PRE - HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE:

EARLY PHILIPPINE SHELTER

History of Architecture 04 -
LECTURE
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Pre-Historic Architecture: Early Philippine Shelter
2. Pre-Colonial Architecture – Austronesian Ancestry
3. Philippine Islamic Architecture – Muslim Space
4. Spanish Colonial Architecture
5. US - Americal Colonial Architecture
6. Post Colonial Modernism
7. Late Twentieth Century
8. The New Millennium
EARLY PHILIPPINE SHELTER
EARLY PHILIPPINE SHELTER
THE IMPORTANCE OF TOPOGRAPHY

Communities before lived near bodies of water.

Houses were lined along the coasts of seas, bays, rivers and lakes.

WHY?

Food Not easily

Means of Easy access
from water attacked by
transportation to food
resources enemies
PREHISTORIC BUILDING TYPES

• Cave Dwellings
• Lean-to Shelters
• Tree Houses
• Houses on Stilts
CAVE DWELLINGS
 CAVE DWELLINGS
Early Filipinos lived in caves.

• Prehistoric Cave shelters were the

earliest form of human habitations

• Predated the emergence of Homo

Sapiens

• Require minimal site- works and

modification

• Made from excavation rather than

construction
CAVE DWELLINGS

Pleistocene People

• Earliest dwellers of caves in the

Philippines

• Offsprings of Iced Aged

• Theory of Land / Tulay na Lupa

CAVE DWELLINGS
TABON CAVE
• Most antiquated and perhaps the largest

• Tabon Caves, dubbed as the Philippines'

Cradle of Civilization

• Located at Lipuun Point, north of Quezon

municipality, Palawan Island

• The caves are named after the Philippine

Tabon Megapode/Scrufowl bird.
CAVE DWELLINGS
TABON CAVE
• The Tabon Caves complex has 29 explored caves where only seven of
which are open for public viewing.
• The major caves open to the public are Tabon Cave, Diwata Cave, Igang
Cave, and Liyang Cave.
CAVE DWELLINGS
TABON CAVE
• The Tabon Man was discovered in the caves, one of the oldest remnants of
human inhabitants found in the Philippines. Other remains that were excavated
have remained onsite and have yet to be examined in detail.

• The largest, cave periodically dwelt in prehistoric families 30,000 years ago
CAVE DWELLINGS
TABON CAVE
•Manunggul Jar is a secondary burial jar
excavated from a Neolithic burial site in
Manunggul cave of Tabon Caves

•Dating from 890–710 B.C.

•The two prominent figures at the top

handle of its cover represent the journey
of the soul to the after life
CAVE DWELLINGS
TABON CAVE
In 2006, the Tabon Cave Complex and
all of Lipuun was added to the tentative
list of the Philippines for
future UNESCO World Heritage Site
nomination.

The complex is managed by the National

Museum and was declared as a National
Cultural Treasure by the same institution
in February 2011.
CAVE DWELLINGS
TAU’T-BATU CAVE
• The Tau't Batu, or 'People of the
Rock' live here and they are the last
discovered tribe in the Philippines
• Singnapan Valley in southern
Palawan
• Fear of thunder
• Believe that their world is inhabited
by a vast population of of forest,
rock, and water spirits.
CAVE DWELLINGS
TAU’T-BATU CAVE
• Shelter more than on family

• Datag - The basic sleeping

platform. Made from tree branches
and dried leaves and built inside the
cave, raised slightly above the
ground

•modular sleeping platform

incorporated with a fireplace
CAVE DWELLINGS
ANGONO PETROGLYPHS
• Oldest known work of art in the
Philippines located in the province of Rizal.

•There are 127 human and animal figures

engraved on the rockwall dating back to
3000 BC.

•Evidence of ancient Filipino’s attempt to

embellish his place of
domain with symbolic
values
CAVE DWELLINGS
ANGONO PETROGLYPHS
CAVE DWELLINGS
ANGONO PETROGLYPHS
CAVE DWELLINGS
ANGONO PETROGLYPHS
CAVE DWELLINGS
ANGONO PETROGLYPHS
CAVE DWELLINGS
ANGONO PETROGLYPHS
CAVE DWELLINGS
CALLAO CAVE
• Located in the Municipality of Peñablanca,
Cagayan province

• The seven-chamber showcave is one of

300 caves for tourism

• Named as Peñablanca (Spanish for white

rocks) for the presence of white limestone
rocks in the area.
CAVE DWELLINGS
CALLAO CAVE
• Callao man refers to fossilized remains
discovered in Callao Cave, Peñablanca,
Cagayan

• In 2007 by Armand Salvador Mijares.

Specifically, they find a single 61-millimeter
metatarsal which was found to be about
67,000 years old.
CAVE DWELLINGS
CALLAO CAVE
• Researchers also believe that Aetas, mountain dwellers today on
Luzon Island, could be descendants of the
Callao Man
CAVE DWELLINGS
CALLAO CAVE
LEAN-TO SHELTERS
LEAN-TO SHELTERS
Lean-to Shelter

• Temporary Shelter

• Readily Available materials and limited

investment in time and energy

• Roof and wall of nomadic negrito made of tree

branches and twigs, using leaves and branches
for sidings

• Floor can be the ground itself, or a bed of

leaves, or a platform slightly above the ground
LEAN-TO SHELTERS
Lean-to Shelter

•Demountable

•Fundamental act of building was

practiced by nomads in form the
windbreak (lean-to), windscreen or
windshield

•Wind-sun-and rain screen anchored by

a pole or stick an angle on the ground.
LEAN-TO SHELTERS
Lean-to Shelter

•The basic concept of architecture Lean-to

•They carry their shelter, they don't need permanent settlement
LEAN-TO SHELTERS
Lean-to Shelter
1.Hawong - Pinatubo Aeta constructed with a
ridge pole supported by forked stakes or
limbs

2.Panahang - Agta & Casiguran damages

aetas from aurora

3.Dait-Dait – Mamanua Aeta

from Mindanao used when hunting. Made of
wild banana leaves, coconut fronds with
grass of rattan.
TREE HOUSES
TREE HOUSES
TREE HOUSES

•Dwelling on high trees or Tree Houses

•First shelter to be constructed were made of

interlocking branches.

•Architectural institution fashioned by nature

•20, 30 to 60 ft above ground for protection

against animal & human enemies
TREE HOUSES
TREE HOUSES

• Tinguian, in Palan Abra, had a separate

daytime andnocturnal abode

• Small hutof bamboo and thatch built on the

ground for day abode

• Alligang, smaller and rested on the top of a

tree, 18-24 meters from the ground, safe
guard from nighttime ambush.
TREE HOUSES
TREE HOUSES

• Built and used by Gaddang and Kalinga of

Luzon, the Manobo and Mandaya of
Mindanao and by the Maranao of Lake
Lanao

•It can be found in areas where violent

intertribal conflicts and nocturnal raids are
frequent
TREE HOUSES
TREE HOUSES

•These houses are perched on the Fork

Branches of trees

•6, 12, or 18 meters above ground

•Other reasons, to protect the families living
in isolated communities from the animal
attacks and human enemies
TREE HOUSES
TREE HOUSES
TREE HOUSES
TREE HOUSES
HOUSES ON STILTS
HOUSES ON STILTS
Houses on stilts

•Houses along the coastal areas

There is a pathway leading to the house
RICE TERRACES
RICE TERRACES
Rice Terraces
•The Prehistoric Megastructure

•The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras is an outstanding example

of an evolved, living cultural landscape that can be traced as far back as
two millennia ago in the pre-colonial Philippines.
RICE TERRACES
Rice Terraces
• Carved into the mountains
• The technique used to mountainous terrain has createda terraced
landscape
• Testament to Philippine Modern Engineering
RICE TERRACES
Rice Terraces
•Up to 6 meters High
•Stone Walls
•Exceeded the amount of stones of
Egypt Pyramids and Great wall of
China
RICE TERRACES
Rice Terraces
• The Rice Terraces of the
Philippine Cordilleras were declared
National Treasure

• The terraces are likewise

protected by the Republic Act No
10066, providing for the protection
and conservation of the National
Cultural Heritage.
RICE TERRACES
Rice Terraces
RICE TERRACES
Rice Terraces

3 Basic Elements
1.Terrace Space
2.Embankment
3.Soil Body
END OF EARLY PHILIPPINE SHELTER
PHILIPPINE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
• Derived from the Latin “vernaculus”, meaning domestic, native,
indigenous

• Folk, indigenous, tribal, ethnic and traditional architecture

• Category of architecture based on local needs and construction

materials and reflecting local traditions

•Rearranging the environment it becomes architecture.

•Protection from animals tribe and natural Calamities

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

THE FIVE PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF VERNACULAR

ARCHITECTURE

1.The builders, whether artisans or those who planning to live

in the buildings, are non professional architect or engineer
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
THE FIVE PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE

2.There is consonant adaptation, using natural materials, to the

geographical
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
THE FIVE PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE

3.The actual process of construction involves intuitive thinking,

done without the use of blueprints or any for construction
drawings
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
THE FIVE PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE

4.There is balance between social/economic functionality and

aesthetic features
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
THE FIVE PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE

5.Architectural patterns and styles are subject to a protracted

evolution of traditional styles specific to an ethnic domain.
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
•Vernacular buildings also demonstrates the achievements
and limitations of early technology.

•Utilizing technologies learned only through tradition.

•Can address the most common of structural problems with

simplicity and logical arrangement of elements.
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Philippine Vernacular architecture inspired the
invention of a new structural system which made
possible the soaring skyscrapers of Chicago
school

Structural logic and architectonic principle:

steel-frame to replace the Philippine wooden
frame construction of bahay kubo

Tectonic principle: iron steel frame to replace

timber and bamboo
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

•Southeast Asian culture descendants

•The term Austronesian peoples refers to a population group present in
Southeast Asia or Oceania who speak, or had ancestors who spoke,
one of the Austronesian languages.
AUSTRONESIAN ANCESTRY

•In the Philippines, vernacular architecture professes strong allegiance

to a greater Austronesian Building Heritage
AUSTRONESIAN ANCESTRY

ARCHETYPAL
AUSTRONESIAN HOUSE
“Stilt Houses”

•An Austronesian Legacy

•Raised Wooden
Structure
•Rectangular
•Structure.
AUSTRONESIAN ANCESTRY

ARCHETYPAL
AUSTRONESIAN HOUSE
“Stilt Houses”

•Aquatic base of life

•Settlement has a direct
connection to bodies of water
 AUSTRONESIAN ANCESTRY
ARCHETYPAL AUSTRONESIAN HOUSE

•Water is the means of transportation

•Communities are developed along sheltered base and coastal areas
 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Bahay Kubo
•Pure, Southeast asian type of domestic architecture found in non-
hispanized, non- anglosaxon communities in the country

•House / tahanan / tirahan

•Cube House
 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Balai / Bahay

Archetypal Tropical Characteristic

1.Elevated living floor

2.Buoyant Rectangular volume
3.Raised pile foundation
4.Voluminous thatched roof
 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Balai / Bahay
Examples of South East Asian Houses
 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Balai / Bahay
Examples of South East Asian Houses
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
BOTANIC BUILDING MATERIALS
•Timber
•Bamboo
•Thatch
•Fibers
BUILDING MATERIALS
 VERNACULAR STRUCTURAL ELEMENT
Buildings with pile or stilt foundations are a pervasive feature not
only in the mainland and island southeast asia
 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
FOUNDATION
•It is usually build with wooden post as its
framework.

•It has several advantages in a tropical climate.

Especially when settlement patterns are mainly
concentrated in coastal, riverside, and lakeshores

•Underfloor space often used as pen for stabling

domestic animals and as a place for storage

•TWO OPTIONS: SUPERSEDED PILE/STILTS

OR ROLLERS
VERNACULAR STRUCTURAL ELEMENT
 VERNACULAR STRUCTURAL ELEMENT
VOLUMINOUS THATCH ROOF

•The most distinctive feature of the

Austronesian vernacular architectural form is
EXTENDED LINE OF THE ROOF, often with
outward sloping gables forming elegant
saddleback curves.
•Cases seen as pyramidal
•Grasses and palm leaves are the most
widely used traditional materials.
 VERNACULAR STRUCTURAL ELEMENT
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

•Post and lintel method of construction

•Walls and floors do not
constitutes a parts of the
main load-bearing elements but may brace
the structure as a whole.
•Framing system consist of vertical studs
slotted into horizontal sills
 VERNACULAR STRUCTURAL ELEMENT
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

•Assembled without nails

•Tongue & grove mortise, tenon, lapped and
notched jointing system
 VERNACULAR STRUCTURAL ELEMENT
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

•Walls may consist of matting, palm leaves

folded round a lath and stiched together
(banig)

•Plaited with bamboo

•As well as wooden boards and panels

depending on the use and status of the
building
END OF PHILIPPINE
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
PRE-COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE:
AUSTRONESIAN ANCESTRY

REGIONAL HOUSE TYPES

REGIONAL HOUSES

UPLAND and LOWLAND houses have acquired distinct architectural

features because of difference of environmental conditions and site
contexts

Lowland Dwellings – Open, airy interior

Highlands – Sealed of solid planks, having few or no windows as
defense against the cold upland climate
 REGIONAL HOUSES
REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES “IVATAN ARCHITECTURE”
 REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
 REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES - “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
Ivatan Idjang
Defensive Engineering of
the Early Ivatan settlers
 REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES - “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
Ivatan Idjang
Defensive Engineering of
the Early Ivatan settlers
 REGIONAL HOUSES
ABORIGINAL IVATAN -
made up of wood,
bamboo and thatched
 REGIONAL HOUSES

BATANES - “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
 REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES - “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
Dominican Friars
introduced the Cal y Canto
technique

•Stone and Mortar

Construction
•In row on the steep
terrain of mountain hill
slopes
 REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES - “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
Dominican Friars
introduced the Cal y Canto
technique

• A Fireplace was built at

one end of the house.
 REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES - “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
IVATAN HOUSE

•Villages located on the

slopes or peaks of hills
•Huts were low, partly
because high structures
would easily toppled by the
strong winds
Cogon grass is the main roofing
material
 REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES - “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
IVATAN HOUSE
Walls are made of stones
•Batanes island did not held together by FANGO, a
mortar formed by mixing
possess enough timber mud and cogon

resources nor
appropriate tools for
larger construction
 REGIONAL HOUSES
BATANES - “IVATAN
ARCHITECTURE”
IVATAN HOUSE

•PANPET- ROOF NET

made of ropes
fastened securely to
the ground by a strong
pegs
 • thick stone + mortar (limestone walls)
WINDOWLESS PART
ORIENTED TO THE STORMINDS

REGIONAL HOUSES
RAKUH - 2 STOREY
WINDOWLESS PART
IVATAN HOUSE
ORIENTED TO THE
STORMINDS
With 2 windows and
door built on three
walls, while the 4th •thick stone + mortar
wall faces the (limestone walls)
direction of the
strongest wind. •reed, rattan, cogon or
bamboo gable or hip roofs

•strong enough to withstand

typhoons and earthquakes
•north – south orientation
•one windowless wall facing
strong winds
 REGIONAL HOUSES
Classified according
to roof configuration
Maytuab (hip roof) &
Sinadumparan (gable
roof)
 REGIONAL HOUSES
Sinadumparan
Building Anatomy
 REGIONAL HOUSES
Sinadumparan
Building Anatomy
 REGIONAL HOUSES
Cordillera region
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA REGION

According to William Henry Scott in his book

“of igorots and independence”

•1593 gold mine diggers and traders to Ilocos region

•Dominicans evangelized
Pangasinan and Nueva Vizcaya
•Pangasinan and some parts of Ilocos are Igorot
lowland territories
•Failure of Evangelization
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA REGION

NORTHERN STRAIN

SOUTHERN STRAIN

IGOROT(Mountain chain
dwellers)
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA PEOPLE
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA PEOPLE
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA PEOPLE
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA PEOPLE
 CORDILLERA REGION
END OF HEAD HUNTERS
 CORDILLERA REGION
END OF HEAD HUNTERS
 CORDILLERA REGION
END OF HEAD HUNTERS
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA PEOPLE
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA PEOPLE
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA PEOPLE

•Consists of houses made by the ISNEG & KALINGA

•Isneg With rectangular plan covered by high gabled roof
•Kalinga having Octagonal plan & three divided floorings
•Roof framing is independent of the floor framework
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA
BUILDING EXAMPLES

The southern strain

•Consists of houses made by the IFUGAO, BONTOC, IBALOI AND

KANKANAY
•With Square plan covered by high gabled roof.
•Roof framing is dependent of the floor framework
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA
BUILDING EXAMPLES

THE NORTHERN STRAIN

 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA
BUILDING EXAMPLES

THE NORTHERN STRAIN

ISNEG
•The Isnag people (also referred to as
the Isneg and Apayao) are an Austronesian
ethnic group native to Apayao Province in the
Philippines' Cordillera Administrative Region.
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING EXAMPLES

ISNEG - BINURON
•Windowless
•Low walls & roof, which keep the inhabitant
warm
•0.9 raised above the ground
•Distinguishes itself from the typical cordillera
house by its boat like appearance.
•Apayao is the only region in cordillera with a
NAVIGABLE RIVER
•Located in Apayao Province
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING EXAMPLES

ISNEG - BINURON
•rectangular plan
•high gable roof bowed to a shape of a boat
(BARANAY)
•roof framing independent from floor framework
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING EXAMPLES

ISNEG - BINURON
•The largest among the most substantially constructed houses in the cordilleras
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING EXAMPLES

ISNEG - BINURON
Binuron practical feature is its ROLL UP FLOOR made from long reeds
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING EXAMPLES

ISNEG - BINURON
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

ISNEG - BINURON

Binuron roof feature is the

bamboo tubes are split in two,
laid in Alternating face-down-
face-up arrangement in their
sides
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

ISNEG - ALANG

Rice storage/ granary

 CORDILLERA REGION
Cordillera Theory

• House as womb; Space Concept

• Basket like
• Stretch leg-like ladder
• Comparison to the tudong or rain cape for women
• Interior suggest as a womb
• Occupants of most houses are usually only the husband & wife and
perhaps children.
• It is a symbol of fertility
KALINGA
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA
•BINAYON the octagonal shaped
plan

•FORUY the square shaped plan

 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - BINAYON
•octagonal in plan

•three divided floorings, lowest in

the center
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - BINAYON
•octagonal in plan

•three divided floorings, lowest in

the center
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - BINAYON
•octagonal in plan

•three divided floorings, lowest in

the center
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - BINAYON
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - BINAYON
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - FORUY

•Elevated, Rectangular, One room house

•Made of timber materials
•Roof is made from 8-10 layers of cut
bamboo laid one above other
•Removable wall panel for ventilation
•Elevated wall along
perimeter of the wall
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - FORUY
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - FORUY
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - FORUY
 CORDILLERA REGION
CORDILLERA BUILDING
EXAMPLES

KALINGA - FORUY