The Heritage Conservation Society

By Paulo Alcazaren
The Philippine STAR 10/15/2005

One
of the most fascinating places in this diversely insane metropolis of
ours is Forbes Park. "Millionaires Row" it has been called, and for
good reason – the cream of the cream of Philippine business live there.
Actually, that moniker is decades old, considering that the peso has
depreciated to Mickey Mouse value and making the 58-year-old enclave
more appropriately "Multi-billionaires Row."

This original template for all of our country’s subdivisions
was named after a millionaire himself – William Cameron Forbes,
one-time governor general of the Philippines. Forbes was a busy-body, a
Yale graduate who wanted to prove his worth to his peers in the high
echelons of American business and society. His family was wealthy and
he used his connections to find a post as assistant to William Howard
Taft, the first governor general in 1905. He went on to take over the
post and champion road-building projects and the physical development
of Manila and Baguio (he was instrumental in bringing Daniel Burnham
over to master plan the two cities).

The residential development was the creation of Don Alfonso
Zobel and J R MacMicking. The Ayalas wanted to make use of their huge
property at the fringe of pre-war Manila. They sensed a need for
housing the rich displaced from war-torn central Manila and for
providing an alternative business center for expanding businesses.

The two took lessons from American suburban subdivisions in
Greater New York and Chicago and adapted these to Philippine conditions
and the real-estate market. It was reported to be an "experiment to
prove the point that people wanted the best that they could afford."
The year was 1947 and people, even the rich, could really not afford
much. So the Ayalas gave incentives and almost rock bottom prices. They
convinced a few of the elite to move there, but only after they built
houses for themselves.

To entice more residents from the established residential
districts like Pasay, Malate, New Manila, and San Juan, the Ayalas also
convinced the Manila Polo Club to relocate here. They also donated land
to the Franciscans to rebuild their Santuario de San Antonio (complete
with Amorsolo paintings inside). These proved successful in drawing
residents in and became the formula for many more Ayala developments in
the decades to follow. No modern upmarket subdivisions nowadays are
developed without the country club, church, and convent school
combination of amenities.

The Forbes Park developers also pioneered the building of
supermarkets, drugstores, and related amenities within their enclaves.
They also started the trend of forming homeowners’ associations to see
to the needs of the "villages." The experiment was also to prove that
"some regimentation was needed to preserve a high standard of living."

Residents must abide by certain restrictions set by the
developers and the association. Fencing and gates had maximum heights
and the house could not cover the entire lot to allow for generous
landscaping. The designs for their homes must be screened by a building
committee and the houses must have a minimum cost, again to ensure the
quality of the architecture. These "restrictions" are all now basic for
most high-class developments.

The original 93-hectare "park" was carved out of the extensive
Ayala estate which was formerly Jesuit land. The original subdivision
had 347 houses with each lot occupying from an eighth to a fourth of a
hectare each – huge compared to even high-end developments now
(upmarket lots are now down to between 400 and 600 square meters in
area while mid-market home lots go down to an astonishingly small 80
square meters!)

The streets were named after the several species of trees
planted in the new "park." Those magnificent acacias on McKinley Road
(named after the American president who gave the orders – supposedly
heaven-sent – to conquer the Philippines) are over half a century old
now.

One of the things prohibited by the association was (and still
is) the keeping of livestock and poultry. Although adopted by numerous
subdivisions thereafter, many middle-class enclaves, like the one I
grew up in, did not enforce this, making the cock’s early morning crow
the curse of the not-so-rich suburbanite.

The first houses in Forbes were built mainly in revivalist
styles that were an offshoot of pre-war trends. In the Fifties,
however, the California split-level or ranch types came into vogue.
There were also a number of Asian-themed demesnes, like the Pablo
Antonio-designed house of Hans and Chona Kasten. Other houses of the
rich and famous were designed by the top architects of the day – Carlos
Arguelles, Juan Nakpil, Gabriel Formoso, Jose Zaragosa, Pablo Antonio
Sr. (who also designed the Polo Club with landscape architecture by
Louis P. Croft). These were followed a little later by the work of
Leandro Locsin, Willy Coscolluela, Roger Villarosa, and many more of
the third generation of Filipino architects (more features on Forbes
houses in future articles).

Forbes, therefore, is a rich repository of Filipino post-war
architectural heritage. Many of these houses are now half-a-century old
and should be conserved. The enclave is also a legacy of suburban
development and should be studied for its great influence on succeeding
residential subdivisions of the ’60s till the present day. All bear
semblance or adapt patterns and elements of this "experiment." In fact,
there should be a study made on just how Forbes and the subdivisions of
the ’50s, like the Philamlife Homes in Quezon City, set patterns for
urban, suburban, and exurban sprawl.

There are lessons to be learned, for sure, in establishing
communities, containing growth, connecting infrastructure and
maintaining quality of life. Not all lessons are positive and, in the
context of today’s super-dense cities, the role of low-density suburbs
is to be questioned. Some say these are still necessary to mitigate
crowding itself. Others champion a more rational approach to urban
development that allows high density near the core and lesser density
at the fringes (as Forbes Park was at the start).

Whatever it is, Forbes remains a fascinating place – providing
the best contrasting images of the rational and unplanned in town
planning, the elegant richness versus eclectic kitschness of Filipino
residential architecture, and ultimately the disparity between the
sheltered rich and the shantied poor in society.

Finally, the most desireable results in all of our housing
experiments from now on would be to ensure that everyone finds a roof
over their heads, good neighbors near by, and communities that engender
civic life and continued prosperity for all.

Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.

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