Cruz, Kristelle Charlotte B.

ARC 152 July 24, 2019

1960’s Apartment

In Post war period, the doctrine was “Form follows function” professed by the third generation Architects,
namely, Cesar Concio, Angel Nakpil, Alfredo Luz, Otillo Arellano, Felipe Mendoza, Gabriel Formoso, and Carlo
Aguelles. The said doctrine is a principle associated with Modernist Architecture and Industrial design in the 20th
century. It is stated that the shape of the building should be primarily based upon its intended function.

The Architecture in 1960 stapled elements such as brise-soleil (sunbreaker), glass walls, pierced screens
and thin concrete shells. It was incorporated with some modernist formal principles by employing local materials
and referencing vernacular traditions. An Apartment in this era is called “Accessoria” where it is characterized
by common party walls shared by adjoining units with separate door each in front and is considered to be one of
the mid-century modern housing typologies.
It is characterized to have two stories where the ground floor has storefronts and separate doors for each
unit approaching the public spaces such as living and dining area the upper floor is the sleeping quarters. There
are 95,801 occupied Accessoria in this era according to the 1960 & 1970 Census of Population and Housin and
Special Releases, (1983), NCSO. The following are the terms for this type of house in 1960s:
a.) Caida – The first room you’ll see from the stairway. A spacious hall with Calado (a form of ventilation
for the caida)
b.) Sala – living room; It contains “Plateras” or cabinets. It is divided into smaller areas with non-
permanent screens called “Biombo”
c.) Comedor - Dining room, has plateras or cabinets for display of silverwares.
d.) Cocina – Kitchen with food cabinet called “Paminggalan” where rice and other food are stored.
e.) Cuarto, Alcoba or Dormitorio - Sleeping area with wooden bed and vanity table.
f.) Comun or Letrina - toilet where water closet is located. Bano, Lanu or Paliguan - bathroom with water
jar called Tapayan.
g.) Persiana – window slats to accommodate the light capiz- panneled windows
h.) Ventanilla - Lower second window
i.) Verandilla – traceries on the wall.
j.) Cuatro aguas - Hip roof, which has more corners and angles, making it stronger than the dos aguas
(gable) or high-pitched roof due to stronger aerodynamics (i.e., more wind resistance); also has the
advantage of providing an overhang, which is effective for protecting the house from rainwater and
from direct sunlight.
k.) Puerta - "Door of the entrada principal (main entrance)

1960s Apartments possessed key elements such as:

• Being in a large neighborhood with a modest-sized
• Half-acre or less backyard
• Having small living space with four to six rooms and approximately less than 9 square meters of living
space
• A picture window at the front of the home provides a view of the front street.
 In this era, uses a sliding window reminiscent of Asian houses. But instead of glass, the window is covered
with locally produced Capiz shell. Moreover, houses like this also have small details around the gutters of the
roof and the windows have Baroque designs that are copied from Islamic houses.

Image by Ed Medina
The image above shows mid-1960s houses in Cavite where it is characterized by open plan spaces, metal,
brick, cinderblock walls (painted hollow blocks), fiberglass, glass jalousies, and molded plywood furniture.
Additionally, with the Philippines’ heavy American cultural influences, this style trickled down to our own
Filipino middle class and upper-middle class homes in Metro Manila and other suburban areas. Known colors in
this era were walnut stain on wood or veneer, bright red, maroon, white ducco finish, bright orange, and rust.

References:

• https://www.coursehero.com/file/p5lisdt/Parts-of-bahay-na-bato-Ground-floor-Zaguan-where-
carriage-and-carosas-float-for/
• https://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/ris/ms/pidsms85-7.pdf
• https://www.slideshare.net/pupoy/philippine-architecture-post-war-period
• https://www.realliving.com.ph/lifestyle/arts-culture/how-pinoy-homes-looked-like-10-50-80-100-
years-ago-a1550-20170817
• https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-Filipino-elements-on-the-Bahay-Na-Bato