Repainting of Arayat Church draws mixed reactions
The recent repainting of the façade of the Spanish-era church of Arayat in Pampanga garnered mixed reactions from parishioners and the heritage sector.
The protective palitada (plastering) of its belfry—it was unclear if it was the original lime mortar or the incompatible cement—was removed to reveal the stone used in its construction.
During the Spanish era, many Philippine churches actually sported bright colors, similar to those found in Mexico. These religious edifices also had palitada for the materials used such as stone and bricks, which protected it from the elements.
Unfortunately, many of these structures underwent major renovations in the 20th century, including the stripping of the palitada that, in effect, also stripped the paint used to enhance the appeal of these Fil-Hispanic buildings.
In the case of Arayat, it is not yet clear whether the new paint used has archival or scientific basis, as the Archdiocesan Committee on Church Heritage-Pampanga has not yet responded to Lifestyle’s query on the issue.
Architectural movement
Historian and anthropologist Fernando Zialcita said a global architectural movement could be blamed for the stripping of historic palitada in general, which affects the condition of stone and gives a church a romantic, “old look.” And that is Modernism, particularly what is called brutalism.
Brutalism is part and parcel of the modernist architecture movement (also called International Style) that flourished globally from the 1930s to the 1980s, although its roots lie in Europe in the 19th century. It is generally characterized by asymmetrical compositions, minimal ornamentation, and volume.
Brutalism is discernible through the exposed concrete, monochromatic colors, and angular shapes of buildings.
In the Philippines, samples include Leandro Locsin’s Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Building and other related buildings in the CCP complex straddling Pasay and Manila, and Jorge Ramos’ Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City.
Globally, one of the most influential architects who championed brutalism is Swiss-French architect-artist Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, popularly known as Le Corbusier (1887-1965).
In 2016, 17 of the buildings he designed in Europe, India, Japan, and Argentina were inscribed in the World Heritage List. Corbusier’s works are characterized by raw concrete finish and mass, but contrasted with the use of strong colors.
False nostalgia
In a casual conversation during recent a tour of the Silang Church in Cavite, Zialcita pointed out that brutalism is the cause of the removal of the palitada of historic structures such as churches starting from about 1960s.
A palitada is normally a mixture of lime mortar used to cover church surfaces to protect the adobe, bricks, or coral stone from weathering.
Also, in Spanish colonial Philippines, as mentioned, many of these churches were not bland but painted in beautiful colors. All of these were removed in many of the country’s churches for these to “look old” and as a result of what Zialcita called “false nostalgia.”
He said the brutalist movement “affected structures that have nothing to do with the trend, particularly churches.”
Filipino architects of that time unknowingly exposed materials such as adobe and bricks to the elements, resulting in wear and tear that was at times remedied by the use of concrete, a material not suitable for the structure.
Zialcita cites the churches of San Agustin in Intramuros and Sta. Ana in Manila as well as the church of Las Piñas as examples of structures rendered with the brutalist look. In the 1960s to the 1970s, the protective painted palitada of these churches was removed, inadvertently exposing the adobe material and lending the structures that old, unfinished look.
In San Agustin, alongside the palitada are “nice frescoes that were erased,” he said.
These cases, which still prevail today, should serve as a lesson for architects on the conservation of historic churches, as “architects should not just be architects per se, but should have studied conservation.”
Visual drama
“Adobe is porous. It isn’t granite or sandstone or concrete,” he said, adding that brutalism should not serve as a model for historic churches.
“Le Corbusier alternates gray raw masses of concrete with surfaces of intense color, and it is odd that our architects who were enthralled with raw concrete (beton brut) overlooked the intensely colored spaces,” he said.
Le Corbusier’s interplay of beton brut with colors are evident in many of his works, including the Convent of Sainte-Marie de La Tourette in Éveux, the Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, and Unité d’habitation in Marseille, all in France.
Zialcita described architecture as a visual drama that should be wholeheartedly understood. “Unfortunately, if the builder doesn’t know the script of a previous style nor its logic, his well-intentioned but uninformed tampering will deaden the visual drama.”
