Sunday, January 13, 2008

NATIVIDAD BUILDING (ESCOLTA SERIES)


Personally, I find the Natividad Building along Escolta cor. Tomas Pinpin Sts. one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture around these parts. There is a sense of modernity - and thus of universality - in its design. For those who haven't noticed, the front part of the building was used in the recent Nescafe advert where a man and a woman met under the rain. It was made to look like they met somewhere in a rainy Paris street. This pretty much confirms that many parts of Manila can lend themselves to themed shoot locations, allowing the audience to be transported to other places without knowing they've never left Manila at all.
During its heydey, the Insurance Commission found its home here. (Source: Honesto General). The building is still pretty much in the best of conditions. Together with the neighboring Calvo, the Natividad has been described as beaux-arts in its style, a style that began in France in the 1800s or thereabouts.
A most impressive facade. I hope they convert the rooms of this building into living spaces.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

why can't people just turn them into apartments/condominiums like those in SOHO, I'm sure plumming isn't as bad as those in NYC

poeta fit, non nascitur said...

Beautiful! I can't believe that building is in the Philippines. Architecture definitely has gone down in this country. Those pictures definitely made my day.

Anonymous said...

does the paz ongciaco bldg, as seen in the picture behind the natividad bldg, have any historical values? is it true that the smart panciteria was onced located in the paz ongciaco bldg?