Excerpted from
Pride of Place
Expressing 'Filipino-ness' in today's lifestyleBy Augusto Villalon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:27:00 05/05/2008
AmarelaVery obvious are the Filipino cultural symbols at Amarela Resort in Bohol, which combines contemporary architecture with a superlative collection of antique and modern Boholano religious and folk art.
The architecture of Amarela, straightforward and contemporary, skillfully evokes the vernacular balay na tisa of the Spanish colonial era-steep hipped roof, large second-floor windows, and solid-walled ground floor-done in today's simple, commercially available materials.
Designed in the boxy architecture of the balay na tisa, Amarela goes a step farther into tradition by following the Filipino penchant for transparency.
Interior walls disappear. Spaces inside the structure flow into each other. Double doors, glass panels, and wooden fretwork always provide beguiling view of what lies beyond, ultimately throwing the entire area open to the stunning, infinite vista of sea and sky.
If the architectural references to tradition are too subtle to be discerned, it nevertheless strikes a familiar chord. Much as Filipinos look for comfort food, Amarela's may be called comfort architecture.
And comforting Amarela is. Its collection of outstanding hardwood furniture in the distinctive Bohol primitive style is for sitting or dining on. Museum-quality pieces of Boholano folk and religious art, and an amazing collection of antique architecture details are incorporated into the structure itself.
Amarela is a successful example of expressing Filipino-ness, or Filipino lifestyle, in a thoroughly modern setting.
PanglaoPanglao Island Nature Resort expresses Filipino-ness in a different manner.
Taking its design cues from clusters of bahay-kubo in rural villages, the familiar bamboo-and-nipa cottages that wind along the Bohol coastline are not only a familiar sight to Filipinos. Foreign guests find the image evocative of the Philippines, its tropical beaches, and culture.
The image of Panglao Island is immediately and unmistakably Filipino.
Panglao Island's clusters of wood-clad and nipa-roofed cottages interconnected by landscaping evoke rural Philippines, inviting guests to wander about the resort's hectares of lush tropical green.
In the style of the traditional Filipino bahay-kubo, the architecture skillfully combines modern construction and up-to-date amenities with the look and material that evoke the wood-, bamboo-, and thatch-handcrafted houses of old.
Large and lofty pavilions with exposed bamboo and wooden framing house reception and dining areas. Mostly open to the sea, they are cooled by natural breezes and shaded by a veritable jungle of mature trees.
The setting of Panglao Island evokes traditional Filipino lifestyle well. It puts across both image and experience of Filipino-ness so well that the resort touches a psychic comfort zone which keeps Filipino and foreign clients coming back.
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Topic: Two Bohol Resorts Cited for Filipino Architecture (Read 5318 times)