(5) The Plan: Manila

“On the point of rapid growth, yet still small in area, possessing the bay of Naples, the winding river of Paris, and the canals of Venice, Manila has before it an opportunity unique in history of modern times, the opportunity to create a unified city equal to the greatest of the Western world with the unparalleled and priceless addition of a tropical setting”

Plan of Manila Staff. From left to right: Commissioner W. Cameron Forbes, Governor General James F. Smith, Secretary of War William H. Taft, Speaker Segurio Osmeña, Commissioner Dean C. Worcester, Commissioner Luzuriaga, Commissioner W. Morgan Shuster. Archival Image Collection, Ryerson & Burnham Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.

Through the spring and summer of 1905, Burnham worked with both Anderson on the plans for the Philippines, while Bennett worked on the plan for San Francisco. The Manila plan, according to Thomas Hines, “was remarkable in its simplicity and its cognizance of Philippine conditions and traditions.” Many of Burnham’s suggestions for urban amenities (streets, parks, railroads, and public buildings) were similar to those found in his plans for the cities of Cleveland, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. (1).

Burnham and Anderson found that Manila had mostly level land with a surface a few feet above mean high tide, and the Pasig River running through it. The population of Manila as of 1903 was 223,029, and the planners thought the developments in industry and agriculture could lead to fast population growth.

The plan states that it aims to provide:

1) Development of water-front and location of parks and parkways so as to give proper means of recreation to every quarter of the city

Suggestions:

–Return of privately-owned portions of Manila’s river or ocean bay to the public for the use and enjoyment of the people
–On the bay front, a continuous parkway* running from the Luneta southward to Cavite.
*Boulevard 250 feet wide, with roadways, tramways, bridle path, palm and bamboo trees for shade, and broad sidewalks
*”Its seaward side should be planted so as to interrupt occasionally the view of the sea and by thus adding somewhat of mystery, enhance the value of the stretch of ocean and sky”
–Shaded drives along the banks of the Pasig
–Replacement of the present Luneta by a new Luneta of same size and shape, but placed 1000 feet further out in the bay on new-made land in order to “restore its former commanding outlook”
–A large pleasure park near town center and on water front
–“Park spaces, small in extent, in the shape of plazas, circles, esplanades, parkway boulevards…laid out so that in any quarter of the city future buildings of importance may find already prepared for them a location susceptible of adequate treatment in its approaches and suroundings”
–Nine parks (the “playfields of moderate size in the heart of the city” type) evenly distributed throughout the city, taking inspiration from the parks recently created by the South Park Board of Chicago
–An outer park northward of the city, from Santa Mesa toward the bay, where the ground has varying contours
–Three other potential parks on the outskirts of the city, all of which are connected by parkway boulevards
–Fountains throughout the city, once water supply is more abundant

2) The street system securing direct and easy communication from every part of the city to every other part

Suggestions:

–Maintain the city walls

Burnham decided that older parts of the city with “well-shaded, narrow streets” were “picturesque and should be maintained” for the effect they created. The city walls themselves presented a unique case of archaeological and historical interest. Constructed in the sixteenth century, they stood as one of the few remaining examples of a fortified medieval town. Aesthetically, Burnham felt that their “imposing appearance [gave] them a monumental value.” Some concerns were raised about the walls blocking traffic and the circulation of air. The planner felt that the latter critique was unfounded (since nearby buildings were just as high, or higher), and that gateways could be cut through the angle bastions to help traffic and preserve the walls’ effect.

–Turn the city’s ancient moat into a sunken garden

Burnham had no desire to keep the ancient moat surrounding the Intramuros, or inner city. The space had become stagnant and hazardous, a sanity and aesthetic nuisance, and Burnham thought it better to drain and fill it with trees and grass to provide a circular park. This would provide a dramatic setting for the old city walls.

–Outer districts of the city should have a street system with the following characteristics:
* No north-south or east-west orientation
Why?
“The avoiding of north and south or east and west orientation of streets allows each of the four sides of the house to have the advantage of direct sunlight at some time during the day, with consequent gain in ventilation and sanitation.”

* Fan-shaped grouping of radiating streets, dividing the town into 5 sections, with the center being the area of the Intramuros and its adjacent territory
Why?
“The reason of this arrangement is the fact that from any given point in the outer section of the city, the volume of traffic toward the centre will exceed the volume of traffic toward any other single point. Hence the advantage of a system which directs half the street of a given quarter directly towards the busy center.”

* Diagonal arteries for facilitating communication between city districts
Why?
Burnham thought it important for every section of town to be readily accessible from every other part of town.

“Speaking generally, the planning of a town should be so carried out that a person may pass from any given point to any other point along a reasonably direct line.”

–Leave old city streets untouched, except for a couple new arteries deemed “indispensible”

3) Location of building sites for various activities

Suggestions:

–Government/National building group (including the Capitol building and Department buildings)
* Should be configured in a single, formal mass
* Eastern front should face a semi-circular plaza space, ideal for a national monument “of compact plan and simple silhouette”
* Courthouse located separately, south of the main group (“The buildings which constitute the visible expression of law, its symbol of dignity and power, should be given the utmost beauty in their location, arrangement, architectural treatment, and approaches. A Hall of Justice should be treated as a thing apart, a thing majestic, venerable, and sacred…free from the clatter of commerce.”)

–Semi-public buildings (libraries, museums, permanent exposition buildings) stretching from the Government group northward toward the bridge of Spain

–Railway station centrally located on the river and between Pace and Pandacon, connected by its’ own system of radiating arteries with all quarters of the city

–Municipal building group placed on Plaza McKinley
* Enlargement of the plaza
* Creation of a second plaza where a Custom House, Board of Trade, and Commercial Museum would be located.

–The waterfront

“…The bay front, with its boulevards and parks, is the natural theatre of the social life of Manila…”

In treating the waterfront, Burnham felt that Manila’s ocean bay and river were standout features. The residences of the Governor-General, the Major-General Commanding the Dpeartment of the Philippines, and the Vice-Admiral of the Station would be located there.The planner also envisioned a closely-grouped series of city clubs (considered semi-public institutions) on new-made land.

He suggested that any privately owned property near these waterways be returned to the public. He referenced fountains in Washington and Rome as potential designs for Manila, serving as “aesthetic and psychological relief from the long summer heat.” The canals, or esteros, would be transformed from stagnant and unsanitary muddy banks to a useful system for transporting goods. Though he recognized that widening, bridging, and maintaining them would be costly, Burnham also saw their potential to contribute a Venice-like beauty to the atmosphere.

–A world-renowned hotel located north of the Luneta Park

–A group of schools, or perhaps a university, placed on Santa Mesa Heights, a location that was detached from the city, on high ground, and made water for aquatic sports available.

4) Development of waterways for transportation

Suggestions:

–A railway drawbridge over the Pasig
–An additional port to the North of the river near the present business and railway freight districts
–Preservation and rejeuvenaton of the esteros, or narrow canals, around the city as a source for freight handling and for beauty
–An open quai along river-banks in the business parts of town

5) Summer resorts

Suggestions:

–Placement on high grounds
–Accessible/within easy reach of the city

“…In working toward an organic plan…Manila may rightly hope to become the adequate expression of the destiny of the Filipino people as well as an enduring witness to the efficient services of America in the Philippine Islands.”

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So in summary, the plan of Manila included

• A civic center: a grouping of cultural and governmental institutions located near the bay and south of the old walled inner city
• Major public buildings NOT in the neoclassical style, but formally arranged
• Special considerations due to the tropical climate
• Efforts to accomodate the “manana ambience of the Spanish-Philippine tradition”
• Space along the river and seashore for private clubs, a luxury hotel, and public use
• Improved public facilities, but no public, low-rent housing
• Abundant foliage, fountains of water, and a continuous parkway along the waterfront
• Preservation of the system of canals, or esteros
• Streets conforming to the natural contours of the land
• A street system with diagonal streets radiating out from the civic center to outlying parts of the city

The last proposal Burnahm found to both a sentimental and practical: “practical because the center of governmental activity should be readily accessible from all sides; sentimental because every section of the Capital City should look with deference toward the symbol of the Nation’s power.” Furthermore, his belief that people should be able to travel along “reasonably direct lines” explains his choice.

Architecture

William E. Parsons served as the general architectural supervisor for all public buildings and parks throughout the Philippines, a role given to him by Commissioner W. Cameron Forbes. At the time time of Parsons’ appointment in November, 1905, he was a young American architect with eight years of service in the Philippines, a recently received diploma from the École des Beaux Arts, and a job at a private practice in New York City. Parsons became the “interpreter and executant ofthe Burnham-Anderson plans,” in addition to some private work he did (2)

Burnham noted that “Most of the existing buildings were erected in Spanish times and are of a distinctly Spanish type. They were for the most part built of wood with projecting second stories…The roof which still further overhands the buildings was commonly covered with beautiful dull red tile, and the effect of the whole is unusually pleasing. At the present time corrugated galvanized iron roofs are taking the place of the beautiful Spanish tile, to the serious detriment of the city’s appearance. The old Spanish churches and the old Spanish government buildings are especially interesting and in view of their beauty and practical suitability to local conditions could be profitably taken as examples of future structures.”

His reverance for the Spanish style of architecture already established in the area of was great, and this fact really came through in the language he used. Burnham states in the plan that “the old Spanish buildings with their relatively small openings, their wide arched arcades arcades and their large wall spaces of flat white-wash possess endless charm, and as types of good architectures for tropical service, could hardly be improved upon” (3)

Furthermore, Burnham acknowledged in the plan that adaptability to local conditions was key, and “in a tropical climate costly structures put up with granite, marble, or other building stones in the manner of public buildings in Europe and American would be out of place.” He decided that the ideal style of building would have simple concrete walls and would be beautiful in terms of its proportions, not its materials.

A.N. Rebori, in an article titled “The Work of William E. Parsons in the Philippine Islands” from the April/May 1917 issue if The Architectural Review essentially stated that it is not possible to give too much praise for “the high fidelity with which Mr. parsons carried out the spirit of the plans, the judiciousness of the modifications he made in them, the simplicity, directness, and good taste which characterize the many and varied buildings he designed, the ability with which he solved problems both old and new, and the judgment he displayed in all his dealings with both officials and people.”

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Some progress was already being made in the Philippines by the middle of 1905. A letter from April to Secretary Taft relayed information that Burnham had received from Forbes, describing current projects in the Philippines. “‘A bill is being prepared now for passage in the Commission…It provides that the City [of Manila] formally accept the street plan prepared by [Mr. Burnham] and Mr. Anderson; that the work of filling in the new Lunets, hotel site, and boulevard, be begun immediately, the necessary money being loaned from the Insalar Treasury to the city of Manila, and that the boulevard be completed immediately to just beyond Malate barracks. The site of the hotel is to be leased for ninety-nine years under competitive bids. The work of filling in the moat is already begun. The Government is going to build the two 650 foot wharfs immediately” (4).

Burnham maintained contact with Secretary of War Taft. In June of 1905, Burnham sent a letter to Taft asking him to stop by Burnham’s office in Chicago. “I feel that it is important for you to go over the Manila and Baguio matter once more,” he explained, “in order to understand exactly the meaning of everything shown on the drawings and in the report” (5).

(1) Hines 203
(2) Moore 178
(3) Burnham Report on Proposed Plan of the City of Baguio
(4) Burnham to William Taft, April 4, 1905, Burnham Papers, Chicago Art Institute Library
(5)  Burnham to William Taft, June 24, 1905, Burnham Papers, Chicago Art Institute Library