Edifice Complex :

Power, myth and Marcos State Architecture By Gerard Lico Report by Mae Urtal Caralde

Chapters/Topics
1. Architecture and Society 2. Cartographies of Power in Philippine Architecture 3. Culture and Architecture under Martial Law 4. The CCP 5. Power and Myth in Marcos State Architecture 6. Beyond Frivolity and Political Amnesia

Contributions
a study of place inscribes the study of social production not neutral considers archi as medium of expression, ideological trope, system of knowledge, Allegory of social presence, transformative tech and labor propelled by values foregrounds the myth of modern progress shaped by politics

A. Architecture and Society

Spaces have symbolic value Michel Foucault---contends that space had a major role in expressing and practicing governmental rationality Panopticon--- knowledge tied to systems with human beings as objects of disciplinary knowledge power- knowledge; disciplinary power relies on surveillance to transform its subjects Gaze--- this social practice transform human as subjects --- an exercise of disciplinary control thru symmetrical visibility leads us to conclude that archi is never neutral Marxist: space is viewed as 'capital' governed by the rules of ownership and modes of production that determine class structure and consciousness'

The Panopticon

 "Panopticism is the general principle of a new 'political anatomy' whose object and end are not the relations of sovereignty but the relations of discipline. [...] These disciplines~ which the classical age had elaborated in specific, relatively enclosed places - barracks, schools, workshops and whose total implementation had been imagined only at the limited and temporary scale of a plague-stricken town, Bentham dreamt of transforming into a network of mechanisms that would be everywhere and always alert, running through society without interruption in space or in time. The panoptic arrangement provides the formula for this generalization. It programmes, at the level of an elementary and easily transferable mechanism, the basic functioning of a society penetrated through and through with disciplinary mechanisms."(2

Structural footprints
Imelda wrote " Architecture : The Social Art (1979) "Architecture for the Common Man" (1975) CCP complex 28- hectare reclaimed area Leandro Locsin's abstractions of the Bahay kubo Francisco Manosa indigenizing neo-vernacular tahanang Filipino Froilan Hong's modernist Parthenon

From Marco Diani and C. Ingraham " ...architecture builds, over and over, philosophically endorsed ideas of home, city, place ...architecture is a deeply conservative force that keeps what is philosophically, politically and ideologically 'proper' in place ...architecture evaporates or melts into political, social, linguistic, philosophical analysis "

Structure and Authority

power is tolerable only on the condition that it mask a substantial part of itself. It's success is proportional to its ability to disguise its own mechanism Giddens theory Agency--the capacity to transform the world Structures--- organized properties of the social systems in the form of rules and resources.

 Archi can be both structure and agency Pierre Bourdieu: habitus or systems of durable , transposable dispositions which can be objectively regulated and regular without it in any way being product of obedience to rules

Space is not Neutral

From Mark Wigley: " Architectural discourse plays a strategic role in guaranteeing assumptions that are necessary to the operation of other discourses.

Manifestations of power in architecture :

1. Orientation/ disorientation 2. Public/ private 3. Segregation/ access 4. nature/ history 5. Stability/ change 6. Authenticity / falsity 7. Dominant/ submissive 8. Place/ ideology

Dovey's nomenclatureof POWER

1. Force-- undisguised exertion of power. ex. Prisons 2. Coercion--- uses threat of force to obtain compliance ex. Archi programs everyday practice 3. Intimidation--- achieved when archi compels people to behave in a certain way in given space

Dovey's nomenclatureof POWER

4. Domination --- confronts the subject with overwhelming physical scale and bombardment of signifiers which destroys the subjects ability to map his or her surroundings. 5. Manipulations--- coercive mode that keeps the subject in a state of ignorance 6. Seductive--- tempting the human subject through a conscious manipulation of interest, biases and desires.

Cartographies of Power in Phil Archi

CHURCH---enduring patrimony of 3 centuries of Spanish colonization > King Philipp II: makes it clear that the edifice of the church must demand attention, if not enthralling astonishment > church must be open the plaza, must be beautiful to inspire more respect, built in high ground > bell tower as pan optical device for surveillance, population was organized under the bells or ' banjo de las camapanas

American Period
Neo-classicism---seemed to portray the benevolence of the US in setting up infra needed for the Filipino for self-governance. 2 Ideological functions: Attest greatness to the newly established American empire To create semblance of democracy in a colonial social order.

PGH

YMCA building

Paco Train Station

National Museum

Post Office

Manila City Hall

(top view)

Culture and Architecture Under Martial Law

Palingenetic Ideology and construction of national identity Paligenesisa form of utopianism which evokes the idea of rebirth or spiritual, reconnect with the past Promote rebirth of the Great Malayan culture Cultural renaissance made possible thru cultural programs part of which is architecture Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa Imelda and Ferdinand as parental figures of the Filipino people

Culture and Architecture Under Martial Law

Tadhana: The History of the Filipino People (1976) Modern-daya Malakas at Maganda State becomes new patron of art, cultural sphere becomes Imeldas power base. Established CCP complex --money from Cultural Dev Fund---Special Fund for Education---Phil-Am war claims CCP as sanctuary of the Filipino sould

Culture and Architecture Under Martial Law

CCP grounds became venue of events like Kasaysayan ng Lahi, Miss Universe 1974, MIFF 1976---opened the National Arts Center and the PHSA Edifice complex---large body of state-sponsored architecture; monumental and imposing to the point of intimidation.

Bagong lipunan modernism and romantic Nationalist sculpture

Derived pure Filipino form; goal is to restore or recreate those unadulterated forms = neovernacular architecture Attempt to recreate the architecture of the past Folk architecture---high ceilings, large capiz windows, tukod-like windows, traditional carvings, earth tone, reproduced antique elements

 Powerful and poetic imagery of the native bahay kubo as source of inspiration= romantic nationalist architecture - a political category that create national symbols rather than a style - supported a politically motivated aesthetic and social vision

 The CCP intends to serve as the repository of Filipino heritage. Because Filipino culture is fragmented, its influences complex and diverse, such a repository would serve to bring full flower to a culture so often nip in the bud.

Power and Myth In Marcos state archi

Psy war and persuasion were undertaken by Marcosian architecture to naturalize the regimes pretension to political legitimacy and to inspire obedience within the New Society Myth is the manipulation of language to depoliticize speech. The CCP complex ----record of Marcos to construct mythic notions of collectivity, nationality, progress and monumentalism. Myth is ritualized thru cultural events in the CCP (Dularawan in 1969)

 Myth of monumentalism---by building monumental scale, we attempt to shape the physical embodiment of social order, denying change and transmuting the fear of the passage of time and death into splendor. Myth of modern progress monuments were actually financed by heavy foreign debts Myth of modernity---claim of progress and national identity is dubious.

Demands of Modern architecture: > honesty of materials and structure > honesty in that the function of the building is reflected in its forms, favoring simplicity >honesty that reflects the true spirit of its time rather than of the past > architecture be true to themselves.

 Imeldas architects were not at all modern in the real sense of the modernist movement. Locsins design of the CCP Performing Arts Theater abandoned modernist credo of from follows function Myth of Nationality and Collectivity ---single national style in archi was sought an formulated to symbolize the nation. Nation being the social formation of imagined communities ---archi as embodiment of national pride ----collectivity and equality in the access of space was negated

Synthesis

Architecture and urban design are deeply ingrained within economic and other structures of power Power is more potent if it remains undetected, like how it is in architecture which is usually viewed as neutral homogenous space.

CCP Plan proposals