The first ever Fine Arts School of the University of the Philippines (UP) called the Escuela De Bellas Artes is one fine example of conservation of architecture.
Built in 1867, the two-story bahay na bato structure was designed by Felix Rojas, the first Filipino to earn an architectural degree.
It also served as the residence of the first dean of the school of fine arts. The school eventually moved from R. Hidalgo St. in Quiapo to the Padre Faura campus of UP, dooming Bellas Artes to its derelict state of neglect, disrepair and abandonment.
To save the structure, a team of architects moved each brick, stone and piece of mortar to the Ciudad Real de Acuzar Heritage complex in Bagac, Bataan, and under the sponsorship of the Acuzar family, reconstructed and restored it to its former glory.
Architect Joel Rico, the principal architect of Ciudad Real de Acuzar, will discuss conservation of architecture on August 16th, 2 to 4 pm, at the Lopez Museum. He will draw from his experience in the dismantling, transporting and restoring of the Bellas Artes in Bagac, Bataan.
Rico obtained his bachelor degree in architecture from the National University in 1993. He is an active member of the Philippine Institute of Architects and the United Architects of the Philippines.
He was also a member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the founder of Architectural Archives Philippines.
As an architectural historian, Rico published several architectural books and references such as “100 years of Philippine Architecture”, “Zaragoza ’s Iconographic Collection”, and “Gawad Gintong Likha”.
The lecture complements the exhibition “The Sum of Its Parts” which is ongoing until September 2008.
The exhibition features works which have undergone or are slated to undergo conservation at the Roberto M. Lopez Conservation Laboratory of the Lopez Memorial Museum.
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