Tomas Mapúa Mansion | |
Nickname: | Mapúa Mansion |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Philippines |
Subdivision Type1: | Region |
Subdivision Name1: | National Capital Region |
Subdivision Type2: | City |
Subdivision Name2: | Pasay |
Subdivision Type3: | Barangay |
Subdivision Name3: | Barangay 86 |
Subdivision Type4: | Architect |
Subdivision Name4: | Tomás Mapúa |
Subdivision Type5: | Architectural Design |
Subdivision Name5: | Art Deco |
Subdivision Type6: | Year Constructed |
Subdivision Name6: | 1930 |
Frame Style: | border:none; padding: 0; |
List Style: | text-align:left;display:none; |
Tomás Mapúa Mansion (Mapua Mansion) is the house built by Don Tomás Mapúa himself. The house is located along the stretch of Taft Avenue (formerly Calle Rizal/ Highway 50) in Pasay.
After Don Tomas B. Mapúa was sent to the United States in 1903-1911 by the Philippine-American Government to study Architecture in Cornell University, he served in the Bureau of Public Works in 1918-1927. In 1925, he established the Mapúa Institute of Technology. The construction of the mansion was finished in 1930 and according to one of his grandsons, it was a side-by-side project with his fresh graduate apprentices. The architectural style of the mansion follows the then trending Art Deco.
When the war broke out in Manila during the Japanese occupation, the Mapúa Family moved, and fortunately the mansion was spared from air raids and landmines. According to his grandson, it was also used as a Japanese headquarters. During the Liberation of Manila, the mansion was also spared from the casualties of the war.
After the World War II, Don Tomás and his family reacquired and reoccupied the mansion.
The mansion withstood the construction of new infrastructure adjacent to its area such as the Manila Light Rail Transit System.
To date, the mansion is undergoing restoration works by the Philippine Institute of Architects and its affiliate organizations. Notably, almost all of the elements and details of the house are still intact and were the original works of Don Tomás. It is surrounded with flowers and different collection of plants where they feel like they are living in a year of 50's in the middle of the big city surrounded with modern infrastructures.