Escuella Talyer a lesson on restoration

The mystique of old churches and buildings and their bittersweet memories never
fails to captivate me. today, I joined AHP and Escuella Talyer's special talk and
tour of the Old Malate church.

With both Baroque and Muslim influences, Malate Church is one of the most
architecturally interesting churches in all of Manila. With a beautiful stone facade,
the exterior of the church gives off a solemn and tranquil vibe.

Pride of specialized craftsmanship and restorative masonry work contribute to
Escuella Talyer's  expertise in both public and private historic restoration work
as they once again successfully restored another church, Malate Church to its
former look.

Dr. Jaime Laya of Escuella Talyer led the talk on the restoration works that
is being done to the old Malate church

This majestic, century-old church has had a rocky history.
The interior of the church is as much an antique as the exterior of the church. With
sparse decoration, low lighting, and a lack of color and frescos, this is a very
traditional church. but heres a good one, it has its own gallery which I would like
to share.

The stone or adobe that was used was quite different from the adobe of other countries
where they used sun-baked clay bricks with straw as reinforcement.
Adobe was mostly volcanic tuff,  was bound by lime activated by water and sand.
The combination of sand and lime can be volatile and will generate heat and fumes.
thenfermented for 6 months before being  used as lime mortar.

Some included egg whites to the mortar to help bind them together. The eggs were
from the towns people. The leftover egg yolks became the dessert we’ve come to love
as leche flan.

a bilateral partnership established in 2009, is the first training centre of its kind in Asia.
It provides vocational training for under-resourced communities in Manila. students are
trained for 1 year  and sent on the job after graduating. and can work on site.

Escuella talyer offer restoration and construction services for historic and sacred
sites across the country. Church administrators and historic preservationists all turn to
this Restoration  school, Because they understand that historic and sacred sites are
more  than the sum of bricks and mortar.

Restoring buildings is part Art and part Science. It requires an ability to analyze based
on years of experience and an understanding of building technologies.

Old structures are like diaries. They are records of our history allowing us to take part in
the on-going story of our community

around 32 friends from AHP attended. I wish I can wear the yellow AHP shirt, I havent
got my tshirt. its an hour talk, with 30 mins for open forum.

Heres what I learned:

Old paint has a quiet faded beauty that is impossible to duplicate even with a lot of money.

Only fix something if it threatens to destroy the integrity of the structure in the long 
run.

Its wrong to remove the lime palitada to expose the old stone bricks of this church. 

it doesnt make them look authentic. it can destroy the church. 
The palitada protects the walls from moisture. if removed, the brick stones shall
crumble. the palitada had beautiful carvings and decorations.
Some even bear pecial markings like shapes or an astronaut or names of masons 
who worked on the church. Exposing the brickwork beneath can create a very busy
effect which distracts one from prayer and contemplation. 

There are different kinds of palitada. Lime palitada is better than cement because cement 
is quite heavy and may overburden the structure. 

heritage structures do not belong to you alone. You share it with many others in
the then and now, and also.. the future.  make your mark as someone who respected the
labors of your ancestors.

Thanks to TitoEncarnacion of Advocates for Heritage Conservation(AHP) for inviting us
and for Escuella Taluer for giving us an idea on how they do the church resurection work.

thats it for now...
this is your LOVERBOY Dennis signing out. now off to the 2015 Transportshow!