José María Zaragoza

José María Zaragoza (1912-1994) was named National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture in 2014, recognised above all for defining modern Catholic church design in the country. He merged the liturgical clarity called for by mid-century church reform with a restrained modernism, producing sacred spaces that feel both contemporary and deeply devotional.

His landmark is Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City (1954), among the largest churches in Asia and home to the venerated image of Our Lady of La Naval de Manila. Zaragoza also designed the Meralco Building (1965) in Ortigas, a signature corporate modern headquarters, and the Union Church of Manila in Makati, alongside dozens of other churches, offices and residences.

Over his career Zaragoza produced scores of ecclesiastical structures as well as commercial buildings and homes, popularising a refined modern idiom across postwar Manila. His body of religious architecture in particular remains his most enduring contribution to the Filipino built landscape.