27 Manila landmarks we miss

Landmarks keep us tied to places, people and events of the city. Metro Manila used to be chock full of landmark buildings and heritage sites and monuments. Sadly, the pace of urbanization is resulting in many of these landmarks disappearing every year.

Here is a list of 27 landmarks of the metropolis that have gone in the last few decades:

1. The Jai Alai building – This elegant art deco structure used to dominate a section of Taft Avenue. Its streamline moderne façade with its central half-round colonnade was one of the most beautiful buildings built in the pre-war era. It was designed by the famous American architect Welton Becket, who also designed the Manila Hilton and the landmark Capital Towers building in Los Angeles. The structure survived the World War II but not modern government plans in 2000 to replace it with a new building for the city courts. The Jai Alai was demolished amid dissent from the public and NGOs like the Heritage Conservation Society. The site remains empty and is reportedly being sought after by real estate developers for a condominium project.

2. The Meralco Building — This was also an art deco masterpiece that used to be the electric company’s headquarters before the war. It was one of the first buildings in the city to be completely air-conditioned (Carrier). The building was sold off in sections and all that remains is a main mass that is the center of controversy today. The remaining element of the landmark is a magnificent relief sculpture by the wonderful Italian sculptor Francesco Monti. Authorities have seen it fit to allow the owners to cast a replica, then to destroy the original. This, as many have pointed out, is equivalent to copying a Picasso and then shredding the original.

3. Café Puro – One of my childhood landmarks was this gigantic 3-D billboard for Café Puro that sat on top of one wing of the Metropolitan Theater (itself close to disappearing). I was fascinated by the huge coffee pot continually pouring what appeared to be steaming java into a cup the size of a water tank. It’s long gone and today I hate billboards.

4. Avenida Rizal – I miss Rizal Avenue and its dozens of movie houses. The avenue is half-dead because of the LRT and many of the cinemas are gone or turned into ukay-ukay shops. Mayor Atienza (who had the Jai Alai demolished) got it right when he pedestrianized a stretch of it, cleaning the area and revitalizing that section enough so that new shops opened. Sadly, Mayor Lim took it all back and it reverted to its old blighted self.

5. The Manila Aquarium – I remember this as a field trip destination as a grade school kid. Located at one of the bulwarks of the Intramuros, the aquarium lasted from the American period until the ‘70s when it turned into a concert venue — Puerto Real.

6. The Colgante Bridge – We had a suspension bridge decades before San Francisco built theirs. I never got to use it as it was demolished way before my time. Government replaced it with the Quezon Bridge.

7. The fire trees at the Luneta – Another landmark from the American period was the line of fire trees on Padre Burgos Drive at the Luneta. It was so showy and loved by all for its brilliant display that Mrs. Taft replicated it when her husband Howard became US president. She had to replace the species with cherry blossoms.

8. The Insular Life Building at Plaza Cervantes – The original Insular Life Building was the tallest structure in pre-war Manila. It stood a dizzying six stories high plus a distinctive tower adorned with an eagle. The “skyscraper” was a landmark of Manila’s CBD, back when Binondo was the center of all things business. The company moved to Makati in the 1960s.

9. Meralco’s tranvias – This moving landmark was a signature of Manila’s modernity before the war. It carried as many as seven million passengers a year back then and was powered by Meralco’s electricity. Most of the trams were slavaged during the war and lost out to buses and jeepneys after the war.

10. GSIS Building – This post-war masterpiece of Federico Ilustre is almost gone. Some reports have it that most of the structure is going to be saved… but not from the looks of it now.

11. Jones Bridge – The original pre-war Jones Bridge was an ornate neo-classic creation of Juan Arellano. It was as beautiful as any of Paris’s bridges crossing the Seine and had four allegorical vignettes guarding its opposite ends. It was replaced by a bland steel bridge after the war.

12. Rizal Memorial Coliseum and Complex – This is a preemptive listing as reports have it that the main sports authority in the country is looking to sell the coliseum and the whole complex to generate funds for a new facility out in the boondocks somewhere.

13. Paco Station – This train station designed by William E. Parsons is a miniature of the beautiful neo-classic Penn Station that was demolished in the Big Apple in the ‘60s to make way for the clunky Madison Square Garden.

14. The Motorco – Another moving landmark like the tranvia was the post-war Motorco double-decker buses that used to ply Roxas Boulevard. They disappeared in the early 1980s except for one that was turned into a restaurant somewhere on the CCP grounds.

15. The US Embassy Visa building – This was a landmark on Roxas Boulevard until very recently. Designed by California modernist Alfred L. Aydelott, it featured a distinctive brise soliel and solid base of adobe, meant to mimic the walls of Intramuros. Thousands remember queuing for hours in front of this structure.

16. Nayong Pilipino – This mini Philippines was the brainchild of Imelda Marcos. It was hugely successful and even copied by Indonesia. The 40-hectare park is now closed and reportedly being redeveloped.

17. The hotdog stand at Rizal Park – My first taste of American-style hotdog was from the famous café at the Rizal Park run by deaf mutes. Maybe Purefoods can revive the stand at the park and bring back memories.

18. The old MIA – The original Manila International Airport was the most modern in Asia when it opened in the 1960s. It was downhill from then on. Too bad, as its design, by Federico Ilustre, was a great example of tropical modern architecture.

19. The Ysmael Steel Robot – Another childhood landmark was the Ysmael Steel robot on the front lawn of their factory on España Extension. We were on our way to becoming self sufficient in steel but our aspirations were shut down by foreign intervention. Now we are left to watch robots created by Hollywood.

20. The Rizal Theater – A whole generation of Filipino middle-class kids grew up with Disney movies, Star Wars and repertory plays at this venue that was the landmark of the Makati Commerical Center. The Shangri-La Makati now stands in its stead.

21. The Dona Narcisa building – I worked in this stately early Makati skyscraper for four years at the office of National Artist IP Santos. I miss the Patio Alba de Makati on top and the building’s clean and well-designed spaces by architect Gabriel Formoso. They don’t make them like they used to.

22. The Calma building – This minimalist block was another favourite of mine in Makati. It housed the studios of Lor Clama, architect-interior and furniture designer. It also was the shop of jeweler Hans Brumann. A fast food outlet sits on the site today.

23. Manila Zoo – With its animals dying or diseased, the half-century-old zoo may be seeing its last years of existence. Let’s hope it can be saved.

24. La Mancha – Don Quixote is a favorite literary character and this windmill of the La Mancha restaurant always reminded me of him. I always was on the lookout for Sancho Pancha. Do you remember where this was?

25. Rustan’s Makati – I miss this original Rustan’s Makati. Architect Jose Sala created this decorated box that always signaled you were approaching the country’s most modern shopping center.

26. Globe fountain at the Luneta – A favorite landmark of the ‘70s was the globe fountain (not the telco) at the Rizal park. Around it was a skating rink that saw hundreds practice their moves during weekends when the park was full of people. Today the globe is gone, replaced by Lapu-Lapu, who rises above even Jose Rizal.

27. Finally I miss the MMDA urinals of former Chairman Bayani Fernando. I miss him, too. The two were colorful and exemplary of the determination to fulfil basic needs in the most practical way possible. Of course it was not always the prettiest or most elegant way to do things, but we remember this element as part of his legacy… and we need someone like him again to run a metropolis.

Landmarks are important but they need to be relevant and loved to stay with us. The Philippine STAR, too, is a contemporary landmark of Philippine journalism. Its editors, writers, contributors and employees strive hard to keep it relevant year after year. It is loved by legions because of this.

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Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.