I. Sensitive modifications to an existing architectural context can serve to enhance the existing architecture while allowing the structure to adjust to new needs.
We
begin with the broad context of how buildings adapt to changing times and new
needs. New needs do not always require
new structures, but call for the modification of existing spaces and structures
for these new needs.
This is called Adaptive Reuse.
Sterling
examples of Adaptive Reuse exist throughout the world, and date to the earliest
parts of history involving important structures. The Pantheon in Rome, for example, is a
temple from ancient Rome that was built for the purpose of the worship of many
gods, but with the rise of Christianity was converted into a church for the
worship of one. The Louvre Museum in
Paris was in its earlier life a palace for the French kings before it was
converted into a repository for the display of art. Of more recent vintage is the Great Court at
the British Museum in London, which transformed an inner courtyard of this
great institution into a new covered square by virtue of a glass roof.
New
needs can be addressed by enclosing existing open spaces with glass so that
their transparency does not obstruct the existing architecture, and so that
natural daylight can continue to be present in the space. Again at the Louvre, the main court was
transformed by the architect IM Pei into the museum’s new entrance in the form
of a glass pyramid. Here in the
Philippines, our recent project for the Adaptive Reuse of the former Department
of Tourism building on Rizal Park into the new National Museum of Natural
History involved the enclosure of the central courtyard with an insulated glass
dome supported by the Tree of Life steel structure. In all these examples of the Pantheon, the
Louvre, the British Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History,
sensitive modifications to the existing architectural context serve to enhance
the existing architecture while allowing the structure to adjust to new needs.
II. EDSA Shrine can be assessed according to a hierarchy of significance, relative to its Statement of Significance.
EDSA
Shrine is significant because it is a testament to the Filipino people’s quest
for freedom and democracy, anchored in faith and spirituality. Its architecture, designed by Bobby Manosa,
is a sculptural reminder, within the tumult of the urban landscape, of the
quiet strength of faith and prayer, and of the value of one’s devotion to Mary. The value of the architecture is also that it
is the setting of painting and sculpture by some of the country’s finest
artists, such as Napoleon Abueva, Ed Castrillo, and Nemi Miranda.
Therefore,
a Statement of Significance would be: EDSA
Shrine is an exceptional building by one of the most important Philippine
architects of the last quarter of the 20th century. Central to its significance is its historical
link to the national struggle for democracy, and its setting for the
commemoration of that struggle.
Augmenting its significance is the presence of art created by important
Philippine artists.
Like
most buildings, EDSA Shrine can be assessed according to a hierarchy of
significance, relative to the Statement of Significance. The exterior facade is clearly significant
for its use of sculpted volumes and terraces that create a testament to the
Filipino quest for freedom rooted in faith.
The main worship space, including the sanctuary, is significant because
of its role as the central spiritual context of EDSA Shrine. A third significant component of the shrine
is the art, including the sculptural work of Napoleon Abueva and Ramon Orlina
that comprise the liturgical elements of the sanctuary, such as the cross, the
altar, lectern, and tabernacle, the wall paintings of Nemi Miranda, the outdoor
Stations of the Cross of Abueva, and the monstrance sculpture of Ed Castrillo
in the Adoration Chapel.
Further
down the hierarchy are spaces and components that for various reasons are not
as essential to the Statement of Significance of EDSA Shrine as the exterior
façade, the main worship space, and the art.
Two of these spaces are the Adoration Chapel, and the light well next to
it.
III. The existing Adoration Chapel is significant because of its purpose, exemplified by the Castrillo monstrance-sculpture.
The
Adoration Chapel is approximately 5.8 meters by 10.3 meters space with an
entrance tucked under the stone-clad terrace that flanks the west side entrance
of the main church. The space is a
rectangular box whose main feature is the monstrance-sculpture by Eduardo
Castrillo. At 2.5 meters high by 3.3
meters wide, the metal sculpture dominates the room, its rays radiating from
the circular frame containing the Blessed Sacrament.
The
presence of the Adoration Chapel at EDSA Shrine pertains to encouragement, as
described in Pope Paul VI’s 1965 Encyclical on the Holy Eucharist, “Mysterium
Fidei”, of “paying a visit during the day to the Most Blessed Sacrament in the
very special place of honor where it is reserved in churches…, since this is a
proof of gratitude and a pledge of love and a display of the adoration that is
owed to Christ the Lord who is present there.”
The
chapel is entered via a glass-and-aluminum-frame vestibule. A pair of glass divider screen walls defines
a narthex at the first quarter of the chapel.
A
set of sliding windows brings natural light into the chapel from the light well
next door. One of the divider wall
panels ends in an arbitrary way mid-pane at one of the windows.
The
original ceiling of the Adoration Chapel was vaulted, similar to the current
ceiling design of the San Lorenzo Chapel.
An early 1990s renovation of the Adoration Chapel flattened the ceiling,
presumably to accommodate the piping and conduit required to bring air
conditioning to Assisi Room next door.
It is evident on-site that the level of the piping and conduit is below
the outline of the original vault.
IV. The proposed renovation of the Adoration Chapel will augment the significance of the space by harnessing the Castrillo monstrance-sculpture.
The
most significant object in the space is the Eucharist. Sculptor Eduardo Castrillo created the frame
that surrounds it, with metal rays that shoot from the center like rays of
light from the sun. A goal of the
renovation is to augment the sense of framing the Eucharist, by extending the
rays into the room via decorative wall panels that are installed on the surface
of the two existing long walls of the space.
Another goal is to improve the acoustics of the space.
The
glass-and-aluminum-frame vestibule is being acoustically treated to act as a
sound lock that separates the interior from the noise of EDSA and Ortigas
Avenue, in order to provide a more solemn experience for the users.
The
proposed ceiling resurrects the shape of the original Mañosa ceiling vault,
displaced in the 1990s renovation.
The
divider screen walls that had blocked the view of the monstrance, and had
collided with the windows, are removed to create one uninterrupted space that
focuses on the monstrance, strengthening the purpose of the space.
The
rays that emanate from the Eucharist can be described metaphorically as having
two qualities, their silence and their light.
Silence
is a quality that is described by Pope Francis in a 2013 meditation called “When
Silence is Music”: “I have always been struck by the Lord’s encounter
with Elijah, when the Lord speaks with Elijah … not in the hail, in the rain,
in the storm, in the wind... The Lord was in the still soft breeze” (cf. 1
Kings 19:11-13). In the original text, a
most beautiful word is used which cannot be precisely translated: he was in a
sonorous thread of silence. A sonorous thread of silence: this is how the Lord
draws near, with that sound of silence that belongs to love.”
Pope Benedict XVI also
speaks of silence in his 2010 apostolic exhortation “Verbum
Domini”: “As the
cross of Christ demonstrates, God also speaks by his silence. The silence of
God, the experience of the distance of the almighty Father, is a decisive stage
in the earthly journey of the Son of God, the incarnate Word. Hanging from the
wood of the cross, he lamented the suffering caused by that silence: “My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?” This
experience of Jesus reflects the situation of all those who, having heard and
acknowledged God’s word, must also confront his silence. This has been
the experience of countless saints and mystics, and even today is part of the
journey of many believers. God’s silence prolongs his earlier words. In these
moments of darkness, he speaks through the mystery of his silence. Hence, in
the dynamic of Christian revelation, silence appears as an important expression
of the word of God.”
Light is the subject of Pope
Francis’ 2013 encyclical “Lumen Fidei”, the Light of Faith: "Each of us comes to the light because of
love, and each of us is called to love in order to remain in the light.” “…the light of faith is an incarnate light
radiating from the luminous life of Jesus.” “There is no human experience, no
journey of man to God, which cannot be taken up, illumined and purified by this
light. The more Christians immerse themselves in the circle of Christ’s light,
the more capable they become of understanding and accompanying the path of
every man and woman towards God.”
These qualities of Silence
and Light inspire the notion of the long wall at left symbolizing Silence and
the long wall at right, with its windows, symbolizing Light. A decorative wall panel of white precast will
be installed on the face of the wall at left, while a decorative wall panel of translucent
capiz will be installed on the face of the wall at right. The decorative texture of both panels symbolizes
rays, which seem to be extensions of the rays of the Castrillo
monstrance-sculpture.
V. The community’s need for a Marian altar is fulfilled in a light well that balances the Baptistry.
A. Mary sits
at the right hand of her son.
In September 2017, EDSA
Shrine rector Rev. Fr. Lari Abaco conveyed to us a desire of the community to
have a special place where an image of Mary could be revered as an aid in their
devotion. The ideal place for it would
be the light well to the immediate left of the sanctuary, because of its availability,
proximity, and most importantly, the traditional placement of Mary to the left
of Jesus, when one is facing the altar.
“Mary sitteth at the right hand of her Son”, Pope Pius X says in “Ad
Diem Illum Laetissimum”, his 1904 encyclical on the Immaculate Conception.
B. The Baptistery
is a succinct expression of the thematic link between EDSA Shrine and the
Bible’s Exodus narrative.
The proposed location of the
Marian Altar is also ideal because it would complete the balance of symmetry
with the Baptistery located in the light well to the immediate right of the
sanctuary. The Baptistery was completed in
2002, commissioned by Rev. Fr. Socrates Villegas, EDSA Shrine’s very first
Rector who was Rector at the time and who provided the concept of the new
space: Exodus. Fr. Villegas stated that
the metal basin that had been used in San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel was no longer
considered sufficient for baptisms.
John Paul II speaks of
Exodus in his 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae”: “The fullness of the Gospel message
about life was prepared for in the Old Testament. Especially in the events of
the Exodus, the centre of the Old Testament faith experience, Israel discovered
the preciousness of its life in the eyes of God. When it seemed doomed to
extermination because of the threat of death hanging over all its newborn males
(cf. Ex 1:15-22), the Lord revealed himself to Israel as its Saviour, with the
power to ensure a future to those without hope. Israel thus comes to know
clearly that its existence is not at the mercy of a Pharaoh who can exploit it
at his despotic whim. On the contrary, Israel's life is the object of God's
gentle and intense love.”
Fr. Villegas’ selection of
Exodus as the theme of the new Baptistery adheres to the goal of EDSA Shrine to
evoke the country’s deliverance from bondage and “despotic whim.”
The Baptistery is a
gathering of distinct architectural components that help maintain the clarity
of the existing context created by Bobby Mañosa.
The space of the Baptistery
is a perfect circle at the exact center of the light well located to the
immediate right of the sanctuary of EDSA Shrine. Depending on the need, the Baptistery can be
visible to the rest of the worship space or be shielded from view by sliding
into place a series of capiz door panels that are sufficient in number to
completely surround the space. The capiz
ceiling of San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel inspires the capiz of the door panels, capiz
being a material that shields the view but permits the light through.
The central element is the solid
marble Baptismal Font, composed of two basins. Closer to San Lorenzo Ruiz
Chapel is an upper basin in the shape of a deltoid triangle, for the baptism of
infants by pouring. Concentric with the
circular plan of the space is the lower, larger basin, a larger immersion pool
at floor level, for the baptism of adults by immersion. Connecting the upper basin with the lower basin
is a pair of carved marble blocks that represent the parting waters of the Red
Sea, reflecting the moment described in Exodus Chapter 14 Verse 16 when God
commanded Moses to “lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea,
and split it in two, that the Israelites may pass through the sea on dry land.”
The staff of Moses plays an
important role in the story of Exodus, and is first mentioned in Chapter 4 when
God tells Moses to use it “to perform the signs” by which the people would be
brought to freedom. At the Baptistery,
the long Bakawan handle of each capiz door panel that surrounds the Baptistery
symbolizes the staff of Moses.
Shielding the Baptistery
from the direct sunlight, and suspended from the pyramidal glass skylight, is a
large capiz “cloud” or shield in the shape of a curved equilateral triangle, or
deltoid curve. It symbolizes the cloud
and the Trinity that Pope John Paul II refers to in June 2000: “…the mystery of
the Church, which has been made a community of salvation by the presence of God
the Trinity. Like the ancient People of God, she is guided on her new Exodus by
the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, symbols of God's
constant presence.”
The Baptistery thus augments
the significance of EDSA Shrine by introducing the Exodus narrative close to
the sanctuary.
VI. The Marian Altar signifies the very first hymn devoted to Mary, Sub tuum praesidium, Under your mantle.
At the Marian altar, a
life-size image of Mary stands at the very center of a circle that is centered
in the light well, creating a space that can open or close to form a capiz
cylinder of the same diameter as that of the Baptistery.
As at the Baptistery, a
skylight protects the space from the rain, but lets the daylight in. To provide protection from the sun, a series
of radiating rings are suspended from the skylight, like the vision that the
Apostle St. John describes of a “woman clothed with the sun.”
Hanging from one of these
rings will be a cloth that symbolizes the mantle of Mary. The proposed Marian altar responds to the
inspiration that Pope Francis eloquently draws from the mantle of Mary. Pope Francis, in a 2016 meditation called
“under her mantle,” said: “The Russian mystics of the early centuries of the
Church counseled their disciples, the young monks, to take refuge under the mantle
of the Holy Mother of God during times of spiritual turmoil. The devil cannot
enter there because she is Mother, and as a Mother she defends … The West took
this counsel and created the first Marian antiphon, Sub tuum praesidium: under
your mantle, placed under your care, O Mother, we are safe there”.
EDSA Shrine is both an important cultural property and a living monument that breathes with the expression of people's faith. Aiming to balance its patrimonial value with the evolving needs of worship, EDSA Shrine obtains more meaning, augmenting the rich significance already there.
VII. Conclusion
EDSA Shrine is both an important cultural property and a living monument that breathes with the expression of people's faith. Aiming to balance its patrimonial value with the evolving needs of worship, EDSA Shrine obtains more meaning, augmenting the rich significance already there.
