The last time the Urban Roamer was “checks notes”…11 years ago! That long indeed. At that time, the museum was located near the premises of the historic Fort San Antonio Abad near the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas complex. A really lovely location that complemented the history of the fort.
So many things have changed since then for the museum, with the most noteworthy being its relocation from Manila’s Malate district to the business district of Bonifacio Global City in 2021. Specifically, it has moved into the Mariano K. Tan Centre which is right next door to the JY Campos Centre, the corporate headquarters of Filipino food conglomerate NutriAsia and right across Bonifacio High Street.
How and why the Metropolitan Museum of Manila relocated to this part of the metropolis is related to patronage. The museum’s founding benefactors are, among others, companies helmed by the Campos family: NutriAsia and Del Monte Philippines. Thus, it made sense for the museum to be relocated “closer to home” so to speak, near the Campos conglomerate headquarters.
The Urban Roamer talked about these two buildings in a previous article on BGC Central, as well as the history of the people they were named after. But let’s talk about some of that history again a bit as a backgrounder.
Who is Mariano K. Tan?
Born in 1920, Mariano K. Tan rose to prominence as a businessman who together with his partner Jose Y. Campos, founded what would become Unilab in 1945, beginning as a drug store in Manila’s San Nicolas district before transitioning into drug manufacturing and eventually moving to a larger space in Mandaluyong by the 1950s.
The large space available even after having built Unilab’s facilities gave Campos and Tan an opportunity to venture into real estate development. This gave rise to their next venture: Greenfield Development, which developed the area into the Greenfield District we know today. Tan himself went on with his real estate foray when he founded Dolmar Realty, which focused on residential and commercial real estate developments in Metro Manila and Bulacan.
Mariano K. Tan died in 2008 and was subsequently honored by the Campos conglomerate with a bust at Unilab’s Bayanihan Center, an area in the Mind Museum named after him and, of course, the aforementioned MK Tan Centre.
The museum experience there is, well….
One thing about the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in BGC is that it is very much integrated into the MK Tan Centre in both positive and negative aspects. On one hand, it is nice to see that the building is able to integrate the museum facilities in a “utilitarian” manner. However, for those who have been used to museums being on a single or centralized space, it may be disappointing to see the museum feel so “disjointed.”
When you enter the building, you see the museum ticketing office and a gallery on the right. But to get to the other galleries, you have to go out to the common hallway, pass through the sensor-activated gates that employees in the offices located in the building pass through as well and take the elevator to the upper levels where the other galleries are located. It feels like the museum was put in there as an afterthought and because of that, visitors could not enjoy the museum’s experience because of this lack of cohesiveness to it as far as its layout is concerned.
It also does not help that the museum’s permanent galleries are not as extensive compared to other museums so if there is no special exhibit or gallery to check out, one may find the museum experience itself to be…well, lacking. Even on its old site, it did not have that much on its permanent collection but it helped that the area was compact in size and scope.
The Urban Roamer was fortunate though that at the time of visit, there was a special exhibit in the museum which showcased the works of the legendary fashion designer Pitoy Moreno. It is in special exhibitions that this museum shines.
They also have a nice museum gift shop as well.
Honestly, it was disappointing that a prominent museum that is located at a premier business district fell short of expectations. One couldn’t help but compare the way the Campos conglomerate has treated the Metropolitan to how the Yuchengco Group made sure there is a prominent spot in RCBC Plaza for the Yuchengco Museum. Will not make any further speculation but it was such a missed opportunity that I’m not sure how this can be remedied, unless they move the Metropolitan to a more well-thought of space.
While the Urban Roamer is not putting the Metropolitan Museum as among the top museums to visit, it is still worth a visit if there are special exhibits you want to check out.
For more information and updates on future exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, visit their website at metmuseum.ph
