The foster father of Philippine Architecture, Arch. Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa is glorified and remembered for his architectural masterpieces that exhibit Filipino culture and ingenuity. His design philosophy encapsulates Philippine architecture for the Filipinos and for the Philippines.
He believed that “Architecture must be true to itself, to its land and to its people. For the design of the built environment reflects man’s expression of his way of life, his emotional, philosophical, religious, technological and material values in response to his needs and environmental challenges” From planning, to design, and to the smallest details of his works reflect what a Filipino home should be. The traditional Filipino house, the bahay kubo, is the main inspiration of Bobby in his buildings, combining it with motifs from the basket weaves and indigenous fabrics.
Just last year, Bobby was conferred the honor of being the National Artist for Architecture because of his great contributions to Philippine architecture. But this celebration was short-lived when the great architect passed away last February 20, 2019 at the age of 88 years. With his passing, Bobby have left Philippine architecture, architects and future architects a great inspiration and challenge to exemplify what Philippine architecture identity truly is. Thus, with this in mind, the UE-CFAD Architecture Department, through its freshmen students, mounted an exhibit featuring his celebrated works using coffee as their medium. The exhibit aims to honor the exemplary contributions and celebrate the brilliance of the late architect, This endeavor is part of the Architectural Color Rendering and Theory of Architecture course headed by their mentor Ar. Jan Michael H. de Olazo and co-presented by UAPSA-UECal. The exhibit runs from until March 29, 2019 at the 4th Floor lobby, Tan Yan Kee Academic Building, UE Caloocan campus.
