googie to ensure the total reproduction of American suburban fantasy. The stylistic essentials of Googie include abstractness, the use of multiple structural elements, inclusion, and the deance of gravity. Boomerang shapes were popping up everywhere, from architecture and roadside signs, to Formica tables and buttery chairs. Partnered with boomerang shapes were blobby amoebae forms, which are typical of lively roadside signs of the time. Starbursts and atomic model shapes were direct reminders of mans scientic

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Galaxy Theater (1957) Pablo Antonio

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Life Theater Quiapo, Manila 1941

Rizal Theater (1960) Juan F. Nakpil

Escolta Nightscape 1950s

Movie Houses (1950s) Marcos de Guzman

24

ingenuity, and were featured elements of vernacular design. The works of Marcos de Guzman, such as Jesse Cinema and Imperial Theater, typied the Philippine Googie adaptations for the 1960s cinemas. Given the increase in the maintenance cost of the extravagantly decorated theatres, theater owners, in lieu of declining receipts, found themselves demolishing, gutting, dividing or abandoning many of the old style palaces. The renovated cinema spaces, like the newer theatres that were constructed between the 1960s and the 1980s, lacked the glamorous aesthetics of yesteryear their facades were reduced to small back-lit plastic signs listing the names of the movies inside. Auditoriums were smaller with screens set in the center of a blank wall, embellished by neither proscenium curtains nor decorative walls nor seductive lighting. Since the late 1950s, there were several introductions of new presentation techniques in showing films: three dimensional lms, cinemascope, vista-vision and cinerama, all of which enticed audiences to go back to the conventional movie theater. Meanwhile, the application of new technologies also aected the layout of the buildings, for they required large amounts of space and equipment. The exterior geometry and interior layout inevitably had to be changed. Death of a Dream Factory With the onset of urban sprawl, the original business districts Escolta, Santa Cruz and Quiapo declined. Movie-going activities lessened as Cubao and Makati became the new business centers. The glory of Manilas cinema lane faded to black. In Rizal Avenue alone, the once proud and magnicent cinema faade was concealed under the shadow of the LRT line. One look at the deteriorating theater edices of Life Arcade and Times in Quiapo, Odeon, Roxan, Capri, Scala and Galaxy in Rizal Avenue, Hollywood, Dilson and Tandem in C.M. Recto, become nostalgic walks down memory lane, when movies were movies. Rizal Theater and Magallanes Theater in Makati City, for example, have already yielded to the wrecking ball of real estate development. The Metropolitan Theater in Lawton is in limbo, until the ownership disputes are resolved between the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the City of Manila.

Spectators are not the only ones cueing-out of the buildings; the theaters themselves have internally shifted to make way for adaptive reuse. Vision Theater in downtown Colon, Cebu is now a billiard hall with various commercial tenants, such as a ticket ofce for shipping vessels and stores for cellular phones. Cine Regent in Iloilo is a mall. Cine Bellevue in Paco, Manila is now an outlet store for direct sales business. Life Theater in Rizal Avenue metamorphoses into a mall specializing in electronics. Roxan in Rizal Avenue, for a while, was a billiard hall too, but is now housing a Hortaleza beauty store. Luneta Theater in Ermita has closed but has kept its once famous marquee by the bay alongside the signs of its new tenant, the Kenny Rogers restaurant. Galaxy Theater transgured into Jollibee. Delta Theater in Quezon City and New Love Theater in Quezon Boulevard fronting the Manila central market have been transformed into a red-light venue with billiard tables, video games, live musical bands and rave parties, called Virus and Music Warehouse respectively. These entertainment venues more than t the call for adaptive reuse for non-operational cinemas, since the nature of the shows featured in them is still directed towards the arts. Most notable is Music Warehouse for keeping the faade and interior bas-relief of the two-faced theater mask, native costumed folk dancing and playing musical instruments, and other film iconography. Meanwhile, like most other run-down theaters these days, Gala Theater in Evangelista Street, Quiapo features adult entertainment with GROs and a karaoke. A new kind of spectacle awaits the crowd every weekend in theaters such as Circle Theater and Paramount in Quezon City, as they have become houses of worship for various Born Again Christian groups. Representatively, these theaters now have become pulpits of the gospel for the deliverance of spectators who once sought earthly pleasures inside its dark halls. On the extreme hand, some of these old theaters earned notoriety as gay cruising spaces or what scholar Aaron Betsky identied as queer spaces. The dark realm of the auditorium of Alta Cinema in Cubao or Pearl Theater in Sta. Cruz becomes a synergistic stage for spectatorship and exhibitionism, a site for displaying a continuous parade of bodies and personalities, and most of all, a queer appropriated space conducive to the performance of publicized same-sex sexual encounters.

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Theater Strip Avenida Rizal 2004

Scala Theater (1947) Pablo Antonio 2004

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The second type of theater we encounter these days is perhaps the most detrimental culprit in the exodus being experienced by the stand-alone theaters the equally fantastic malls that contain bland Cinemaplexes. Tracing its path, the shift from stand-alone theater to mall started as early as the 1970s with the concept of the shopping center with a Cinemaplex, such as Harrison Plaza in Manila and QUAD in Makati. These places eventually led to the rise of the monolith mall with multi-screen oerings. Television and video technology shifted our attention from the vicarious delights of the silver screen. The super malls and multiplexes have made the cinema palaces obsolete and forgotten. The once magnicent architecture of fantasy is now deteriorating and crumbling. The last remaining seats inside are infested with mites and prostitutes. They are mere relics of nostalgia. The curtain might have fallen on those glorious edices, but the spirit of the Filipino cineaste has not died down. The mechanic hum of the projection room and the faint sound of the audiences laughter still seemed to reverberate through its cavernous auditorium, saying that once upon a time, it was a place where dreams were born.

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Galaxy Theater (1957) Pablo Antonio 2004

DESIGN

Ornament is not merely frill or whim. And if it ever were, it is very telling of fantasy, the origin of a dreamscape, a blueprint of what might be. This is the stu cinema is made of and the movie house is its temple, its dark cave of allegories of possible futures. This alternative world is possible because it is designed. To build form and an abode is not only to survive, but to draw up a place of certain mythologies: the kinship that binds families, the togetherness it fosters, the zone of comfort and security whenever everything else is threatened or on the verge of falling apart. The movie house is residence, an address that is visited as a matter of ritual and on a regular cycle. It stands with its signs: marquee, staircases, curtains, and so on. These elements reside in spaces and edices as well. What would they be without artice? What would they be, if they could not pose as distinct places, artless and plain? But more than that, what would they be if they could not signify a prospect and make it esh on celluloid, a world beyond the worldly: dierent planets, space ships, aliens, superheroes, ghosts, even just a dream house. The art deco movie house is a case in point because its design was both within and without. A far cry from the camarin-teatro or warehouse-like theaters of the primeval years of cinema, it gave lm audiences a new experience beyond mere visual appeal of the faade appliqu. The attraction of lm going was not only based on the movie that one went to see but also on the total architectural ambience, allowing audiences to spend time in a place detached from the harsh and dull surroundings of quotidian life. The circulation of the public was orchestrated in sequence of spaces, a progression that approximated the structure of lm narrative
28

from exposition to climax. Once people entered the theater, they would pass through a series of space: entrance vestibule, foyers, lobbies, lounges, upper level promenade and waiting rooms, all of which meant for comfort. Among those spaces, the lobby was considered all but stellar, putting under its spell the star-struck rabble. There were a lot of distractions in the lobby, such as stained glass, relief sculptures, ornate fountains, and statuary. Overall, architecture provided color to the lm cinematic experience even before the advent of glorious Technicolor.

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Datus Royal Residence Zamboanga aka Fury in Paradise (1937) Filippine Films

Ifugao wedding ritual Waywaya (1982) Four N Films

Muslim Wedding Ritual Badjao (1957) LVN Pictures, Inc. Pre-colonial Muslim Palace Waling Waling (1948) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Sultans Palace Palasig (1952) Sampaguita Pictures (opposite page) Toranas of the fabled Kingdom of Mu Enkantada ng Mahiwagang Pulo (1948) LVN Pictures, Inc. Colonade Pulo ng Engkanto (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Harem Dalaga Mayor (1966) Virgo Film Productions Shell Gras-o-line Station Juan Tamad Goes to Society (1960) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Moorish Palace Prinsipeng Hindi Tumatawa (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page) Palace Ruins Bernardo Carpio (1951) Sampaguita Pictures

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Royal Bedchamber Aladin (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc. Sultanas Chamber Prinsipeng Hindi Tumatawa (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc. Holy Land (Ruins of Guadalupe Church, Makati) Dimas (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Palace Interior Ibong Adarna (1955) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Grecian Bedchamber Florante at Laura (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Glass shot of Prince Constantines Castle Reyna Elena (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc. Egyptian Hypostyle Higit Sa Korona (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Olympia Venus (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc. Biblical Kingdom (Agri-Fina Building in Luneta) Haring Solomon at Reyna Sheba (1952) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Throne Room (Lobby of Department of Finance) Prinsipe Amante sa Rubitanya (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Colonial Town Street Sakay (1993) Alpha Omega Zeta Entertainment Inc. Altar of the Black Nazarene Kuba sa Quiapo (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Staircase Siete Dolores (1948) Nolasco Brothers Zaguan of a Bahay na Bato in Bulacan Heneral Gregorio del Pilar (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Neocastillian Residence in New Manila Gitano (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Faade of a Colonial Church Simaron (1956) Everlasting Pictures Garrote at the Plaza Virgin Forest (1985) Regal Films

Interior of a Colonial Church Sisa (1998) Good Harvest Spanish Garrison Emilio Aguinaldo (2000) Joe Mari Avellana

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Baroque Church of Ilocos Andalucia (1976) Lea Productions (opposite page)

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Exterior of Church in Laguna Ganito Kami Noon Paano Kayo Ngayon? (1976) Hemisphere Municipal Hall Siklab sa Batangas (1952) Sampaguita Pictures

Sala of a Bahay na Bato in Bacolod Gumising KaMaruja (1978) FPJ Productions Neocastillan Mansion in Broadway, Quezon City (owned by LVN matriarch Doa Sisang) Romansa (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Presidio Rizal sa Dapitan (1997) Independent Cinema Association of the Philippines (opposite page)

Mansion Interior (Built-in set of staircase at LVN studio) Manugang at Biyenan (1948) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Balcony of Malacaang Palace Gintong Pangarap (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Interior of 1950s modern vernacular residence Sa Libis ng Nayon (1959) Sampaguita Pictures (opposite page)

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Balcony Oro Plata Mata (1982) Experimental Cinema of the Philippines Baguio City Sumpaan (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Bedroom Baluga (1969) Vera-Perez Pictures Bedroom Tanikalang Dugo (1973) Lea Productions

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Exterior Set of Bahay na Bato Casa Grande (1958) LVN Pictures, Inc. Opulent 1960s Living Room Siete Dolores (1968) Virgo Film Productions Set of Japanese Military Torture Chamber Tagumpay (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Location shooting at an Accessoria Hantik (1950) LVN Pictures, Inc. Miniature Model of an Accessoria Hantik (1950) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Studio set of an overscaled room Nuno Sa Punso (1950) LVN Pictures, Inc. Interior of Spacecraft Zarex (1958) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Living room set built at LVN studio Honeymoon (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc. Studio set of an American Residence Magkaibang Lahi (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Caida of de Leon house at San Miguel, Bulacan Itim (1976) Cinema Artist Studio set of a Police Precinct Maling Akala (1948) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Bodabil Stage Vod-a-Vill (1953) Sampaguita Pictures Nazi-inspired Stage Design Alpha Kappa Omega Batch 81 (1982) MVP Pictures

Bodabil Stage with Talon Magkumpareng Putik (1950) LVN Pictures, Inc. Studio set of a mansion Sa Tokyo Ikinasal (1948) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Bodabil Stage Isumpa Mo Giliw (1947) Sampaguita Pictures (opposite page)

LOCATION

Where buildings are placed matters much. They define an environment, a context of people and other places. Vicinity is not a neutral arrangement; rather, it is a neighbourhood, a village. Movie houses are strategic locations. They are in the mall, near the church or school. They are memorable because they mark occasions and bring friends together. Also, the sinehan may be able to signify urbanization, a cosmopolitan lifestyle. That the sinehan is in downtown has a lot to say about its role in the formation of mass culture. It is relish to imagine how it must have been for Filipinos watching the rst lms to see the light of silver in an unassuming room along Escolta, the countrys rst business district, just a couple of days after Jose Rizal was executed in Bagumbayan. Watching lms, therefore, was contemporaneous with waging a revolution. And it is intriguing as well to think of how Filipinos today trek to the edge of the water to catch the latest lm in the Cineplex of Shoe Marts Mall of Asia, a gargantuan mall shaped like a ship ready to set sail towards the uncharted sea of capitalism. In both voyages, adventure-time surely in an era of revolution and the collapse of neoliberalism, lm gets principal billing. In lms, the stories sometimes are about places; they become characters in themselves and not merely part of some atmospheric eect: the lake where a murder has been committed, the room where memories roam, the house that is haunted, the church where tragic lovers had meet.

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Sand Dunes of La Paz, Ilocos Norte Himala (1982) Experimental Cinema of the Philippines

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Manila Post-Liberation Ruins Magkaibang Lahi (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc Manila at War Manila Open City (1968) Nepomoceno Productions

Manila Street on the Eve of War Ulila ng Bataan (1952) Sampaguita Pictures Post-Liberation Streetscape Victory Joe (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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War-torn Edices of Manila Victory Joe (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Ilocos petried landscape Andalucia (1976) Lea Productions Manila Breakwaters Babae sa Breakwater (2004) Entertainment Warehouse Inc.

Riverine Landscape Magkaribal (1979) Regal Films Fishing Village, Laguna de Bay Nunal sa Tubig (1976) Seven Stars Productions

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Mongolian Landscape (Adobe Stone Quarry in Guadalupe, Makati) Genghis Khan (1950) MC Productions (opposite page)

Stone Church in Bohol Dagohoy (1953) LVN Pictures, Inc

Rizal Monument Big Shot (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc

Shooting a costume epic at Intramuros Gate (opposite page)

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Hinulugang Taktak Falls Himala ng Birhen sa Antipolo (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc

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Taal Lake viewed from Tagaytay Violeta (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc

Baguio City Landscape (Burnham Park) Bagong Manunubos (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc (opposite page)

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Quiapo Underpass Geron Busabos: Ang Batang Quiapo (1964) Emar Pictures Ongpin Street Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975) Cinema Artists

Smokey Mountain Dumpsite, Tondo Jaguar (1979) Bancom Audiovision Rooftop in Manila Manila by Night aka City after Dark (1980) Regal Films

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Ruins of San Francisco Church, Intramuros Anak Dalita (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Public Bath Bara-Kalye Boys (1971)

Urban Slum Eddie Long Legs (1964) Vera-Perez Pictures Lahar-buried Living Room Lahar, Paraisong Abo (1996) Star Cinema Productions

Urban Slum Mga Tigre sa Looban (1968) Virgo Film Productions

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College of Fine Arts at the Main Library University of the Philippines, Diliman Babaeng Hampas Lupa (1952) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

Bahay Kubo Vicinity Basahang Ginto (1952) Sampaguita Pictures Urban Slum Dayukdok (1961) Sampaguita Pictures

Manila Dumpsite Kahit Akoy Lupa (1984) Amazaldy Films Slum Insiang (1976) Cine Manila Corporation

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Slum Vicinity Jack and Jill (1954) Sampaguita Sidewalk dwelling Maldita (1953) Sampaguita Pictures

Post-war Slum Community Malvarosa (1958) LVN Pictures, Inc. Remote Village Misteryo sa Tuwa (1984) Experimental Cinema of the Philippines

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Suburban Street of Manila Tumbalik na Daigdig (1953) LVN Pictures, Inc Tutuban Train Garage Stowaway (1966) Emar Pictures

Barrio Street Batalyon XIII (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc Scavenger Pushcart Mga Batang Yagit (1984) Viva Films

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Riverscape The Boatman (1984) A.M.A. Communications Slum Laundry and Bath Live Show (2000) Available Light Production

Sulu Coastline (Subic Bay) Badjao (1957) LVN Pictures, Inc Cultural Center of the Philippine Fountain Stardoom (1971) Lea Productions

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Hinterland Virgin Forest (1985) Regal Films Belfry of Sta. Maria Church, Ilocos Sur Padre Burgos (1949) Premiere Production

Intramuros Ruins Gitano (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. Street of Colonial Manila Jose Rizal (1998) GMA Films

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Finance Building, Luneta Ye Ye Generation! (1969) Vera-Perez Pictures (opposite page)

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ENCHANTMENT

With the sense of wonder and belief, the movies are moments of fascination: the idea of the silver screen or the concept of larger than life is an instance of this enigma of the unknown but never by the unknowing. And it is usually the star, the actress who suers or the action hero who routs lifes myriad scoundrels, who draws the crowd. It is the star who heralds the movie through billboards, painted by popular artists before they were replaced by digital designers who print on tarpaulin. The star system of Hollywood is a powerful and pervasive inuence on Philippine cinema and this logic of practice has been question and analyzed. As a result, there have been lms talking about cinema itself, about its very ability to enchant. How does lm perform its tricks? How are its acts contrived? Movie houses, like the lms that unreel inside their sanctum, call attention to themselves, the better for them to weave magic. Architecturally in the beginning the sinehan was merely a box with a decorated faade, akin to colonial churches. The principal elevation of cinema building achieved architectural flair and fantastic ornamentation articulated at the immediate front, so designed to lure audiences inside a contrastingly dark and sparsely ornamented main viewing hall. Theater owners realized that whimsical architecture sold tickets and gave a unique theater identity, which the exotic motifs of Art Deco readily oered. In the late twenties, architects and stylists of movie houses turned to picture books of exotic cultures and archeological sources for themes and motifs, creating a cornucopia of stylized decorative element emanating from an array of inspirations, from orientalist and Indo-Islamic to the South Seas .
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Sultans Court Aladin (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Palace Steps (Finance Building, Luneta) Prinsipe Amante sa Rubitanya (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Well Binatang Taring (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Moro-moro Stage Ibigin mo Ako Lalaking Matapang (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Bahay na Bato in Bacolor, Pampanga Sisa (1951) Premiere Productions

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Interior of the Belltower of Church Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur Sawa sa Lumang Simborio (1952) Premiere Productions and Manuel Vistan Jr. Production

Interior of 1950s Residence Hatinggabi an episode in Apat na Kasaysayang Ginto (1956) Premier/Sampaguita Pictures (opposite page)

Hacenderos Residence (Neocastillan House in New Manila) Giliw Ko (1939) LVN Pictures, Inc. Intimate Space Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak (1967) Nepomuceno Productions

Tennis Court Basahang Ginto (1952) Sampaguita Pictures Interior, House in Malate, Manila Relasyon (1982) Regal Films

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Muslim Wedding Ritual Zamboanga aka Fury in Paradise (1937) Filippine Films (opposite page)

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Silong Alyas Baby Tsina (1984) Viva Films

Manila by Night aka City after Dark (1980) Regal Films

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Makeshift Bedroom, Family Theater Angeles City, Pampanga Serbis (2008) Centerstage Productions (opposite page)

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DWELLERS

Cinema is a collaborative medium, and so is architecture. Cast and crew conspire to make both. Images of movie houses reveal workers in the industry, from stars to ticket sellers; they also lay bare the masses who ock to movies, the public that is the essence of cinema as a democratic art. In the same vein, it is to the credit of cinema to document the scale of a population, the surge of bodies, the swarm it spawns. Cinema is watched by a collective audience and it also devours the world as it conjures a semblance of an expanse, the panoramic landscape, the horizon where past and future converse. On the other hand, it may also zero in on the intimate, micropolitical expressions of everyday life, the struggle to eke out a living in a brutal metropolis, the act of sexualities in dark corners, or crimes done in the most unusual precincts. Cinema is there to catch the furtive, coddled by elusive spaces and nearly invisible aspirations. It may be worth noting that National Artist Juan Nakpil and Pablo Antonio began their careers by designing cinema palaces, a testament to the importance of the movie house in the history of Philippine culture: it was the bearer of the latest palabas as well as the next attraction.

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Two-story Clapboarded House Tanikalang Papel (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Exterior of LVN Studio Sarungbanggi (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Living Room Set Shooting of Silent Movie in the1920s

Studio set of a Moorish Palace Ibong Adarna (1941) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Church Plaza Complex Aguila (1980) Bancom Audiovision Nagcarlan Cemetery, Laguna Ganito Kami Noon Paano Kayo Ngayon? (1976) Hemisphere

Suburban House Kwintas ng Pasakit (1953) LVN Pictures, Inc. Living room with modern rattan furniture Combo Festival (1958) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Re-creation of Camp O Donnell Capas (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

Premier of Krisalis (1957, LVN Pictures) Dalisay Theater, Manila

Premier of Ikaw Kasi (1955, LVN Pictures) Dalisay Theater, Manila

Fort Santiago Gate Rodrigo de Villa (1952) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Fishing Village, Laguna de Bay Nunal sa Tubig (1976) Seven Stars Productions Studio set Magkaibang Lahi (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Intramuros Ruins Tagumpay (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc. Studio set Miss Philippines (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Sand Dunes of La Paz, Ilocos Norte Himala (1982) Experimental Cinema of the Philippines (opposite page)

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DEVICE

The materials of movie houses create a faade of the latest, index to the progress that cinema as a potent medium projects. If lm was able to allude to a technology that dened the twentieth century, inscribed on the surface of the sinehan are the details of allure and development: reinforced concrete, neon lights, art deco reliefs in the thirties, airconditioning, and the state-of-the-art amenities that come with the movie-going experience these days, lm-palace pleasures that make us feel at home, pampered by reclining seats, sensuround, and other luxuries. If the history of lm is a history of technology, then the history of electricity is entwined with the history of the moving image. To be likewise viewed on the screen are mutating materials of the space and built forms, from nipa houses speaking of tropical idylls to sprawling slums intimating interminable poverty. The rift between rich and poor takes us to mansions and hovels. Aspirations to wealth lead us to condominiums and mass housing. Apartment complexes and hamlets in the countryside remind us of communities as we the public or audience behold its spectacles. But more fundamental in the ties between the screen and the production of space is the reexive analysis of the tension between gure and ground in terms of framing, montage, movement, and narrative displacement. This self-consciousness of presence in place is vital because it indicates the conditions of contingency as people inhabit, home in, settle.

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Bahay Kubo Basta Ikaw (1957) LVN Pictures Inc.

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Sala Sakay (1993) Alpha Omega Zeta Entertainment Inc. Plaza Simon Bastardo (1970) Emar Pictures

Belltower of Church Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur Sawa sa Lumang Simborio (1952) Premiere Productions and Manuel Vistan Jr. Production Paoay Church Andalucia (1976) Lea Productions

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Bulacan Presidencia Heneral Gregorio del Pilar (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

Dungeon, Intramuros Intramuros aka Walls of Hell (1964) Filipinas Productions and Hemisphere Pictures Colonial Bridge Santiago! (1970) Lea Productions

Cabra Lighthouse, Mindoro Occidental Parola (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. Nagcarlan cemetery Simon Bastardo (1970) Emar Pictures

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Baroque Church of Ilocos Andalucia (1976) Lea Productions

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Church Plaza Walang Sugat (1957) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Ancestral House Ina, Kapatid, Anak (1979) Regal Films

Bedroom of de Leon house at San Miguel, Bulacan Itim (1976) Cinema Artist

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Japanese Military Ofce Casa Grande (1958) LVN Pictures, Inc. Old mansion in Bacolod Oro Plata Mata (1982) Experimental Cinema of the Philippines

Altar in a Bahay na Bato Ina Ka ng Anak Mo (1979) Movie Masters Bodega Angelica (1961) Sampaguita Pictures

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Bahay na Bato Sipag ay Yaman (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. Japanese Military Quarters Tagumpay (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Staircase of a Bahay na Bato Bukas Madilim Bukas an episode in Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa (1975) Cine Manila Corporation Bedroom Casa Grande (1958) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Garbage bin Gilda (1956) Sampaguita Pictures

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Postwar shanty Gorio at Tekla (1953) Sampaguita Pictures

Sawali House Higit sa Lahat (1955) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Bedroom Roberta (1951) Sampaguita Pictures

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Slum dwelling Hello, Soldier an episode in Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa (1975) Cine Manila Corporation (opposite page)

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House of John Purontong Da Best of John & Marsha (1984) RVQ Productions Informal dwelling Ang Babae sa Bububgang Lata (1998) Good Harvest Productions

Window Babae sa Bintana (1998) Regal Films Bahay Kubo Window Victory Joe (1946) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Baguio Log Cabin Sumpaan (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Lower class house Ito Ba ang Ating Mga Anak? (1982) Regal Films Kitchen with Batalan Ang Langit sa Lupa (1967) Nepomuceno Productions

House of John Purontong John & Marsha sa Probinsiya (1985) RVQ Productions Middle class residence Kisapmata (1981) Bancom Audiovision

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Informal Settlement Jaguar (1979) Bancom Audiovision Squatter settlement Mga Batang Yagit (1984) Viva Films

Exterior of lower class house My Little Kuwan (1958) LVN Pictures, Inc. Dining Area of an urban shanty Bunsong Kerubin (1987) Regal Films

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House Garden Hampas ng Langit (1948) LVN Pictures, Inc. Lanai Basahang Ginto (1952) Sampaguita Pictures

Neocastillan Mansion in Broadway, Quezon City (owned by LVN matriarch Doa Sisang) Romansa (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc. Mid-century Bungalow Romansa sa Nayon (1952) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Bahay Kubo Lupang Pangako (1949) LVN Pictures, Inc. Stairs leading to a balcony Botika sa Baryo (1960) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Interior of a Nipa Hut Los Petalos de Lao Tze an episode in The Dragons Net (1919) Universal Film Manufacturing Company Interior of Bahay Kubo Mahal Mo Ba Ako? (1950) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Ifugao Village Ifugao (1953) Cirio H. Santiago Ulog Waywaya (1982) Four N Films Muslim House Sa Pusod ng Dagat an episode in Medalyong Perlas (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc. (counterclockwise)

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Provincial sari-sari store Sarungbanggi (1947) LVN Pictures, Inc. Sari-sari store Eskandalosa (1954) Ace York

Bakery Babaeng Hampas Lupa (1953) LVN Pictures, Inc. Shoe store Chaperon (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Living room of a mansion Siete Dolores (1968) Virgo Film Productions Swimming Pool Tapis mo Inday (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Grand staircase Tanikalang Dugo (1973) Lea Productions Mid-century Living Room Ulilang Bituin (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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Neocastillan House (Miranila, owned by Dean Conrado Benitez) Satur (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Rural Village Tuko sa Madre Kakao (1959) LVN Pictures, Inc. Mad scientists laboratory Dr. X (1950) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Interior of Bilibid Prison Bilibid Boys (1981) Regal Films Correctional Building Kanto Girl (1956) Sampaguita Pictures

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Quiapo Acessoria Scorpio Nights (1985) Regal Films Village Chapel Silip aka Daughters of Eve (1985) Viking Films International

Library Scorpio Nights 2 (1999) Viva Films Family Theater Angeles City, Pampanga Serbis (2008) Centerstage Productions

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Bedroom Dingding Lang ang Pagitan (1985) Ruben Abalos Quiapo acessoria Macho Dancer (1988) Viva Films

Nightclub Stage Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1985) Malaya Films Nightclub Alyas Baby Tsina (1984) Viva Films

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Night Club (Jai-alai Building) Yolanda (1951) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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Ofce Building Edong Mapangarap (1950) LVN Pictures, Inc. Living room Hiram na Kasintahan (1954) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Interior of a Makati Ofce Working Girls (1984) Viva Films Condominium Balcony Working Girls (1984) Viva Films

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Manila skyline Kapitan Kidlat (1954) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

Oblation Plaza (University of the Philippines, Diliman) Dalagang Taring (1955) LVN Pictures, Inc. Sunken Garden (University of the Philippines, Diliman) Charito, I Love You (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc.

Palma Hall Steps (University of the Philippines, Diliman) Dalagang Taring (1955) LVN Pictures, Inc. Melchor Hall Steps (University of the Philippines, Diliman) Charito, I Love You (1956) LVN Pictures, Inc.

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College of Liberal Arts (Palma Hall) University of the Philippines, Diliman Tiya Loleng (1952) LVN Pictures, Inc. (opposite page)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aitken S. 2002. Turnng the Self: City Space and SF Horror Movies. Lost in Space : Geographies of Science Fiction / edited by Rob Kitchin and James Kneale. New York: Continuum. Albrecht, Donald. 1986. Designing dreams : Modern Architecture in the Movies. New York : Harper & Row. AlSayyad, Nezar. 2006. Cinematic Urbanism : A History of the Modern from Reel to Real. London: Routledge. Bruno, Giuliana. 1997. Site-Seeing: Architecture and the Moving Image. Wide Angle: A Film Quarterly of Theory, Criticism, and Practice. 19 (4): 9-24. October. Eisenstein, Sergei M. 1989. Montage and Architecture, Assemblage, no. 10: 111-31. Fear, Bob, ed. 2000. Architecture + Film II, AD No 70. London : Academy Editions. Gaston Bachelard. 1962. The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press. Guerrero, Rafael Ma. ed. 1983. Readings in Philippine Cinema. Manila, Philippines: Experimental Cinema of the Philippines. Lefebvre, Henri. 1991. The Production of Space, trans. by Donald NicholsonSmith. Oxford: Blackwell. Lico, Gerard. 2000. Cinema + Architecture = Cinetectonics: Exploring the Encounters of Architecture and Film Bluprint Vol. 1. ___________. 2003. Tickets to Deco Fantasy Bluprint Vol. 4. ___________. 2003. Projection of Poverty: Cinematic Representation of Architecture of Marginality (First Part) Bluprint Vol. 5. ___________. 2003. Projection of Poverty: Cinematic Representation of Architecture of Marginality (Second Part) Bluprint Vol. 6.

___________. 2008. Requiem to the Maidens of Bellevue Bluprint Vol. 4. Mercado, Monina 1977. Doa Sisang and Filipino Movies. Philippines: VeraReyes, Inc. Neumann, Dietrich, ed. 1999. Film Architecture: Set Designs from Metropolis to Blade Runner. New York: Prestel. Pallasmaa, Juhani. 2001. Lived space in architecture and cinema. Scroope: Cambridge Architecture Journal, no.13: 59-72 ___________. 2001. The Architecture of Image: Existential Space in Cinema. Helsinki: Rakennustieto. Paul, William. 1996. Screening Space: Architecture, Technology, and the Motion Picture Screen. Michigan Quarterly Review. 35 (1): 143-73. Winter. Penz, Francois & Maureen Thomas eds. 1997. Cinema and Architecture: Melies, Mallet-Stevens, Multimedia. London: British Film Institute Publishing. Pilar, Santiago A. 1977. The Early Movies. From Stage to Screen was the Only Step Archipelago, [Link], A-33. Schaal, Hans Dieter. 1996. Learning from Hollywood: Architecture and Film. London: Edition Axel Menges. Tiongson, Nicanor G. 1991. Tuklas Sining: Essays on the Philippine Arts. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines. Toy, Maggie, ed. 1994. Architecture + Film, AD No 64. London: Academy Editions. Tschumi, Bernard. 1996. Architecture and Disjunction. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

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EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, 2007-2010

National Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts

Arch. Henry L. Yap

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Prof. Ruben D.F. Defeo Arch. Cristina V. Turalba Arch. Prosperidad C. Luis Dean Danilo Silvestre Prof. Nicolo del Castillo Prof. Edson Cabaln Prof. Cesar Hernando Ms. Melanie Casul Arch. Paulo Alcazaren Mr. Teddy Co Ms. Karen Flores Ms. Lena Lubi Ms. Greta Belo Ms. Pianne Lim Mr. Eloy Cercado National Museum of the Philippines Museum of Filipino Architecture MOFA Digital Image Databank University of the Philippines Library LVN Pictures, Inc. Sampaguita Pictures, Inc Premier Productions, Inc. Regal Films ABS-CBN Film Archives Mowelfund Film Institute Philippine Information Agency UP Film Institute Movie and Television Review and Classication Board United Architects of the Philippines Cultural Center of the Philippines UP Ofce for Initiatives in Culture and Arts University of the Philippines Theater Charter Chemicals and Coatings, Incorporated

Head Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners (PIEP)

Dr. Gerard Rey A. Lico

Vice - Head Central Luzon

Arch. Zenaida D. Galingan

Secretary Philippine Association of Landscape Architects

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Tristan G. Jovellana
Assistant Secretary Philippine Institute of Interior Designers

Arch. Ma. Mylen G. Yaranon

Northern Luzon

Arch. Angeline T. Chua Chiaco

Professional Regulations Commission

Arch. Robert Benedict C. Hermoso

United Architects of the Philippines

Arch. Wilfredo Sy
Western Visayas

[Link]. Lizeta L. Uy
Central and Eastern Visayas

Arch. Marlo J. Basco

Southern Mindanao

Arch. Ildefonso F. Torres

Western Mindanao

Arch Rino Domingo A. Fernandez

Southern Luzon

Arch. Jean I. Cornejo

Council of Deans and Heads of Architecture Schools in the Philippines (CODHASP)

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