Vanguard of Philippine Modernism: Architect Lor Calma

Design and architecture has been the province of Lor Calma, the vanguard of Philippine modernism whose creations, in more than half a century, speak a pared down language of glass, stone and steel, evoking the sheer beauty of the straight line. His legacy in Philippine architecture is secured but at 82, Calma is no old fogey about to rest on his laurels. He is showcasing a new body of work—this time in the field of visual arts—in an exhibit which opened at the Ayala Museum last Monday. “Architect Lor Calma: Paintings and Sculptures” will be on view until January next year, after which will move to the pockets of spaces at the Greenbelt Park. 

On what would have been a rather an uneventful Saturday, I was able to meet the renowned architect whose eyes, defined by a sweep of bristling brows, sparkled through thick-rimmed glasses. He didn’t evoke an air of importance as he relaxed on a chair and began to talk. His gestures were vigorous, his train of thought even more quick-footed. You wouldn’t realize that you are in the presence of an octogenarian.

Not one to do a conventional interview, Archt. Calma provided the biographical backbone of his fame, beginning with his entry in the furniture-making business, more than 50 years ago. Even before graduating, he was tapped by a professor to work for his furniture company. Instead of choosing the design department, he asked to be assigned in the factory “to learn the (step-by-step) process of making furniture.” He saw how the carpenters worked directly with the materials, carving, joining, polishing wood with their bare hands. Furniture-making then was largely an artisanal activity, a fluency with craft.

Yet to own his furniture company a couple of years later, Archt. Calma directly engaged with the master carpenter who taught him about the art of joinery, dovetailing and detailing. This meticulous attention to details has been deeply impressed upon him, inflecting his design sensibility and eventually, his architectural practice. It was also during the stage as a furniture maker that he realized that he resonated with modernism—with the simplicity of its approach, the intelligent juxtaposition of lines and the beauty of its architectural solutions using an economy of resources.

He didn’t immediately practice architecture because he said that he initially wanted to invest on his name. The then prominent figures in architecture were running the show and he felt that he couldn’t hold a candle against them. He also didn’t want to be a mere interpreter of his clients, designing houses catering purely to their wishes. His modernist aesthetic was evolving and he wanted to see it enacted in the form of actual structures.

By standing true to his taste and style, Archt. Calma carved his name in the field of Philippine modernism, becoming one of its pioneers. By the 1960’s, people were already seeing how modernism made sense, rejecting the notion that the beautiful can be achieved simply by ornamentation. They sought the services of his architectural firm which up to now still subscribes to the modernist approach.

Despite the success in three fields—furniture industry, architecture and interior design (Archt. Calma is one of the founding partners of Philippine School of Interior Design)—he also wanted to prove his mettle in the visual arts. It is not after all divorced from what he does: the journey and transformation of thought into an actual product is implicit in any artistic process. His first show was in the late ‘70s at the Ayala Museum. “Architect Lor Calma: Paintings and Sculptures,” co-organized by the Crucible Gallery, then is a homecoming of sorts.

“All done in 2009, the metal reliefs and sculptures are made of mild steel, black iron, and bronze, using primary colors of black, white, red, and yellow,” states the curator’s notes. “The surfaces of two large bronze reliefs are left raw and unfinished. The free-standing sculptures are large-scale scroll and origami-like constructions. The two-dimensional paintings are swirls of black indelible ink on canvas.” 

You can only feel the awesome power of Archt. Calma’s architectural forms if you are right in front of them, seeing how a once flat surface achieves three-dimensionality by simple cuts and folds. Cantlivered on a brief mount, its sharp lines cut through space like an idea in flight, arrowing toward completion. Circle around one origami sculpture and you see how the form changes: the planar surfaces revealing portals, peaks and possibilities. They are modern in terms of their linearity but they are also conceptual, as they are themselves veritable statements on and reflections of the social conditions that made the straight line achieve prominence in the first place.