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Looking for Locsin ARCHITECTURE / SPACES Looking for Locsin Swiss architect-scholar Jean-Claude Girard parses through the works of Philippine National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin and discovers a poet of space with the utmost respect for history and no concern for labels Interview Patrick Kasingsing Images Jean-Claude Girard and Neal Oshima Portrait of Jean-Claude Girard, ©Cecilia Jauniau, Header: Textured surfaces in the National Theater (1966), CCP Complex, Manila, ©Jean-Claude Girard Bonjour , Jean-Claude! How are you feeling? Kamusta! I am doing well and am very happy to speak with you. You recently spoke at the mASEANa International Workshop on your re- search on Philippine National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin, which his son, Andy Locsin, says is the most comprehensive documentation and analysis he’s seen of our country’s most renowned architect. What attracted you, a Swiss expatriate, to Locsin’s oeuvre and compelled you to study it? The rst time I saw the National Theater fronting Manila Bay, I was struck by the abstraction of its silhouette. I rst wondered whether it was a building or a sculp - ture because it was so radical, with almost no hints as to what you usually need for categorizing an object, like windows or a roof. That was before me and my fam- ily moved to Manila for a year back in 2012 for my wife’s post-doctoral research. Then, it happened again when I discovered his oce building along Ayala Avenue, which is based on repetitive elements put together like a gigantic Donald Judd piece. But then, I discovered the duality that becomes apparent when you move within the Theater building or inside the oce building base—these indoor spaces are highly organic style-wise. There is a strong contrast between the radical, ab- stract exteriors and the organic interiors, wh ich caught my interest and made me want to learn more about the man behind these structures. How was your experience researching Locsin? Did you nd any surprising insights about architectural documentation in the Philippines? What were your frustrations and victories? As is often the case in the Philippines, I was supported by friends who were gener- ous with their contacts and time. I was put in touch with people who knew Le- andro Locsin or who had experienced living in one of his creations. A key person from the onset was Neal Oshima, the photographer who put me in touch with Locsin’s son, Andy. My rst idea was to write an article about Locsin’s private vil - las, which were quite unknown in the Philippines at the time, except for his own home, built in 1962. But after the meeting, Andy generously opened the vault that contains the archives of his father’s work, provided me with oce space and an assistant, basically giving me the tools necessary to help me work on his father’s leg- acy. It made me discover that his father’s work was quite vast and of distinct quality, quite apart from the mainstream international architecture of that period. When I called Professor Bruno Marchand from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, considered among the top architecture schools in the world, he was equally impressed by Locsin’s body of work. I decided to start a doctoral thesis under his supervision to give Locsin’s work international visibility. I spent every morning for six months making an inventory of the works, visiting buildings, and meeting people who knew him. It was a great opportunity to visit Manila and its surroundings. After moving back to Switzerland, I returned almost every year to work on the archives—which Neal Oshima shot—and visit the main libraries in Manila. Every time, I was welcomed, and the enthusiasm for my re - search strengthened my conviction that there was an urgent need to save the mem- ory of this work. My main frustration was the lack of interest in local architecture from the 60s and 70s, and the destruction of Locsin’s buildings for economic reasons truly saddened me—because Locsin’s work should be part of the cultural heritage of the Philippines, like the bahay kubo or the San Agustin Church in Intramuros. Global perception of Locsin’s work, ©Jean-Claude Girard Working on the archives at the Locsin Building (2013), ©Jean-Claude Girard Were there questions or elds of exploration on Locsin that you have not gotten an answer to in your research? My research is, of course, not exhaustive. I teach project-based learning and construction for rst-year bachelor students in an architecture school in Geneva, where I insist on the im - portance of dialogue between architects and builders. I couldn’t nd much information on Locsin’s construction sites and his collaboration with Alfredo Juinio, the structural engineer, or David Consunji, who founded DMCI, a prolic construction company. I am convinced Locsin could not have created such buildings at the start of his career without these two g - ures. Architecture is also about meeting the right people at the right time. The condition that favored the production of Locsin’s buildings is something I would like to learn more about. What did you desire to achieve when you embarked on your doctoral thesis? What about Locsin should the world know? Why is it important to know this Asian archi- tect’s works? My wife and I are in love with the Philippines; the country is beautiful, and the people are so welcoming. Our second child was born in Manila, and the rst one is dreaming of going back! But for some reason, the culture is not as well-known as is the case for, let’s say, Thai - land or Japan. But if it is less comprehensible and homogenous at rst glance (and I realize that no culture should be over-simplied), that is because the culture of the Philippines is rich and complex. To understand it, you need to dive deep into the past to identify all the dierent inuences that reached the country and the capacity of individual regions to assimilate and integrate these external inuences without rejecting them, creating, as a result, something uniquely Filipino. That is the strength of the Philippines during its long colonization period and also of Locsin’s architecture. After Philippine independence, he was very much aware from the beginning that rejecting the past would be a rejection as well of a big part of Filipino culture. The ca - pacity to merge past and present to develop a new architectural language for the country was very much on top of Locsin’s mind, right from the very start of his career. If I could play a small role in saving a portion of his work from the archives, and shedding light on his unique approach to architecture, perhaps it could also help preserve a part of Filipino cultural heri - tage—for the Philippines and international audiences alike. It is probably curious for some and attering for others that a foreign architect would release a comprehensive monograph (coming July 2021) on one of ours. What are your thoughts on the book’s signicance in Philippine architectural schol - arship, given its lack of local resources? There have been some studies before this book, but perhaps my doctoral thesis and the forthcoming book are the most comprehensive because I try to give a global percep- tion of the work. Even if I am a Swiss architect, this book would not have been possible without the generous individuals in the Philippines who supported my eort, as I’ve mentioned before. But having an external eye is also an opportunity, as I’m able to see things that may have become habitual to people living in the Philippines. I also don’t have any ties in the Philippines that would have inuenced my decision to do this work. I was quite independent in that respect. I should also make it clear: I didn’t have any direct resources to support this Ph.D. I could not get a scholarship and had to teach and manage my architecture oce, all while doing this research and raising a young fam - ily—with the support of my wife, who was also a scholar working in the Philippines at the time. I hope the book will open new ground for studies and research on architecture in the postwar period to discover other Filipino architects Visiting Villa M. Fernando (1958), Quezon, ©Jean-Claude Girard Visiting Villa M. Fernando (1958) with Neal Oshima, Quezon, ©Jean-Claude Girard Meeting Arturo Luz at home, ©Jean-Claude Girard Long-span roof in a private program, Villa Ramon Yulo (1964), Makati City, ©Jean-Claude Girard Your talk did not discuss the eect that powerful patrons and the social climate had on Locsin’s work built during a controversial and volatile time in Philip- pine history. This is why his most renowned work, the CCP’s National The- ater, has its share of detractors who point to its Marcosian patronage. What were your ndings concerning this? The Marcos era was undoubtedly a catalyst in Locsin’s work, leading to a high vol- ume of projects and triggering the search for a national identity in architecture. At the same time, I can clearly demonstrate how the ideas that later found form in a large body of his work—from the Cultural Center of the Philippines to the buildings in Los Baños for the University of the Philippines—originated much earlier. He didn’t start working on abstraction or long-span roof coverings because of these opportunities, but no doubt the Marcos era gave him an impetus.
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