Cor Jesu Oratory

On celebrating the Filipino brand in design

Throughout the course of architectural history, the house of worship has been prevalent as examples of relevant architecture; it starts from the grandiose and to honor God while modern counterparts revolve around the person to ensure he can experience God in a more human scale. The Cor Jesu metaphorized a simple expressive gesture, something relatable to the Filipino, the building surrounding itself from the garden and the environment, thus embracing the existing landscape and the local climate. This complements a humble experience aside from the form portrayed.

The building is planned to form a processional, a characteristic of a contemplative journey of a Filipino in his religious centered life. The dip and rise of the roof both is didactic in the Filipinos’ humility and at the same time the need for aspiration. The Cor Jesu as much is formed from concrete, glass and steel and attempts a vernacular material, the bamboo. We see this to be both how Filipinos possess to embrace a multi-faceted identity, embracing your heritage while embracing foreign influence. The Cor Jesu breaks away from the traditional yet still rooted in values of craft and ingenuity, modern yet familiar in its form, visually appealing yet tactile - it hopes to characterize the uniqueness and the diversity of a Filipino. Lastly, the Cor Jesu is a testament of a great collaboration - a need characteristic to progress the Philippine Society in general.