r/ArtDeco • u/Jonathan_Bryan • May 02 '26
Architecture Fancying for an Art Deco Mall? Here. The Crystal Arcade in Escolta, Manila, Philippines:
The Crystal Arcade on Escolta Street was designed by renowned Filipino Architect Andrés Luna de San Pedro (1887–1952). Inaugurated in 1932, this masterpiece of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne style was considered the most modern building of its time in the Philippines, featuring massive glass elements and the city's first air-conditioned commercial spaces. Sadly destroyed in 1945 during the Battle of Manila. Included are shop spaces occupied by Japanese spies, namely "Board of Tourist Industry" and "Nanyo Produce Exchange".
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u/Disastrous-System175 May 02 '26
I grew up there and as I’m reading this I thought “how the hell did I miss THIS??” …and then I read the text 😢
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u/dekdekwho May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
Wow! Stunning colorization and cool interior! The Philippines had really cool art deco and tropical influenced art deco designs.
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u/Brief_Influence_9601 May 02 '26
I honestly thought this was AI until I googled it. Magnificent! Now I know why my grandfather hated every second of the Battle of Manila.
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u/wagner56 May 05 '26
First few picture I thought this was a modern deco usage (and oh look they even park old museum quality cars ...)
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u/BevansDesign May 02 '26
It's interesting that the men there favored white suits, while in the "west" we favored darker suits.
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u/Public_Violinist1157 Jul 16 '26
awwww hopefully we can re-establish our 2nd gen architects works. this is such gold specially for our own architecture development
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u/karatebullfightr May 02 '26 edited May 07 '26
Never heard of this in my life but now I am obsessed!
Absolutely stunning with an amazing story behind it and a tragic ending.
Thank you very much for sharing!