This original template for all of our country’s subdivisions was named after a millionaire himself – William Cameron Forbes, one-time governor general of the Philippines. Forbes was a busy-body, a Yale graduate who wanted to prove his worth to his peers in the high echelons of American business and society. His family was wealthy and he used his connections to find a post as assistant to William Howard Taft, the first governor general in 1905. He went on to take over the post and champion road-building projects and the physical development of Manila and Baguio (he was instrumental in bringing Daniel Burnham over to master plan the two cities).
The residential development was the creation of Don Alfonso Zobel and J R MacMicking. The Ayalas wanted to make use of their huge property at the fringe of pre-war Manila. They sensed a need for housing the rich displaced from war-torn central Manila and for providing an alternative business center for expanding businesses.
The two took lessons from American suburban subdivisions in Greater New York and Chicago and adapted these to Philippine conditions and the real-estate market. It was reported to be an "experiment to prove the point that people wanted the best that they could afford." The year was 1947 and people, even the rich, could really not afford much. So the Ayalas gave incentives and almost rock bottom prices. They convinced a few of the elite to move there, but only after they built houses for themselves.
To entice more residents from the established residential districts like Pasay, Malate, New Manila, and San Juan, the Ayalas also convinced the Manila Polo Club to relocate here. They also donated land to the Franciscans to rebuild their Santuario de San Antonio (complete with Amorsolo paintings inside). These proved successful in drawing residents in and became the formula for many more Ayala developments in the decades to follow. No modern upmarket subdivisions nowadays are developed without the country club, church, and convent school combination of amenities.
The Forbes Park developers also pioneered the building of supermarkets, drugstores, and related amenities within their enclaves. They also started the trend of forming homeowners’ associations to see to the needs of the "villages." The experiment was also to prove that "some regimentation was needed to preserve a high standard of living."
Residents must abide by certain restrictions set by the developers and the association. Fencing and gates had maximum heights and the house could not cover the entire lot to allow for generous landscaping. The designs for their homes must be screened by a building committee and the houses must have a minimum cost, again to ensure the quality of the architecture. These "restrictions" are all now basic for most high-class developments.
The original 93-hectare "park" was carved out of the extensive Ayala estate which was formerly Jesuit land. The original subdivision had 347 houses with each lot occupying from an eighth to a fourth of a hectare each – huge compared to even high-end developments now (upmarket lots are now down to between 400 and 600 square meters in area while mid-market home lots go down to an astonishingly small 80 square meters!)
The streets were named after the several species of trees planted in the new "park." Those magnificent acacias on McKinley Road (named after the American president who gave the orders – supposedly heaven-sent – to conquer the Philippines) are over half a century old now.
One of the things prohibited by the association was (and still is) the keeping of livestock and poultry. Although adopted by numerous subdivisions thereafter, many middle-class enclaves, like the one I grew up in, did not enforce this, making the cock’s early morning crow the curse of the not-so-rich suburbanite.
The first houses in Forbes were built mainly in revivalist styles that were an offshoot of pre-war trends. In the Fifties, however, the California split-level or ranch types came into vogue. There were also a number of Asian-themed demesnes, like the Pablo Antonio-designed house of Hans and Chona Kasten. Other houses of the rich and famous were designed by the top architects of the day – Carlos Arguelles, Juan Nakpil, Gabriel Formoso, Jose Zaragosa, Pablo Antonio Sr. (who also designed the Polo Club with landscape architecture by Louis P. Croft). These were followed a little later by the work of Leandro Locsin, Willy Coscolluela, Roger Villarosa, and many more of the third generation of Filipino architects (more features on Forbes houses in future articles).
Forbes, therefore, is a rich repository of Filipino post-war architectural heritage. Many of these houses are now half-a-century old and should be conserved. The enclave is also a legacy of suburban development and should be studied for its great influence on succeeding residential subdivisions of the ’60s till the present day. All bear semblance or adapt patterns and elements of this "experiment." In fact, there should be a study made on just how Forbes and the subdivisions of the ’50s, like the Philamlife Homes in Quezon City, set patterns for urban, suburban, and exurban sprawl.
There are lessons to be learned, for sure, in establishing communities, containing growth, connecting infrastructure and maintaining quality of life. Not all lessons are positive and, in the context of today’s super-dense cities, the role of low-density suburbs is to be questioned. Some say these are still necessary to mitigate crowding itself. Others champion a more rational approach to urban development that allows high density near the core and lesser density at the fringes (as Forbes Park was at the start).
Whatever it is, Forbes remains a fascinating place – providing the best contrasting images of the rational and unplanned in town planning, the elegant richness versus eclectic kitschness of Filipino residential architecture, and ultimately the disparity between the sheltered rich and the shantied poor in society.
Finally, the most desireable results in all of our housing experiments from now on would be to ensure that everyone finds a roof over their heads, good neighbors near by, and communities that engender civic life and continued prosperity for all.