The culture of the Philippines is characterized by cultural and ethnic diversity. Although the multiple ethnic groups of the Philippine archipelago have only recently established a shared Filipino national identity, their cultures were all shaped by the geography and history of the region, and by centuries of interaction with neighboring cultures, and colonial powers. In more recent times, Filipino culture has also been influenced through its participation in the global community.
Stilt houses are houses raised on stilts over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The shady space under the house can be used for work or storage. Stilt houses are commonly found in Southeast Asia, Oceania, Central America, the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast of the United States, northern parts of South America, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and the Maldives.
Malay houses refer to the vernacular dwellings of the Malays, an ethno-linguistic group inhabiting Sumatra, coastal Borneo and the Malay Peninsula.
Spanish colonial architecture represents Spanish colonial influence on the cities and towns of its former colonies, and is still seen in the architecture as well as in the city planning aspects of conserved present-day cities. These two visible aspects of the city are connected and complementary. The 16th-century Laws of the Indies included provisions for the layout of new colonial settlements in the Americas and elsewhere.
The Tagalog people are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Philippines, particularly the Metro Manila and Calabarzon regions and Marinduque province of southern Luzon, and comprise the majority in the provinces of Bulacan, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, and Zambales in Central Luzon and the island of Mindoro.
Francisco "Bobby" Tronqued Mañosa was a Filipino architect considered one of the most influential Filipino architects of the 20th century for having pioneered the art of Philippine neovernacular architecture. His contributions to the development of Philippine architecture led to his recognition as a National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture in 2018.
A palapa is an open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves. It is very useful in hot weather and, therefore, very common on Mexican beaches and deserts.
The architecture of the Philippines reflects the historical and cultural traditions in the country. Most prominent historic structures in the archipelago are influenced by Austronesian and American architectures.
Rumah adat are traditional houses built in any of the vernacular architecture styles of Indonesia, collectively belonging to the Austronesian architecture. The traditional houses and settlements of the several hundreds ethnic groups of Indonesia are extremely varied and all have their own specific history. It is the Indonesian variants of the whole Austronesian architecture found all over places where Austronesian people inhabited from the Pacific to Madagascar each having their own history, culture and style.
A torogan is a type of pre-colonial vernacular house of the Maranao people of the Philippines. A torogan was a symbol of high social status. They were very large buildings and served as the residence to a datu of a Maranao community, along with his retainers and their families. Nowadays, concrete houses are found all over Maranaw communities, but there remain torogans a hundred years old. The best-known are in Dayawan and Marawi City, and around Lake Lanao.
The Rizal Shrine in Calamba is a reproduction of the original two-story, Spanish-colonial style house in Calamba, Laguna where José Rizal was born on June 19, 1861. Rizal is regarded as one of the greatest national heroes of the Philippines.
The Bernardino Jalandoni Museum, also known as the Bernardino Jalandoni House, located along Rizal Street, Silay City, in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines, is the original residence of the late Don Bernardino and Doña Ysabel Jalandoni. The museum is also known as the "Pink House" because of its conspicuous pink paint that easily grabs attention.
Santa Ana is the only district in Manila which was spared from destruction during World War II. Civilians fleeing other parts of Manila sought refuge in this district during the war. Thus, many ancestral houses are still standing up to the present time. Dubbed as the "Forbes Park of Manila", some houses were owned by prominent personalities and wealthy families. The following is a list of historic houses in Santa Ana.
Indigenous architecture refers to the study and practice of architecture of, for, and by Indigenous peoples.
Báhay na bató, also known in Visayan languages as baláy na bató or balay nga bato, and in Spanish language as Casa de Filipina is a type of building originating during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. It is an updated version of the traditional bahay kubo of the Christianized lowlanders, known for its use of masonry in its construction. It uses stone and brick materials, and later synthetic concrete, rather than just organic materials of the former style. Its design has evolved, but still maintains the bahay kubo's architectural principle, which is adapted to the tropical climate, stormy season, and earthquake-prone environment of the whole archipelago of the Philippines. It fuses bahay kubo's archetecture with the influence of Spanish colonizers. It is one of the many architecture styles throughout the Spanish Empire known as Arquitectura mestiza. The style is a hybrid of Austronesian and Spanish architecture; and later, with early 20th-century American architecture, supporting the fact that the Philippines is a result of these cultures mixing. Its most common appearance features an elevated, overhanging, wooden upper story standing on wooden posts suported by a rectangular foundation. The posts are placed behind Spanish-style solid stone blocks or bricks, giving the impression of a first floor. The ground level contains storage rooms, cellars, shops, or other business-related functions. The second floor contains the living areas as it is with the bahay kubo. The roof materials are either Spanish-style curving clay tiles or thatched with leaves. Later 19th-century designs feature galvanization. Roof designs are traditionally high pitched and include gable, hip, or a traditional combination of both. Horses for carriages are housed in stables called caballerizas.
The Intramuros Administration (IA) is an agency of the Department of Tourism of the Philippines that is mandated to orderly restore, administer, and develop the historic walled area of Intramuros that is situated within the modern City of Manila as well as to insure that the 16th- to 19th-century Philippine-Spanish architecture remains the general architectural style of the walled area.
The Gabaldon School Buildings, or simply the Gabaldons, were built during the American colonial era in the Philippines. They were inspired by the bahay kubo and bahay na bato, traditional houses of the Philippines. As of about 2024, there were 2,045 Gabaldon Schoolhouses in the country.
Amakan, also known as sawali in the northern Philippines, is a type of traditional woven split-bamboo mats used as walls, paneling, or wall cladding in the Philippines. They are woven into various intricate traditional patterns, often resulting in repeating diagonal, zigzag, or diamond-like shapes. The term "sawali" is more properly defined as twilled weaving patterns. The term can also be applied to baskets and banig, which also use the same weaving patterns. Amakan panels are commonly confused with pawid, which are made from thatched leaves.
Camiña Balay Nga Bato, formerly known as Avanceña House, is a 160-year-old bahay na bato in the Arevalo district, Iloilo City, Philippines. It was built in 1865 and was designed by the first parish priest of Molo, Anselmo Avanceña, for Don Fernando Avanceña and his wife, Eulalia Abaja. It was then passed on from one family to another until it came under the Camiñas family.[1] It is now owned by the fourth generation of the original owners, Gerard Camiña, former director of the Land Transportation Office in Western Visayas, and his wife, Luth Camiña. The ancestral house was declared as an Important Cultural Property by the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) in 2015.
In Philippine architecture, the ventanilla is a small window or opening below a larger window's casement, created—often reaching the level of the floor—to allow either additional air into a room during hot days or some air during hot nights when the main window's panes are drawn. It also allows for more light to strike the floor.
