Old GSIS Building: One of the heritage buildings that need to be rescued

The Government Service Insurance System Building, built in 1952 in Arroceros (near SM Manila, the previous location of the YMCA Building) was one of the first of the new buildings programmed for the New Republic to be completed. Designed by Federico Ilustre, the structure's character stand at the intersection between neoclassical and modern aesthetics. As a transitional style for government architecture, its façade generated a series of ascending fluted pillars that had neither bases nor capitals to express a stripped and simplified modern stye, yet, at the same time, it has the character of classical massings and proportions. The corner of the building had been rounded, forming a corner tower with three vertical bays of windows ascending from the entrance canopy. To the left of this corner tower, a flat wall was fenestrated with vertical louvers and pierced screen insets. The elevation in the other corner was defined by horizontal bands of windows and concrete planes.

Old GSIS Buildin
YMCA Bldg., Aroceros St., Manila
by: Architect Federico S. Ilustre
Construction 1952-1954

The GSIS building used to house the main office of the then Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, and of the Office of the Ombudsman. Some of its outer rooms currently house the office of city election officers and several branches of the metropolitan trial court.

This heritage building,right behind Manila City Hall is being targeted next for demolition and in clear violation of the law on heritage. The owners have been asked by Manila City Hall when they were going to demolish this Federico Ilustre landmark.

Coconut Manila had asked James Jao, the architect and London School of Economics-trained urban planner on the plan for rescuing the built heritage structure. "This building can be gentrified into a mixed-use development. By retaining the existing structure, it can be the podium of a high-rise building behind including an atrium... The existing GSIS Building can host upscale retail shops and some restaurants, with a lobby/reception on one side for the hotel or condominium (office or residential). This approach can complement the existing SM City mall. An underground walkway can connect both the GSIS and SM," he responded.