14/01/2026
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌโ ๐
๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ซ๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฒ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐จ, ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐
Standing in front of Quiapo Church in Manila, the 12-storey Picache Building (now F&C Tower) tells an important chapter in Philippine building history as the countryโs first modern skyscraper.
Designed by architect Angel Nakpil and built by D.M. Consunji, Inc. (DMCI) in 1960, the Picache Building marked the shift toward vertical development in the urban landscape.
In his memoir A Passion to Build, DMCI Founder Engr. David M. Consunji recalled how the structure was built:
"I had long been preparing for the time that the high-rise would come to the Philippines. From my reading and discussions with Fred Juinio (former UP College of Engineering Dean), I knew that the high-rise was the next big thing for the local construction industry. That was the reason for my early experiments with concrete. I knew that sooner than later, our old standards had to go, because we could do the high-rise only if we had stronger concrete and better ways of making concrete forms and depositing concrete.
In anticipation of the tall buildings to come, I started to use steel scaffoldings instead of wooden ones. I remember that when we built the Manila Doctors Hospital in 1954, we were already using a steel concreting tower. And when we did the Picache Building in 1959-60, a 12-storey building in Quiapo, we also used steel concreting towers. All our competitors, meanwhile, were still using lumber. The steel concreting tower has many advantages over wood. It is stronger and can carry a heavier weight, it can transport materials much faster especially with steel elevators, it is easier to set up and tear down, and it is reusable. We also imported buggies from Australia that could carry 6 to 10 cubic feet of concrete mix at a time, twice what the commonly used wheelbarrows could carry. That saved us a lot of concreting time."
Engr. Consunji also shared how the Picache Building introduced innovations that competitors had yet to embrace. Even so, the approach raised eyebrows:
"For reasons I couldn't understand, the use of steel towers did not catch on right away in the Philippines. Other builders did not seem to see the advantages. In fact, I remember being taunted for using steel then. When we were doing the Picache building, one builder happened to pass by and said: 'Oy, David, why are you using steel? Do you intend to pass on the business to your grandchildren?'
To them, it was a laughing matter, but to me it was important that I found a more effective and efficient way of doing things. Even before we did the tall buildings in Ayala, we were already using high-capacity steel concreting towers that we also used to transport steel bars and other heavy materials to the different floors."
Source: A Passion to Build: A Memoir of David M. Consunji
