Felipe M. Mendoza

Felipe Marcelo Mendoza (1917 to 2000) was a leading postwar Filipino modernist who married international modern principles with a distinctly local identity. Born in Manila, he graduated in architecture from Mapua Institute of Technology in 1938 and placed sixth in the 1939 licensure examination. He taught at Mapua for roughly two decades, from 1946 to 1965, later lectured at the University of the Philippines, and opened his own firm in 1951.

Mendoza was also a builder of the profession itself. He served two terms as president of the United Architects of the Philippines and helped draft the Architect's National Code and the UAP General Conditions, and in 1982 he was the first recipient of the UAP Likha Award and Gold Medal of Merit.

His best-known work is the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City, the seat of the legislature, whose main building opened on May 31, 1978 after the north and south wings were completed in December 1977. Mendoza gave the complex a Filipiniana character, crowning it with a roof that evokes the traditional bahay kubo. His practice also produced other institutions of the state, including the Sandiganbayan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.