I.

RESEARCH STAGE

1. CITY BACKGROUND
REFERENCES:
- CITY DESIGNING AND NATIONHOOD DURING THE EARLY 1900S: CIVIC DESIGN IN THE PHILIPPINES,
Prof. Ian Morley (Dept. of History, Chinese University of Hong Kong)
- PLANNING IN THE PHILIPPINES, Arch. / EnP. Rey S. Gabitan (PUP CAFA):
http://pupclass.blogspot.com/2008/06/module-4-planning-3-history-part-3.html

a. HISTORY

City planning in the country began during Spanish colonial times where MANILA
is established as the capital of the Philippines, applying the SPANISH TOWN
PLANNING influenced by the Romans and PIAZZA PLANNING of ITALIAN
RENNAISANCE where SPATIAL SEGREGATION ALONG RACIAL AND SOCIAL LINES
(Indios from Chinese) and the PROCESS OF HISPANIZATION (through “PLAZA
COMPLEX”: founding important buildings esp. government infrastructures around a
plaza) is present. This process became dominant and reflected such spatial segregation
in the walled city of INTRAMUROS, where Spanish except the high-ranking officials and
friars are home inside and the natives are left to live on the unplanned fringes outside
these walls.

Early 1600s then marked MANILA as the first primate city in Southeast Asia, with
traditional Spanish architecture complete with streets and squares, civic and religious
buildings, open spaces and cultivation and pasturing lands.

–––Until the fall of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines under U.S. supremacy
in The Battle of the Manila Bay in 1898, resulting in U.S. official acquisition of the
Philippines in December that year with the Treaty of Paris. Manila is nothing
more but rubbles and debris of what was once a place of healthy galleon trades.
It was that time America recognized itself being a world power, bestowing
civilization and shall be through the DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN CITIES
WITH THE PRACTICE OF URBAN PLANNING.

b. PROJECT UPTAKE
REFERENCES:
- DANIEL BURNHAM: PLANS FOR THE PHILIPPINES https://burnhampi.wordpress.com/category/d-h-burnham/

After the war, Manila’s reconstruction in 1904 with “ALL CORPORATIONS,

RAILROADS, TRANSPORTATION, ETC.” is placed in W. Cameron Forbes’ hands, the
Philippine commissioner of that time. Originally told by William Howard Taft, the
Secretary of War, to hire a “LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT”, he sought a long-time friend
when FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED, JR. was unable to accept the offer.

DANIEL H. BURNHAM is an urban planning visionary, a well-renowned architect

in the late-1800s and early 1900s who received the assignment of transforming
MANILA “from an old colonial outpost to a modern urban area adapted to
changed times and modern needs” with a PHYSICAL REDEVELOPMENT
PLAN. 223, 029 people are currently living in the city at that time but Burnham
and his team of planners foresaw the progressing developments in industry and
agriculture leading to fast population growth.
2. THE MAKING OF THE PLAN: BURNHAM’S PROPOSAL

a. PRINCIPLES + AESTHETICS

o IN BURNHAM’S EYES: CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT

REFERENCES:
- PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS BY JOHN WILEY
- AN OVERVIEW OF THE CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT AS REFLECTED IN DANIEL BURNHAM’S VISION,
Richard Klein
- CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT, http://www.nypap.org/content/city-beautiful-movement

From coast to coast of every city, the late 19 th century celebrated incredibly
popular events of its time; namely, international expositions and WORLD FAIRS that
required “the construction of a harmonious set of exhibition buildings arranged to speed
the circulation of tens of thousands of visitors”. Incidentally at the same time, people
recognized that their towns and cities are “ugly” in a sense of rawness, roughness and
incompleteness. The last and greatest of the 19 th century’s World Fairs: the World’s
Columbian Exposition of 1893 paved way for a response to this problem –– The CITY
BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT concept pioneered by Daniel Burnham in the rise of the
“WHITE CITY” in his City of Chicago Plan.

Daniel Burnham typified the “NEW KIND OF ARCHITECT AND PLANNER WHO
FELT THAT LARGE-SCALE, RATIONAL PLANNING INITIATIVES ARE CRUCIAL IF
[American] CITIES WANT TO CREATE BETTER URBAN ENVIRONMENTS FOR ALL
OF THEIR CITIZENS”. The idea in the physicality of the fair is the elimination of basing
land-use decisions dictated by local, often provincial, urban traditions; designs would be
effective and promote economy, efficiency and good citizenship within cities at the same
time; and the city be “no longer a symbol of economic development and industrialization,
but could now be seen as ENHANCING THE AESTHETIC ENVIRONMENT OF ITS
MANY INHABITANTS”.

The CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT and Daniel Burnham’s greatest contribution

would be for “ARCHITECTS AND PLANNERS TO RECONSIDER WHAT
CONSTITUTED GOOD DESIGN AND TO THINK OF THE LONG-TERM
RAMIFICATIONS OF THEIR EFFORTS”.

o BURNHAM’S PHILOSOPHY: “MAKE NO LITTLE PLANS!”

REFERENCES:
- http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/300005.html

Burnham is a man who believed in the FORCES OF BIG IDEAS embodied in the
living power of a printed document. He kept his focus ALWAYS ON THE BIG PICTURE,
telling his associates that he “objected very much to having anything but the best thing,"
maintaining that "it is better to wait for years and have the best than to take something
unfit and having to do the whole thing over again."

This sparked his famous quote from his 13 years of devotion to planning the City
of Chicago: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and
probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope
and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never
die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing
insistency”. 
 In all his assignments, he felt that the challenge was “THE NEED TO PLAN AND
DESIGN FOR WHOLE CITIES”, and his Plan of Chicago along with associate EDWARD
BENNETT is considered as the first comprehensive metropolitan plans wherein the
following elements are ordered by authors as:

1. Ports and railroad terminals

2. Industrial districts
3. Major streets, including new radial and circumferential highways
4. Civic spaces and plazas
5. Sites for public buildings
6. Parks

The concept of CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT is commonly characterized as having at

its heart the notion of making cities more beautiful; but in planning MANILA in reality,
Burnham employed this concept TO HELP PROVIDE IMPROVED ENVIRONMENTAL
CONDITIONS, TO MAKE EXISTING SETTLEMENTS MORE UTILITARIAN AND TO AID
THE CREATION OF A NEW CIVILIZATION (city planning imprinting US rule upon the
Philippines).

While working on City of Baguio’s plan at the same time, it is inferred Burnham also has
TWO QUALITIES: A MAN OF BUSINESS who worked closely with his clients to assure
their satisfaction; second, HIS LOVE OF WATER UTILIZATION AS AN ATTRACTIVE
ELEMENT in the designs for his cities along with his take on NEOCLASSICISM –– which
can be seen in the plan of MANILA.

b. VISIONS + INSPIRATIONS
REFERENCE:
- PALAFOX 2020 MANILA PLAN
- http://chicagoplanninghistory.weebly.com/urban-design.html
- http://burnhamplan100.lib.uchicago.edu/history_future/plan_of_chicago/

“On the point of rapid growth, yet still small in area, possessing the bay of Naples, the
winding river of Paris, and the canals of Venice, Manila has before it an opportunity
unique in history of modern times, the opportunity to create a unified city equal to the
greatest of the Western world with the unparalleled and priceless addition of a tropical
setting”.

Burnham envisioned a mesh of ROME, PARIS and VENICE in MANILA as the “CITY
BEAUTIFUL OF THE ORIENT –– THE PEARL OF THE ORIENT”. He saw VENICE in our
esteros: The Pasig River and Binondo Canal as good transport routes for accessibility and
trading. He saw ROME’s bay of Naples in our own MANILA BAY, and he saw PARIS’
Winding River in the Pasig River.

A Burnham plan is usually consisted of these elements:

1. LAKEFRONT ENHANCEMENT
2. DEVELOPING HIGHWAY SYSTEMS
3. RAILWAYS IMPROVEMENT
4. OUTER PARK SYSTEMS
5. SYSTEMATIC STREETS
6. CIVIC CENTER OF CITY OF CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENT

The principles are:

1. WATER
2. TRANSPORTATION TIED TO GOOD LAND USE
3. PUBLIC TRANSIT AND FREIGHT
 4. ECOSYSTEM AND ENERGY
5. CONNECTING PEOPLE TO OPPORTUNITY
6. ONE REGION, ONE CULTURE

And he applied these elements on the concepts of GRAND SCALE, WIDE RADIAL
BOULEVARDS, LANDSCAPED PARKS AND PLEASANT VISTAS in designing Manila.

3. THE PLAN: CENTRAL POINTS & FEATURES OF DEVELOPMENT

ACCORDING TO BURNHAM’S VISIONS

The plan states that it aims to provide:

1) Development of water-front and location of parks and parkways so as to give proper means
of recreation to every quarter of the city
Suggestions:
–Return of privately-owned portions of Manila’s river or ocean bay to the public for the use and
enjoyment of the people
–On the bay front, a continuous parkway* running from the Luneta southward to
Cavite.

*Boulevard 250 feet wide, with roadways, tramways, bridle path, palm and bamboo trees for
shade, and broad sidewalks
*”Its seaward side should be planted so as to interrupt occasionally the view of the sea and by
thus adding somewhat of mystery, enhance the value of the stretch of ocean and sky

–Shaded drives along the banks of the Pasig

–Replacement of the present Luneta by a new Luneta of same size and shape, but
placed 1000 feet further out in the bay on new-made land in order to “restore its
former commanding outlook”
–A large pleasure park near town center and on water front
–“Park spaces, small in extent, in the shape of plazas, circles, esplanades, parkway
boulevards…laid out so that in any quarter of the city future buildings of importance
may find already prepared for them a location susceptible of adequate treatment in its
approaches and surroundings”
–Nine parks (the “playfields of moderate size in the heart of the city” type) evenly
distributed throughout the city, taking inspiration from the parks recently created by
the South Park Board of Chicago
–An outer park northward of the city, from Santa Mesa toward the bay, where the
ground has varying contours
 –Three other potential parks on the outskirts of the city, all of which are connected by
parkway boulevards
–Fountains throughout the city, once water supply is more abundant

2) The street system securing direct and easy communication from every part of the city to
every other part
Suggestions:
–Maintain the city walls

Burnham decided that older parts of the city with “well-shaded, narrow streets” were “picturesque
and should be maintained” for the effect they created. The city walls themselves presented a unique
case of archaeological and historical interest. Constructed in the sixteenth century, they stood as one
of the few remaining examples of a fortified medieval town. Aesthetically, Burnham felt that their
“imposing appearance [gave] them a monumental value.” Some concerns were raised about the walls
blocking traffic and the circulation of air. The planner felt that the latter critique was unfounded
(since nearby buildings were just as high, or higher), and that gateways could be cut through the
angle bastions to help traffic and preserve the walls’ effect.

–Turn the city’s ancient moat into a sunken garden

Burnham had no desire to keep the ancient moat surrounding the Intramuros, or inner city. The
space had become stagnant and hazardous, a sanity and aesthetic nuisance, and Burnham thought it
better to drain and fill it with trees and grass to provide a circular park. This would provide a
dramatic setting for the old city walls.
–Outer districts of the city should have a street system with the following
characteristics:
* No north-south or east-west orientation
Why?
“The avoiding of north and south or east and west orientation of streets allows each of the four sides
of the house to have the advantage of direct sunlight at some time during the day, with consequent
gain in ventilation and sanitation.”

* Fan-shaped grouping of radiating streets, dividing the town into 5 sections, with the center being
the area of the Intramuros and its adjacent territory
Why?
“The reason of this arrangement is the fact that from any given point in the outer section of the city,
the volume of traffic toward the centre will exceed the volume of traffic toward any other single
 point. Hence the advantage of a system which directs half the street of a given quarter directly
towards the busy center.”

* Diagonal arteries for facilitating communication between city districts

Why?
Burnham thought it important for every section of town to be readily accessible from every other part
of town. “Speaking generally, the planning of a town should be so carried out that a person may pass
from any given point to any other point along a reasonably direct line.”

–Leave old city streets untouched, except for a couple new arteries deemed
“indispensible”

3) Location of building sites for various activities

Suggestions:
–Government/National building group (including the Capitol building and Department
buildings)
* Should be configured in a single, formal mass
* Eastern front should face a semi-circular plaza space, ideal for a national monument “of compact plan and
simple silhouette”
* Courthouse located separately, south of the main group (“The buildings which constitute the visible
expression of law, its symbol of dignity and power, should be given the utmost beauty in their location,
arrangement, architectural treatment, and approaches. A Hall of Justice should be treated as a thing apart, a
thing majestic, venerable, and sacred…free from the clatter of commerce.”)

–Semi-public buildings (libraries, museums, permanent exposition buildings) stretching

from the Government group northward toward the bridge of Spain

–Railway station centrally located on the river and between Pace and Pandacon, connected
by its own system of radiating arteries with all quarters of the city

–Municipal building group placed on Plaza McKinley

* Enlargement of the plaza
* Creation of a second plaza where a Custom House, Board of Trade, and Commercial Museum would be
located.

–The waterfront

“…The bay front, with its boulevards and parks, is the natural theatre of the social life of Manila…”
 In treating the waterfront, Burnham felt that Manila’s ocean bay and river were standout features.
The residences of the Governor-General, the Major-General Commanding the Dpeartment of the
Philippines, and the Vice-Admiral of the Station would be located there.The planner also envisioned
a closely-grouped series of city clubs (considered semi-public institutions) on new-made land. He
suggested that any privately owned property near these waterways be returned to the public. He
referenced fountains in Washington and Rome as potential designs for Manila, serving as “aesthetic
and psychological relief from the long summer heat.” The canals, or esteros, would be transformed
from stagnant and unsanitary muddy banks to a useful system for transporting goods. Though he
recognized that widening, bridging, and maintaining them would be costly, Burnham also saw their
potential to contribute a Venice-like beauty to the atmosphere.

–A world-renowned hotel located north of the Luneta Park

–A group of schools, or perhaps a university, placed on Santa Mesa Heights, a location that
was detached from the city, on high ground, and made water for aquatic sports available.

4) Development of waterways for transportation

Suggestions:
–A railway drawbridge over the Pasig
–An additional port to the North of the river near the present business and railway freight
districts
–Preservation and rejeuvenaton of the esteros, or narrow canals, around the city as a source
for freight handling and for beauty
–An open quai along river-banks in the business parts of town

5) Summer resorts
Suggestions:
–Placement on high grounds
–Accessible/within easy reach of the city

“…In working toward an organic plan…Manila may rightly hope to become the adequate expression of the
destiny of the Filipino people as well as an enduring witness to the efficient services of America in the
Philippine Islands.”

So in summary, the plan of Manila included

  A civic center: a grouping of cultural and governmental institutions located near the
bay and south of the old walled inner city
 Major public buildings NOT in the neoclassical style, but formally arranged
 Special considerations due to the tropical climate
 Efforts to accommodate the “manana ambience of the Spanish-Philippine tradition”
 Space along the river and seashore for private clubs, a luxury hotel, and public use
 Improved public facilities, but no public, low-rent housing
 Abundant foliage, fountains of water, and a continuous parkway along the waterfront
 Preservation of the system of canals, or esteros
 Streets conforming to the natural contours of the land
 A street system with diagonal streets radiating out from the civic center to outlying
parts of the city

The last proposal Burnham found to both a sentimental and practical: “practical because the center of
governmental activity should be readily accessible from all sides; sentimental because every section of the
Capital City should look with deference toward the symbol of the Nation’s power.” Furthermore, his belief
that people should be able to travel along “reasonably direct lines” explains his choice.

Architecture
William E. Parsons served as the general architectural supervisor for all public buildings and parks
throughout the Philippines, a role given to him by Commissioner W. Cameron Forbes. At the time time of
Parsons’ appointment in November, 1905, he was a young American architect with eight years of service in
the Philippines, a recently received diploma from the École des Beaux Arts, and a job at a private practice in
New York City. Parsons became the “interpreter and executant ofthe Burnham-Anderson plans,” in addition
to some private work he did (2)

Burnham noted that “Most of the existing buildings were erected in Spanish times and are of a distinctly
Spanish type. They were for the most part built of wood with projecting second stories…The roof which still
further overhands the buildings was commonly covered with beautiful dull red tile, and the effect of the
whole is unusually pleasing. At the present time corrugated galvanized iron roofs are taking the place of the
beautiful Spanish tile, to the serious detriment of the city’s appearance. The old Spanish churches and the
old Spanish government buildings are especially interesting and in view of their beauty and practical
suitability to local conditions could be profitably taken as examples of future structures.”

His reverence for the Spanish style of architecture already established in the area of was great, and this fact
really came through in the language he used. Burnham states in the plan that “the old Spanish buildings
with their relatively small openings, their wide arched arcades and their large wall spaces of
flat white-wash possess endless charm, and as types of good architectures for tropical
service, could hardly be improved upon”

Furthermore, Burnham acknowledged in the plan that adaptability to local conditions was key, and “in a
tropical climate costly structures put up with granite, marble, or other building stones in the manner of
public buildings in Europe and American would be out of place.” He decided that the ideal style of building
would have simple concrete walls and would be beautiful in terms of its proportions, not its materials.

A.N. Rebori, in an article titled “The Work of William E. Parsons in the Philippine Islands” from the
April/May 1917 issue if The Architectural Reviewessentially stated that it is not possible to give too much
praise for “the high fidelity with which Mr. parsons carried out the spirit of the plans, the judiciousness of
the modifications he made in them, the simplicity, directness, and good taste which characterize the many
and varied buildings he designed, the ability with which he solved problems both old and new, and the
judgment he displayed in all his dealings with both officials and people.”
4. ZONING AND LAND USE PLAN OF MANILA MASTERPLAN 1905

5. MOSTLY PICTURES ONLY???“EVOLUTION” of Manila from 1900s to

WW2 to present (FEATURES COMPLETED IN 1900s onwards to 2015) //
[Spanish colonial times to American colonial period to present ---
INSERT SWOT PICS!!]
 6. “REASONS” FOR FAILURE of completion of Manila’s masterplan 1905
(ANALYSIS; COMPARISON OF MANILA TO CHICAGO PLAN)

 TERMS:
7. Daniel Burnham
8. Frederick Law Olmstead
9. “fusion of east and west”

 BOOK REFERENCES:
10. Planning and Urban Design Standards by JOHN WILEY AND SONS
11. Emerging Concepts in Urban Design
II. DESIGN STAGE
(PRESENTATION STORYBOARD!!)