Contemporaries, friends, and brothers-at-arms—these two National Artists reshaped Filipino identity in the '50s and '60s through architecture and landscaping, giving birth to the iconic "Bagong Lipunan" aesthetic

In celebration of National Heritage Month, Metropolitan Museum of Manila launches Leandro V. Locsin and Ildefonso P. Santos, Jnr: A Legacy of Filipino Popular Modernism an exhibition which features the collaboration of two National Artists, Leandro V. Locsin and Ildefonso P. Santos, in their respective and joint visions to create a national identity through the modernist spaces they crafted from the 1960s-1980s.  These spaces and built environment, expressed in both landscape and architecture defined their individual identities and shared goals for the different projects they completed. The modernist aesthetics and approach of Locsin and Santos translated into a number of significant architectural and design landmarks represented in this exhibition, which runs until July 30 and in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

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Above (L-R) Mr. Bernan Corpuz (NCCA Representative), Architect Manny Miñana (MET Museum Board of Trustee), Armita Rufino (President of Filipino Heritage Festival, Inc.), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno, Suzy Santos (daughter of National Artist Ildefonso Santos), Andy Locsin (son of National Artist Leandro Locsin), and Dr. Gerard Lico (Curator of the exhibition).

Lindy Locsin, as he was affectionately called, was an architect, interior designer, and artist. He was described by his peers and contemporaries as "Poet of Space" for the way he maximised space using straightforward geometry. He came from Silay, Negros Occidental, and spent his formative years with his grandparents. Because his grandfather Don Leandro influenced him through music and learnt the piano, he eventually moved to Manila to study at the Conservatory of Music in the University of Santo Tomas. However, with only a year left to finish the course, he shifted to architecture. 

NCCA affirmed, "Locsin reshaped the urban landscape with a distinctive architecture reflective of Philippine art and culture. He believed that true Philippine architecture is 'the product of two great streams of culture, the oriental and the occidental... to produce a new object of profound harmony.'"

Evident in Locsin's roster of works—75 residences, 88 buildings, 11 churches and chapels, 23 public buildings, 48 commercial buildings, six major hotels, and an airport terminal building—are themes of floating volume, the duality of light and heavy, buoyant and massive.

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Above Curator Dr. Gerard Lico shows museum goers the works of the two National Artists and their creative processes.
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I.P. Santos, on the other hand distinguished himself by pioneering the practice of landscape architecture—an allied field of architecture—in the Philippines and the producing four decades of exemplary and engaging work that has included hundreds of parks, plazas, gardens, and a wide range of outdoor settings that have enhanced contemporary Filipino life. He finished two bachelor's degrees, in University of Santo Tomas (1954) and University of Southern California in Los Angeles (1955-1963). In 1965, he became a landscape architecture consultant of the University of the Philippines where he also pioneered the first Philippine undergraduate program for tropical landscape architecture. 

"Santos, then transformed the reputation of landscape architecture profession into something that is multi-disciplinary which requires knowledge in engineering and aesthetics; ability to plan irrigation, drainage lighting, and comprehensive analysis in landscaping," NCCA said. "With his designs, he always consider the psychological, behavioral, and social needs of the Filipinos like the need for shade, social interaction, and conversation."

Santos' contribution to modern Filipino landscape architecture were in Paco Park, Rizal Park complex, Cultural Centre of the Philippines, Nayong Pilipino, and San Miguel Corporation compound among others. His most recent projects were the Tagaytay Highland Resort, the Mt. Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa, Batangas, and the Orchard Golf and Country Club in Imus, Cavite.

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Photo 1 of 5 Detail of site development plan, Philippine Center for International Trade & Exhibition - PHILCITE, 1976, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila | Leandro V. Locsin and Associates Architects, Leandro V. Locsin Partners Collection
Photo 2 of 5 Philippine Center for International Trade & Exhibition - PHILCITE, 1976, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila | Leandro V. Locsin and Associates Architects, Leandro V. Locsin Partners Collection
Photo 3 of 5 "The modernist landscape architecture of Ildefonso Santos Jnr created new forms of public spaces--hybrid spaces that fused plazas, parks, and playgrounds into new combinations, and built public spaces where none existed before--and conjured the aesthetic syntax of sublimity." - Exhibit Curator Dr. Gerard Lico
Photo 4 of 5 Makati Commercial Centre, Ildefonso P. Santos Jnr, ASLA & Associates Landscape Architects
Photo 5 of 5 "Pulang Tikbalang na Upuan" (Red Tikbalang Chair, 1995) by Solomon A. Saprid, metal and paint

Know more about these two National Artists and their contributions to Philippine culture by visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. The exhibition runs until July 30, museum hours is 10AM to 5PM