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Fate of Locsin-designed hotels in Makati redevelopment project a concern


Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is conferring with the appropriate government agencies and heritage groups on its plans for the Mandarin Oriental and InterContinental Manila hotel sites, the company said in a statement.

The property developer's P65-billion Makati redevelopment project includes the possible demolition of the 38-year-old Mandarin Oriental and 45-year-old InterContinental Manila.

This concerns the Heritage Conservation Society (HCS)—"a non-stock, non-profit organization advocating the protection and preservation of Philippine built heritage"—which said on its Facebook page that the hotels are "two of the finest works of National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin."

'Protect works of National Artists'

Architect and former HCS vice president Dominic Galicia, who now sits on the group's advisory council, said, "The impending demolition of the Manila Mandarin staggers the mind that still reels at the loss of the old Ayala Museum and of Benguet Center. Perhaps one may argue that we need not preserve every structure that Mr. Locsin built, but must we destroy his best work? Did Mr. Locsin have to build so well, and plant those images so deeply in our imagination, so that it is only there that they would eventually abide?"

He also stressed there is a "more sophisticated approach of adaptive reuse, or of re-using existing buildings, in whole or in part, as the context of new construction."

Galicia suggested that the Mandarin Oriental could be used as the base of a new and taller tower that coheres with its overall architecture. "Imagine a state-of-the art steel-and-glass skyscraper, translucent, transparent, light, soaring above the stolidity of Locsin’s Mandarin. It could be one of the most sophisticated buildings on earth," he said.

HCS also added that these infrastructures are protected by Republic Act No. 10066.

According to Article III, Section 5 of Republic Act No. 10066 or the Natural Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, works by a National Artist such as Leandro Locsin are considered important cultural property "for purposes of protecting a cultural property against exportation, modification or demolition," unless declared otherwise by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

New 5-star hotel

Mandarin Oriental is set to close on September 9 for the Makati redevelopment, according to its Facebook page. It also confirmed that Mandarin Oriental will reopen as a new 275-room hotel in 2020.

In its statement, ALI revealed that the Mandarin Oriental site will be part of its plan to develop the Ayala Triangle Gardens—a plan "that will include 80,000 sq meters of highest grade office space and a 275-room brand-new 5-star Mandarin Hotel."

In a statement sent to GMA News Online, ALI said, "The redevelopment plans for the Mandarin Oriental and InterContinental Manila sites are still being studied at this point, and with the architectural consultancy work of LVLP (Archt. Leandro V. Locsin’s firm)  in the case of the Mandarin Oriental site."

Torre de Manila photobombs Rizal

Another property firm under fire from heritage conservationists is DMCI Homes, with its Torre de Manila's "photobombing" the visual corridors of Rizal Monument in Manila. Last Wednesday, Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture head Senator Pia Cayetano held a public hearing on the building's construction to review if the project is lawful.

Although she is yet to submit her recommendations in her committee report, Cayetano is not ruling out the possibility of a demolition.

As of August 20, DMCI Homes has now constructed 19 floors of the 47-storey residential building. — BM, GMA News

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