Monday, June 17, 2013

Meet My School

(This is a reprint of an article written by Bayani Ramirez ('65) for the September-October 1964 edition of Nucleus. It is the earliest published account of the beginnings of Manila Science. -- MasciHistorian)

The very location of our school is history itself. It's a part of what was then known as Fort Santiago -- a detainment cell for Filipino rebels during the Spanish regime. When the Americans came, they brought with them their civilization, they spread their ideals and taught us the rudiments of education.  They build schools and universities. In Manila, there were two high schools -- the Manila North High School and the Manila South High School. The former is what is now known as the Arellano High School and the latter's sight was here in Intramuros.

During the Second World War, the Manila South High School was bombed. After the war, the school was rebuilt and became the Manuel Roxas Annex of Araullo High School, that was in 1948.  Later, the Manuel Roxas Annex was separated from the Araullo High School. Some of the men who studied in the Manila South High School were former presidents Elpidio Quirino and Manuel Roxas, Mrs. Pilar Hidalgo Lim and Sec. of National Defense Macario Peralta. Jr.

In 1959, the principal of Manila High School, Mr. Augusto Alzona proposed a school project to the Division of City Schools -- the Special Science Classes which was to be part of the Manila High School.  It was patterned after the Bronx Science High School of New York. To recruit the first students of the project, 17 pupils from each high school in Manila were given a test.  69 passed the exams which consisted mainly of mathematics and science questions. However, only 36 students out of the 69 were chosen to form the first batch. The first school day was November 25, 1959. At last, the dreams of Mr. Augusto Alzona, the father of our school, became a reality. The first teachers who graced the faculty was Mrs. Helen Ladera, Mrs. Miriam Liwanag, Mrs. Vicenta Fe Benito Sison, and Mr. William Estrada. The next year saw the arrival of Miss Clarita Nolasco and Mr. Benwardo Umila. The students called as their school a one-room "dilapidated" building which was later increased to five rooms. In 1963, the school transferred to its present three-story building.

32 students were the first graduates of the school. They were all gold medalists. They took the NSDB exams, 21 passed -- they enrolled at the U.P., M.I.T. and U.S.T. taking courses in science and mathematics. Last April saw the second graduates of the school, 27 in all (they took the competitive exams of the NSDB and Ateneo -- 11 passed the NSDB and 7 qualified for Ateneo)

The Manila Science High School separated from its mother school, the Manila High School, in 1963. Mr. Honesto Valdez took over as principal. This school year witnessed a great increase in the school population as 3 sections were accommodated in the first year. We number 175 now.

Three years from now will see the first products of the Manila Science High School being recognized in their field of endeavor. The dream shall then become a perfect reality

Bayani Ramirez
Nucleus September-October 1964


Monday, June 10, 2013

Architectural History of the Bordner Building




"The building housing the Manila Science High School is one of the "very important buildings in the history of modern architecture." This distinction it shares with the Philippine General Hospital, Manila Hotel and Philippine Normal College buildings. This was learned from Prof. Thomas Hines of the Department of History of the University of California in Los Angeles, who was here Aug. 5 in the course of a study of American architecture in the Philippines."

Prof. Hines is writing a book on American architecture in the Philippines, especially the work of Daniel Burnham and William Parsons. The Manila Science High Building (Bordner Building) as well as the Philippine General Hospital, Philippine Normal College and Manila Hotel are by Parsons and were built in 1910, he further revealed.


William E. Parsons
(Image from Ref. 1)
Nucleus (MSHS Newspaper), July-August 1971


William Edwards Parsons was born in in Akron Ohio 1872. He obtained a BA degree from Yale and later an MS degree in Architecture in 1898 from Columbia University. He was awarded the McKim Fellowship scholarship that enabled him to study in Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He returned in 1901 and got a job as head draftsman for Architect John Galen Howard of New York.

In 1904, Gov General William Forbes invited architect David Burnham  (of whom Baguio's Burnham park is named after) to the Philippines to make recommendations on how to improve the physical living conditions. since there was an "influx of Americans, specially in the big cities where most of them would need to work and to live"

Burnham sailed to Philippines in Oct 1904 and stayed for 6 weeks. When he arrived back in US, he interviewed prospective architects with "sufficient talent, training and experience to enable him to implement the building projects in the proposed plans for Manila and Baguio." During the interviews, Parsons was selected and in Nov 1905, he arrived in Philippines to implement Burnham's "City Beautiful" vision for Manila and Bagiuo, and later as a template for his own city plans for Zamboanga and Cebu

A list of key architectural guidelines used by Parsons:
  - diagonal paths/roads radiating from central hubs
  - dominant design forms - broad, deep archways, shaded porches or "pergolas" that 
    connected cool interiors of his building thus allowing for uninterrupted ventilation
  - use of translucent concha or "capiz" shells that gave soft pearly light - reduced glare 
    instead of glass
  - use of reinforced concrete instead of hardwoods - to combat termites and "anay"

The Philippine General Hospital in 1910 would embody most of Parsons guidelines.


We can still actually see these guidelines when we compare the current Bordner building and archival pictures of PGH buildings.  


(Image from Ref. 4)












Note the arches and the overhang roof over the main entrances held by steel cables.











Parsons would later on design the "standard" schoolhouses called the Gabaldon school buildings.  His design was so successful that other countries requested for the Gabaldon architectural plans.

But the Bordner Building itself was designed for a special purpose. After the building was finished in 1914, it was called the "Central School" and served as the "first and only public school in the Philippines established for the children of American Citizens." (Ref 6)

References:

1. http://historyofarchitecture.weebly.com/william-e-parsons.html

2. American Modernism in the Philippines: The forgotten Architecture of William E. Parsons

   by Thomas S. Hines, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
   The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Vol 32, No.4 (DEC 1973) pp 316-326
    http://www.jstor.org/stable/988922

3. Dakudao, Michaelangelo E. "The Imperial Consulting Architect: William E. Parsons (1872-1939)" 
Bulletin of the American Historical Collection Vol. XXII No. 1(86) January - March 1994

4. Snodgrass, John E. (John Elmer), History and description of the Philippine General Hospital. 

    Manila,   Philippine Islands, 1900 to 1911 (1912)
    Bureau of Health, Philippines, 1912
    http://archive.org/details/cu31924063266534

5. Lico, Gerard  Arkitekturang Filipino : A History of Architecture and Urbanism in the Philippines

    Quezon City : The University of the Philippines Press, 2008

6. Armstrong, Charles W. Jr., Thomasites and the war generation of Central-Bordner School in the 
Philippines. Irvine, CA (18905 Antioch, Irvine 92715), 1991


References 2,3 and 6 are available at the American Historical Collection at Ateneo University 

http://rizal.lib.admu.edu.ph/ahc/

Reference 5 has the oldest picture of the Central School building.