The Cultural Center of the Philippines—a complex built to represent and enrich the gift of arts and culture the Philippines has to offer. The CCP complex consists of the country’s main cultural edifices and several famed commercial developments. It has become the focal point when people look at the Philippine’s cultural treasures.
It was the brainchild of the once First Lady Imelda Marcos to become the melting pot of Filipino culture and arts. It was established to house the most brilliant talents of the country and their priceless masterpieces. To this day, it still has not wavered in rendering its purpose to audiences both local and foreign. It still beams and stands in pride with all the honors that has bloomed from the cultural grounds. Sometimes maybe even too proud for the everyday Filipino.
Standing on a prime 88-hectare reclaimed land along Roxas Boulevard is the complex that has developed over time to bring forth entertainment to the country culturally and commercially. The Cultural Center of the Philippines, the forefront of the complex stands on the edge along Roxas Boulevard seemingly providing a grand opening gesture. This structure holds several of the country’s most important performances in ballet, music, theater and cinema to name a few. The Cultural Center of the Philippines also provides various gallery spaces for artists and has a rich collection of mainstay pieces of art in their museums. Other than this, and not quite popular to many, the Cultural Center of the Philippines has a library that holds several of the most rare literary treasures that are available for use to the general public.Within the complex is another performance venue that can sit a multitude of spectators. Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas or more commonly known as the Folk Arts Theater is a covered proscenium amphitheater. It seats up to 8,000 people hence its popularity as a venue for concerts in its heyday during the 80’s. Within the bounds of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex are various commercial developments that are mostly culinary in nature. Defining the outer perimeter is the Philippine International Convention Center, a famous venue for various kinds of events with 5 modules made to be defined by its use rather than the buildings themselves defining its own function. On the southwest end of the complex near the Macapagal Boulevard, another reclaimed land, is the infamous Manila Film Center whose name rang in history because of a tragedy that occurred during its construction. It was made to be the venue for the First Manila Film Center; however, with the tragedies that envelope the edifice, its glory was only witnessed for the said festival and lived under a shadow since.
The CCP complex is a hallmark for Filipino culture. It is incredibly monumental that with its name comes with immediate imagery in mind. The Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas and the Philippine International Convention Center were all designed by the National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin. The Manila Film Theater was designed by Froilan Hong. All these edifices within the CCP Complex boast of a common factor—they all follow the movement of Brutalist architecture. One thing that’s considerably appealing with brutalist architecture is the rawness of the structures that belong under its arm. Brutalism in architecture showcases unfinished surfaces that boasts so loudly of massive forms in unusual definition in shapes. There is boldness in the simplicity in detail, or lack thereof, in brutalist architecture. The power is in the scale. If anything, the edifices of the Cultural Center of the Philippines are definitely boasting of power.
The core of what the CCP was made for and what it stands for is truly honorable. To have a brewing pot of everything beautiful the country has to offer is a gift not a lot of countries may have. However, looking past this honor, we can see arguable problems and questions that have not been answered or even recognized.
The design of the edifices are all demanded by Imelda Marcos, just as with several of her other projects. While we cannot definitely discredit the brilliance of Leandro Locsin and his work, the backbone of CCP’s collective image was first imagined in Imelda’s insights. The construction of the Cultural Center of the Philippines was quite troubling to some given its cost and the undisclosed massive case of poverty in the country at that time. But the First Lady had it her way and just as much as it was a representation of the Philippine culture, it even more so became an architecture of power.
The main problem that can be seen with the CCP, disregarding the fact that it is objectively beautiful, is that it is out of context. It was made to represent the Filipino. And to do that, it would have been worthwhile to put the structure in the context of Philippines as an environment. To build an edifice in brutalist architecture does not quite fit this context. Brutalist structures usually have smaller windows as compared to the scale of the massive forms that compromise it. To do that in a tropical country, right by the bay no less, just somehow does not blend with the environment. The use of massive slabs of concrete engages more heat than minimize it. These are just some of the notable technical architectural problems of the structures.
On another puzzling note in relation to the complex’s location is the diminished significance of its adjacencies. The complex stands on reclaimed land which naturally provides it with the potential view of the Manila Bay that presents one of the best sunsets in the world. Somehow, the complex was designed in such a way that it grays out its outer perimeter, the Manila Bay included, as if to put immense focus on merely what is within. Perhaps this is why the CCP in its younger years seemed to welcome merely the elite. It seemed incredibly exclusive. Rather than be welcoming, the mass seemed demeaning. It still does—oozing with power as if to look down to those who can’t reach its level of class. While more and more Filipinos step in the edifices in modern times, it still cannot be denied that there is a sense of hierarchy in which it was built. This yet again shows how the CCP, as much as it is a home for the Filipino arts, is definitely a form of power.
The Cultural Center of the Philippines was made to be home to national cultural treasures, a representation of talent and brilliance. It has always been that in its truest sense. But was it built for the Filipinos? That definitely still stands as a question with unending answers.
Decrypt design 