Carlos Arguelles
Arguelles (September 15, 1917 – August 19, 2008) was a Filipino architect who was known for being a leading proponent of the International Style of architecture in the Philippines in the 1960s. He was an Eagle Scout and a Distinguished Eagle Scout Awardee of the Boy Scouts of America.
Carlos Arguelles
- Name
- Carlos Arguelles
- Birth Name
- Carlos D.
- Born
- 15 September 1917
- Birthplace
- Manila, Philippine Islands
- Died
- 19 August 2008
- Place of death
- Manila, Philippines
- Occupation
- Architect
- Nationality
- Philippines
- Education
- University of Santo Tomas
- Honours
- Eagle Scout
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Arguelles (September 15, 1917 – August 19, 2008) was a Filipino architect who was known for being a leading proponent of the International Style of architecture in the Philippines in the 1960s. He was an Eagle Scout and a Distinguished Eagle Scout Awardee of the Boy Scouts of America.
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Carlos Arguelles (1917–2008) was a Filipino architect. The architect was born in Manila. Carlos Arguelles studied at University of Santo Tomas. The architect received Eagle Scout.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Carlos Arguelles • Birth Name — Carlos D. Corcuera Arguelles • Born — 15 September 1917 • Birthplace — Manila, Philippine Islands • Died — 19 August 2008 • Place of death — Manila, Philippines • Occupation — Architect
Background
Background
Born in Manila, he was the fifth son of Tomas Arguelles, a known pre-war Filipino architect, and Carmen Corcuera. Carlos followed in his father's footsteps and graduated in 1940 from the architecture program in the University of Santo Tomas. He continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned his bachelor's degree in architecture in 1941. The outbreak of World War II interrupted his masteral studies as he enlisted in the army, eventually assigned to be alongside Manuel Quezon and the Philippine Commonwealth government-in-exile in Washington, D.C., and as an intelligence officer under General Chuck Parsons in Australia. He returned to MIT after the war to complete his master's degree in architecture, which he obtained in 1946. He died on August 19, 2008, in Manila, Philippines, 27 days before his 91st birthday.
Career
Career
Arguelles returned to the Philippines in 1949 and began his architecture career in the country as an associate of Gines Rivera, the architect behind the planning of the Ateneo de Manila University campus being built at that time in Loyola Heights in Quezon City. He also began teaching at the UST College of Architecture and served as its dean from 1953 to 1959. Arguelles first came into prominence in Philippine architecture thanks to his role as chief architect of Philamlife Homes in Quezon City, the first gated community in the country, as he designed many of the bungalow houses which were suited to the Filipino middle-class lifestyle. He would then move on to design other notable landmarks, including Philamlife's headquarters in Ermita in 1962 and the Manila Hilton right across it in 1968. He was also involved with a number of professional societies such as the American Institute of Architects and the Philippine Institute of Architects, as well as socio-civic and religious organizations such as Rotary Chamber of Manila, Philippine Motor Association, Men of the Sacred Heart of the Sanctuario de San Antonio Parish. He was a recipient of the prestigious Gold Medal of Merit by the Philippine Institute of Architects in 1988, the Papal Award "Pro Ecclesiae et Pontifice" in 1996; "Centennial Honors for the Arts" from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1999.
Works
Works
• ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, Diliman, Quezon City • Philamlife Homes, Quezon City • Philamlife Building, Manila (demolished) • Manila Hilton Hotel (now Manila Pavilion Hotel, Manila) • Development Bank of the Philippines Building, Makati • Philippine National Bank Building (formerly as Manila Central College, Manila; demolished) • PNB Makati Center (formerly Allied Bank Center) • Manilabank Building, (Now VGP Center) Makati • Solid Bank Building, (now PSBank Tower) Makati • Cathedral of the Holy Child (IFI National Cathedral), Manila • Magallanes Theater, Makati (now demolished, replaced by Magallanes Barangay Hall) • Nora C. Quebral Hall (College of Development Communication) and Abelardo Samonte Hall (College of Agriculture and Food Science Administration Building) in University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna • Leopoldo B. Uichanco Hall (formerly the Biological Sciences Building) in University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna • International Rice Research Institute Building, Los Baños, Laguna • Quad Theaters and Shopping Arcade, Makati (replaced by Glorietta) • Encarnacion Hall, University of the Philippines School of Economics, Diliman, Quezon City
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. Recorded with the occupation architect. The record continues: carlos Arguelles is recorded as a citizen of Philippines. Recorded with the gender male. Institutional cataloguing adds that carlos Arguelles was born on 15 September 1917. Arguelles died on 19 August 2008.
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q18205412: Carlos Arguelles
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Carlos Arguelles”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Boy Scouts of America. Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.
- 2.Alcazaren, Paulo. Requiem for a master architect. Philstar.com. August 30, 2008.
- 3.Archt. Carlos Arguelles. UST 400 - a list of 400 for UST's 400 years in 2011.
- 4.University of Santo Tomas. College of Architecture-History.
- 5.Lico, Gerard Rey. Awards in Architecture. National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
- 6.Paulo Alcazaren. Wili's wonders. Philstar Global. February 13, 2010.
- 7.Lijauco, Chit. Tatler Time Capsule: The Ayala Center. Tatler Asia. October 28, 2020.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q18205412: Carlos ArguellesWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Design
11,558 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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- Carlos Chanfon OlmosDesigner
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- Carlos de GrunenberghDesigner
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