I L D E F O N S O P. S A N T O S,
JR., FPALA, ASLA, IFLA, PIEP
Santos, who pioneered the landscape architectural
profession in the Philippines, is well-known in professional circles for his
uncompromising integrity and high degree of professionalism. He was instrumental in the establishment of
the specialty board of landscape architecture at the professional regulation
commission (PRC) of the Philippines. He holds PRC registration no. 0000001.
His more than 40 years experience in a wide
spectrum of landscape architectural projects acquired in the united states of America, southeast Asia, and in the Philippines has earned him numerous awards
and citations.
The prestigious landscape architectural firm
that today bears his name was founded in 1963.
Since its inception, i.p. Santos &
associates has grown both in size and stature.
The firm has worked on varied projects ranging in scale from simple
residences to complex developments, such as resorts, parks and recreation,
memorial parks, hotels, shopping center, private and public housing,
educational institutions, office buildings, town centers, e60tc. These projects
have one thing in common. They are the
product of creative, imagine and functional designs marked by a rich background
of experience and expertise and a high degree of excellence and
professionalism.
Education
He attended the university of santo Tomas,
where he received bachelor of science degree in architecture in 1954. Not content with his
newly acquired degree, he aspired to enrich his architectural background
by enrolling at the prestigious university of southern California school of architecture, los
angeles, California where
he obtained his
second bachelor of architecture degree and his industrial
design degree in 1956 and later, a master of architecture degree in 1960.
Experience
While
working for his architectural degrees at the university of southern California,
he joined the firm of Ralph d. Cornell in 1955 and went to work for Cornell, bringers and trolled when it became a partnership.
He gained valuable experience during his
nine-year stint at the landscape architectural office of Cornell, bringers, and
troller. His last project with the
well-known firm was the famous los angeles music center, which he designed
before returning to the Philippines.
He was appointed professorial lecturer in
landscape architecture at the university of the philippines in 1964 and
continued to hold this position until his appointment as full professor in
1991. From october, 1965 to september,
1996, he was the landscape architectural consultant for the office of the u.p.
campus planning.
Activities
Beleiving that mankind is one, he joined the
rotary club of makati west and became its club president form 1972-1973. He was also the past president of the Philippine Trojan club of the university of southern California.
Santos has been a member of the American
society of landscape architects since 1963.
He is also a member of other association like the american horticultural
society, southern California horticultural institute, American institute
of urban
and regional affairs, asean association for planning and housing. In July 17, 1997 he joined the Philippine
institute of environmental planners, where he was exempted from taking the
environmental planners board examination by the Philippine regulation
commission (PRC).
As the official delegate of the Philippine association of landscape
architects (pala) to the international federation of landscape architects
(ifla) grand council, he
has attended ifla congresses in Salvador, Brazil (1978); Bern, Switzerland (1979); Vancouver, Canada (1981); Canberra, Australia (1982); Munich, Germany (1983); Kobe, japan (1985); Paris, France (1987); Boston,
u.s.a. (1988); manila, Philippines (1989).
Seoul, south Korea (1992); grand
council, Pretoria south Africa (1993); Mexico city (1994); Bangkok (1995).
He has also attended ifla
regional conferences in manila (1977); Singapore (1980); Hongkong (1984); ocho
rios, jamaica (1986); Bali (1993); and Taipei (1994).
In 1989 he was elected
chairman of international federation of landscape architects (ifla) international
committee on environmental planning until 1994.
For seven years, he was the chairman of the
eastern regional council for Asia and the Australia until he was elected in
1985-87, 1987-89, 1993-95, and then again in 1995-97 as the vice president
in-charge of ifla’s eastern region.
He was the president of the Philippines association of
landscape architects (pala) from 1977-1984.
In 1985, he was awarded the plaque
of appreciation for
his outstanding achievement and
became a fellow, the highest honor the pala can bestow.
he returned to the university of the Philippines as
head of the landscape architectural program for undergraduate and graduate
school after his stint as a member of the board of examiners for landscape
architects from 1983-1986. In June 1991,
he became a full professor.
He delivered a paper entitled “the evolution
of landscape architecture in the Philippines” at the Philippine social science
center in 1985. In October 1986, he was
invited as guest speaker
at the zaragoza arte flor garden festival in spain. He spoke on the “landscape within the Philippine context.” He was invited
as a guest
speaker at the Mara institute of technology, selangor, Malaysia in July 1987. He spoke on the “the Philippine
experience: landscape architecture in a developing country.” He
delivered a paper
entitled “aesthetics in
landscape architecture as applied within the context of a developing
country “at the symposium in Athens, Greece, 1988.
Awards and citations
For his outstanding work on nayon pilipino, he
was given two awards. The first award
was conferred on him on November 19, 1969 by the former first lady of the Philippines mrs. Imelda r. Marcos
and the other
“plake ng karangalan” by the nayong pilipino foundation, inc. In
1980. In 1971, he was selected one of
the top 12 outstanding makati residents.
Following that year, he was given manila’s highest cultural award for
being a “patnubay ng kalinangan” during the araw ng maynila celebration.
His alma mater, the
university of santo Tomas conferred upon him two successive awards in
recognition of his achievement - the “talaan pandangal” in 1980, and the
“outstanding thomasian award” the following year. He was included in
the 7th edition
of “marquis who’s
who in the world” and in the 11th edition of “men
of achievement.” Also on February
15, 1986, he was
given an award
by the united garden clubs of the philippines, inc.
As the “outstanding landscape architect.”
In 1988
he was awarded the Bali (British association of landscape industries) national
landscape awards for the project taikoo shing.
On august 31, 1990, the art association of the Philippines awarded him a
plaque of appreciation for his assistance and support in the continuing collective
struggle for philippine contemporary art. On June 12, 1992, he was honored by the
municipality of malabon by conferring on him the “gawad ng katangian award.”
On January 23, 1993, he was
made an adopted son of Imus during the 5th annual gawad parangal. He was awarded the “outstanding professional
for landscape architecture” in 1993 by the Philippine regulation
commission. Last December 12, 1997, his unparalleled professional service for the past 15 years was honored by the united
architects of the Philippines (uap). He
was given on march 11, 1998, a “parangal ng bayan award” by the national
consumers council for having excelled in the field of landscape architecture.
On June 09, 2006, he was
awarded as national artist for his outstanding achievement in architecture and
allied arts by malacanang, cultural center of the Philippines, and national
commission for culture and arts.
