President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has named Gabriel Formoso, the architect behind the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Complex, a National Artist for Architecture 2026.
Formoso, who died in 1996 at age 81, joins four honourees conferred the title posthumously this year, alongside theatre lighting designer Teodoro Hilado, filmmaker Armando “Bing” Lao and writer Gregorio Brillantes.
Formoso in Philippine architecture
Formoso finished secondary school at Ateneo de Manila in 1933, then completed an architecture degree at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) four years later.
He received his licence in 1939 and is among the first hundred architects ever registered in the country.
According to the Daily Tribune, Formoso apprenticed and collaborated with major names in the industry, including Andres Luna de San Pedro, future National Artist for Architecture Pablo Antonio, and Luis Araneta.
Over four decades, he designed roughly 80 buildings and more than 150 residences, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. His major works include the BSP Complex in Manila, as well as several landmark structures in Makati, notably the Manila Peninsula Hotel, the Asian Institute of Management, the Pacific Star Building, the Lepanto Building, and Dusit Thani Manila.
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Formoso in the National Artist tradition
Formoso joins an Architecture roster that runs from Juan Nakpil (1973) through Pablo Antonio (1976), Leandro Locsin (1990), Ildefonso Santos Jr (2006) and Jose Maria Zaragoza (2014), to Francisco Mañosa (2018).
He also joins a long line of fellow Thomasian alumni across the wider National Artist roster, including Francisco Sionil Jose (Literature, 2001), Bienvenido Lumbera (Literature, 2006) and Nick Joaquin (Literature, 1976), fellow architects Nakpil and Locsin, as well as Rolando Tinio (Theatre, 1997) and Ang Kiukok (Visual Arts, 2001), among others, according to the UST website.
Posthumous benefits
According to PhilSTAR, as a posthumous awardee, Formoso is entitled to a cash award of PHP75,000, net of taxes, payable to his legal heirs, along with cultural commemorations and ceremonial events honouring his artistic contributions.
Now known as GFP Architects, the firm he founded has remained on Building Design magazine’s list of the world’s top 100 architectural practices, as reported by the Manila Bulletin, a legacy that has outlasted its founder by three decades.
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