KVETCH! KVETCH! KVETCH!
WHAT THE HELL?
To all management and board of directors of Insular Life Philippines:
To all management and board of directors of Insular Life Philippines:
You idiots. What in heavens name have you done to your former main office? Why the hell couldn't you leave good enough alone? It was only a year ago that your Makati ex-headquarters, a brilliant modernist masterwork by Architect Cesar Concio, stood proudly at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. It's brise-soleil facade and sculptural canopy was a symbol of the dynamism of Makati's rapid growth in the 1960's; it's space-age demeanor an icon of the zeitgeist. Sadly, from being an expression of the optimism which reigned when the Philippines was the most economically and socially progressive country in Asia; it has become as bland and cheezy as any of the other McBuildings infecting the skyline of today's Makati. Concio's formerly graceful curves and diamond detailing are now slathered over with sheeny aluminum imported on the cheap from China as the neon logo of fastfood behemoth Jollibee ironically greets you at the entryway. For an institution that claims to be sensitive to culture and the arts, this comes as a coup de grace for some pretty horrific past aesthetic blunders done by Insular Life. And if nobody has told you which blunders these are, then allow me to enumerate them for you now. One. Your new headquarters in Alabang is not only boring, it's ugly. Two. The nasty Impy Pilapil sculptures scattered around your Alabang lobby are cornier than a painting of dogs playing pool. Three. You put the Napoleon Abueva frieze (the one you transferred from the Makati headquarters) on the wrong side of your new building. And Four. The aforementioned renovation. Conclusion: YOUR ART CURATOR SUCKS. FIRE HIM/HER. Gosh. You think you guys might have learned something when everybody bitched about what a terrible renovation you did at the original Insular Life Building on Plaza Cervantes back in the 1980's. So really, if you can't stop yourself from being cultural neanderthals, then stop claiming to know anything about art at all.
Tsk tsk. Morons. I'd kick your asses myself if I had the chance.
posted by carlosceldran @ 5:23 PM
14 Comments:
Ah, the so called-purveyors of good architecture! Yes, yes, that's telling them! I was passing by Ayala Avenue some time ago when I got the shock of my life, this building, probablly one of the last few architecturally pleasing 1960's structure this side of town has been given a major Belo-esque (w/a tinge of Osang no doubt!) face job! Yikes!
That's strike two now for Insular, the first when they streamlined an award-winning 1930's Art-Deco structure in Binondo into a 1960's plain-jane facade and now this!?!
And where did they throw that outstanding, marble waiting shed at the corner of Ayala and Makati Avenue???
Pray these people be enlightened!
Off topic, just a couple of suggestions for your tours:
1. those gorgeous old wooden houses found within New Manila area
2. Corregidor and Bay Cruise
FINALLY, SOMEBODY SAID SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!
I think it's Ayala corner Paseo, not Ayala and Makati Ave. But you're right, they changed the way we look at that corner forever.
That's it, tell them like it is. Where would we be without ranting and kvetching?
Maybe we should register our protests the earliest chance we hear about such plans. By now, there's nothing we can do about it anymore. Sigh.
If there is anyone watching Manila,it's best to start now before they start cutting trees at Arroceros Park.
why not call it ayala tower one - mini me?? don't like it either -- no more character -- no more anything -- just another flaccid steel building -- well -with a jollibee of course yum! hehehe!
...And I see this building every single day from my office window...sigh...
i agree with everything you said. its a shame whatever they did with the building.
Funny you brought this up because I was just telling my partner how boring the building's new facade looks now sans the Legaspi relief (don't get me started on the Deli France and McDo's down at the G/F). Not that I was ever a big fan of the Insular Life building but - admittedly - it was a landmark and came in very useful when giving directions to people who didn't what "kanto ng Ayala & Paseo" meant.
Funny you brought this up because I was just telling my partner how boring the building's new facade looks now sans the Legaspi relief (don't get me started on the Deli France and McDo's down at the G/F). Not that I was ever a big fan of the Insular Life building but - admittedly - it was a landmark and came in very useful when giving directions to people who didn't what "kanto ng Ayala & Paseo" meant.
It's not that bad naman, a! Maganda nga e.
Sorry. Must disagree. Its ugly compared to its former self. It was unique and made with high quality materials. Now it looks like any other plain old office building in Taipei.
"gab said...
why not call it ayala tower one - mini me?? don't like it either -- no more character -- no more anything -- just another flaccid steel building -- well -with a jollibee of course yum! hehehe!"
I don't quite agree with that, not that I'm a big fan of SOM, but Tower1 is a different story... it may not look like anything beyond normal to the naked eye, but if you observe it real closely you will notice a big difference from its neighboring glass and steel monoliths... and certainly nothing near the newly-renovated (yet doomed to fate) insular life bldg. Tower1 was designed and built with precise detail and planning. The "portal" that bridges the old (Locsin designed?) and new stock exchange bldgs. was an ingenius maneuver on the part of its designers. The fact that it became a successful social hub for passers by and workers alike is a testimony to this. And who would not notice the welcomed greenery it opened up to the public?? In a dense urban environment that is a pretty notable thing. The material for the glazing itself gave it the right to stand up in all its shining glory because it had the right to --- it had the proper glazing to suppress the intense philippine heat... unlike most of the other glass buildings that you would see (na tinipid kaya wala namang kasing init sa loob, in turn, lakas gumamit ng aircon which is not at all sustainable).
The (doomed) insular life bldg. on the other hand is nothing more than a big joke. Not even worth to be called a Tower1 mini-me...
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