The old Sto. Domingo Church in Intramuros, adjacent to the original UST campus, was featured in an exhibit at La Naval Shrine in Quezon City.
The exhibit, titled “La Iglesia Dominicana: The Architecture of the Santo Domingo Church,” highlights the history of the prewar motherhouse of the Dominican Order in the Philippines, through modern digital reconstruction that traced its evolution over the centuries.
The exhibit consisted of 3D models, photo and video renders, and scale models from the Digital Manila Project, created by heritage artist group Renacimiento Manila.
It also featured a scale model of Intramuros in the 1930s, showing the location of the “Seven Great Churches,” the Sto. Domingo Church (Dominicans), San Agustin Church (Augustinians), San Ignacio Church (Jesuits), San Francisco Church (Franciscans), Lourdes Church (Franciscan Capuchins), San Nicolas de Tolentino Church (Augustinian Recollects) and the Manila Cathedral.
Miguel Ordoño, an alumnus of the College of Architecture and exhibit organizer, stressed the importance of preserving architectural history and warned against treating “buildings as a mere background.”
“Whether demolished or still standing, there is an architecture of absence that tells us something deeper about our history and environment—about what used to be there. Studying these buildings enhances our understanding of the heritage value of Intramuros,” Ordoño said in an interview with the Varsitarian.
Reimagining and rebuilding historical buildings helps people appreciate the past, he said.
A Dominican priest also welcomed the digital reconstruction of the old Sto. Domingo Church and commended the efforts of heritage advocates.
“They help preserve the memory of the old Sto. Domingo and what it represents for the younger generation today. The church represents all that is beautiful, earnest, and sincere in expressing our faith and devotion, something we continue to aspire to, or better yet, build upon,” Fr. Mervin Lomague, O.P., who has a master’s in Cultural Heritage Studies, told the Varsitarian.
Lomague emphasized the importance of the old Sto. Domingo Church to the La Naval devotion, which he said entailed delving deeper and “going back to the old walls of Manila,” and being acquainted with the old church.
The original Dominican church, which became home to the revered image of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval, was rebuilt five times in Intramuros, with the last structure, designed in neo-Gothic style, built by the first Filipino architect, Felix Roxas y Arroyo, in 1861.
It was bombed by Japanese planes in 1941, and the rest of the church structure was damaged during the Battle of Manila in 1945. After the ruins were pulled down in 1959, the Dominicans relocated to Quezon City.
The exhibit will be at the walkway of Sto. Domingo Church until Feb. 28. With reports from Alexandra Gabrielle C. Mansineros
