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Were there typhoon-resistant structures in the PHL during Spanish era?
The best practices in bracing heritage structures against calamities like earthquakes and typhoons will take center stage at the international symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction Through Preventive Maintenance.
Local and international experts on architecture, engineering, and related fields will tackle a range of topics at the symposium, which will be held from February 27 to March 1 at the Ayuntamiento Building in Intramuros.
Among them is anthropologist Regalado T. Jose. A graduate of the University of the Philippines, Jose has been teaching heritage studies in the University of Santo Tomas since 2010.
He will be the keynote speaker on "Philippine Built Heritage and Current Practices and Preservation" on February 28. Despite the word "current" in the session's title, Jose will also be presenting references from the past.
During an academic trip to Madrid, Jose came across "El Cabildo Secular: Aspectos Fundacionales Y Administrativos" and its second volume, "Arquitectura Y Urbanismo En El Siglo XIX: Introduccion General Y Monografias." These books contain a compilation of ordinances created after the 1880 earthquake in Manila, containing specific instructions on building safer structures in the event of another earthquake.
The contents of the book have yet to be translated in English and Filipino and Jose hopes that by presenting these at the symposium, the interest of academics will be piqued and work on translation can begin.
In an interview with GMA News Online, Jose said that it can't be determined yet if the ordinances were incorporated in the building code.
"Most probably, the government buildings and the civic buildings followed the ordinances, kasi gobyerno ang gumawa. 'Yong mga simbahan, we're not sure. And even then, we don't know how long it would have taken to reach the provinces," Jose said.
"For example, there was an ordinance to do away with tile roofs, kasi ang tile roofs bumabagsak. They replaced it with GI [galvanized iron] sheets, but not all churches in the provinces followed that. Up to now you will find churches with tiled roof and ngayon heritage value na lang."
Jose also procured a copy of "Estudio Sobre La Resistencia Y Estabilidad De Los Edificios Sometidos A Huricanes Y Terremotos." This book, first published in 1892 and then republished in 1992, contains the math of making structures more resistant to calamities.
Jose explained that the book shows "how to build structures considering typhoons and earthquakes" and has information on the type of hardware or materials used for building. He commended the "scientific" nature of the instructions, as it specifies the necessary thickness of walls considering the weather, et cetera.
Like the collection of ordinances, "Estudio Sobre La Resistencia Y Estabilidad De Los Edificios Sometidos A Huricanes Y Terremotos" has also yet to be translated in either English or Filipino.
"If this is translated, it has to be done by somebody who knows the field, kasi there are technical terms na hindi puwedeng literal ang translation. It has to be done by somebody who understands the language," Jose told GMA News Online.
These books will be presented along with other works by Spanish scholars. Jose shared that there are many studies conducted in Spain and that the country could benefit from this knowledge, especially in protecting heritage structures. — BM, GMA News
The Disaster Risk Reduction through Preventive Maintenance International Symposium will be held from February 27 to March 1 at the Ayuntamiento Building in Intramuros, Manila.
It is a project of the Escuela Taller de Filipinas Foundation and the College of Architecture of the University of the Philippines, in partnership with the Manila Observatory and the Archdiocese of Manila and the Manila Observatory and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.
For more information, visit Escuela Taller’s official website.
