The Philippine Architecture: Spanish Colonial Period

Chapter Five is entitled “The Government and the Economy of the Reign of Charles V” and in it Elliot argues that after Ferdinand 's death in 1516, his successor Charles I of Spain, V of the Holy Roman Empire, inherited a thriving, pacified, quasi-united kingdom that had access to the incredible wealth of the Americas. The problem, the author suggests, was that Charles and his successors did not fully understand the complexity of the Spanish system they inherited.

Ferdinand Magellan is the son of Portuguese nobility and a student of cartography and astronomy. Magellan had a goal to discover a western sea route through the Americans that led to the Spice Islands. Throughout this voyage Magellan wanted more such as his own fleet which was refused to be given by the King of Portugal. Instead, the Spanish king provided an armada or fleet or ships of five. Magellan employed a group of men in their teenage years and twenties which later staged a mutiny.

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala was an ethnic Andean, deeply inspired by the injustice of the colonial regime, he wrote a massive manuscript in 1615 about the history of the Inca Empire to the King of Spain. His masterpiece includes 1,200 pages, of which 398 were images full of details, that are clearly considered by the artist to be the most direct and effective way of communicating his ideas to the audience. Felipe de Ayala focused on the conflicts between the settlers and the natives to reveal, in his powerful drawings, his wider purpose of a desire for a colonial reformation that will bring stability and justice to the Andean people. Two major reasons that motivated Ayala to write the manuscript are broadly seen in his drawings: the first

In document C, Christopher Columbus describes a land that he has discovered an island called Hispana to Spanish Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1494. The land is vast filled with trees, plains, animals, honey and varieties of metal. These lands made it very suitable for farming, planting, and building houses. Columbus also says “This Hispana, moreover, abounds in different kinds of spices, in gold, and in metals.” Columbus is describing to the Monarchs that there are vast amounts of material in the New World that the Spaniards would find useful to them. When King Charles V creates The New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians, this makes the Indians seem more protected and comfortable with Spain. This leads to being generous towards the Spanish and giving them the goods that they need. On the other hand, while the Iberians get what they want in the trading with the Indians, they can give them items that don't have much value for them, but to the Indians they seem valuable (Document D). The strong Spanish military also helped the expansion of trading and goods in the New World such places like Mexico (Document G). The Iberians could also decide to take these goods by force. In document I, an Indian portrays an image of a European kicking an Indian in the neck with a chest on her back. This displays the the

Lastly the third reason why Magellan led himself to his deathbed. Magellan’s navigational skills were poor. According to Over the Edge of the World, By Harper Collins “he regularly sent small scouting parties in the long boats”, “they would go and come back with news of the findings.. And the rest would follow” Gines de Mafra recalled. This evidence shows that Magellan had planned the way easily, but doing it was difficult. Magellan purely relied on his search parties to go throughout the way. You might argue that he still got through and reached the spice islands, but he reached there with just a handful of men in his Armada.

Magellan’s main goal was to reach the Spice Islands by crossing the Pacific Ocean. While in the Philippines, “Magellan had his right leg pierced by a poisonous arrow, on which he gave orders to retreat by degrees” ( Doc E). This document was written by a crew member named Antonio Pigafetta who was a passenger in this expedition. Antonio was an eyewitness to the incidents that had occurred during that time. Pigafetta had a great admiration for Magellan for his determination and courage. Pigafetta was one of the six or eight crew members who fought along with

During the same time as Portugal’s expansion Spain was also seeking a passage from Spain across the Atlantic to Asia. A man from

The history of the colonization of Americas is one written in blood. The Hispaniola is no exception, and the conflict can still be seen today. In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed west. In doing so, he

By the 6th century a Germanic tribe called the Visigoths, converts to Arian Christianity, had established themselves as the aristocratic elite. The Christians built many monumental basilica-plan churches. The Santa Maria de Quintanilla de las Vinas, Burgos, Spain and San Juan de Banos de Cerrato are two such churches that still remain today. In the beginning of the 8th century Islamic Muslims conquered Spain and ended Visigothic rule. They constructed militaristic and religious architecture including castles, watchtowers, rock castes, the Great Mosque, and the Red Palace. The remaining Christians adopted some of the Islamic styles and soon built upon a new style that ended up

During this long-lasting Reconquista, there were long periods of war and peace. Over time, the Christian kingdoms gradually defeated the Moors and took back all of Moorish Spain. After several centuries, the Moors were at their weakest moment. No other caliph from North Africa, or the Middle East could save the Moors. In 1469, the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were united by the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Soon, the Moors only had control of the Kingdom of Granada. The Moors were extremely economically, politically and militarily weak. In 1492, the last outpost of the Moors had fallen. Spain had captured Granada and finally brought an end to the reconquest of Spain. During this period of time, there was more than a reconquering of lands. There was an an inquisition and an expulsion of Jews and Moors from Spain. In 1478, Pope Sixtus IV issued a bull that authorized Isabella and Ferdinand to appoint inquisitors in Castile for the purpose of combating heresy. The Spanish Inquisition

Duran, Diego. The History of the Indies of New Spain. 1581, trans. Doris Hayden. University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.

Question 1. Choose an architect or practice whose work is covered by or relevant to this course and discuss critically one or more of their design projects or drawings or urban proposals as precedent case-studies. Selectively situate this work in relation to their body of work, and against the practices and concerns of the period. Focus on the architectural qualities of a specific key aspect of the design of the projects. Selectively consider how they might relate to the historical situation, cultural values, theoretical concerns and design practices of the time. This may involve a selective analysis of compositional design practices, material fabrication production and the experiential reception of built outcomes of the projects.

1. Read Chapter 8 of Antonio de Morga's "Events of the Philippines Islands" with the Rizal annotation. Then take one section of Chapter 8 which talks about precolonial cultures and IN YOUR OWN WORDS, discuss its significance and use to our present-day ideas of culture, history, and identify.

Spain is one of the foreign countries that colonized our country for more than three hundred years. They are the reason why Filipinos experienced suffered, hardship, persecution etc. during their colonization. But the Spanish had also contributes good things in our country specially to us Filipinos.

However, the idea of forcing the western culture on the original people failed. Also, the Spanish brought foreign diseases with them to the Filipinos. Such as smallpox and leprosy. Finally, under the Spanish rule, the Philippines became part of the Spanish monarchy. This made other countries refuse to trade with the Philippines. There were one thing that was successful in the Spanish colonization, this was the influence of the Spanish language. Once the Philippines knows about the Spanish language, it became the main (official) language in Philippines. Wasn't a long amount of time until they changed it again to Tagalog, their old