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 Felino Palafox Jr., principal architect and urban planner/founder and managing partner of Palafox Associates (PA), wanted to become a priest, even finishing his secondary education at the Christ the King seminary, where he spent his formative years preparing for priesthood. But his calling was elsewhere, and after high school, his interest in the arts, mathematics, and sciences – plus his visits to the construction projects of his late uncle Jess Palafox – motivated the young seminarian to take up BS Architecture at the University of Santo Tomas .
“I like architecture because it is experiential. It’s a functional art,” Palafox says.
First Steps
Palafox, who also finished a master’s degree in environmental planning as a United Nations Development Program scholar in the University of the Philippines, has “made the rounds” as an architect/urban planner. Among others, he worked in Dubai, where he became the only Filipino member – and the youngest team leader – of a quality planning department that helped transform this oil-rich, predominantly desert country into today’s model of full-blast real estate development.
When he came back to the Philippines upon the invitation of mall mogul Henry Sy, owner of the SM malls, Palafox became a consultant for SM’s various real estate projects. And, like his uncle before him, he also worked with Ayala Land Inc., as an architect/urban planner, for almost seven years. The projects he handled included Ayala Alabang, Ayala Heights, Ayala Center, Laguna Technopark, Madrigal Business Park, and Cebu Business Park. When he turned 39 and “still feeling at a crossroads,” as Palafox describes it, he decided to “strike it on (my) own.” So on July 1, 1989, he put up Palafox Associates (PA). It wasn’t the best year to open a new business since 1989 was characterized by numerous coup d’ etats, a peso slump, and other social problems.
Undaunted, Palafox and his team set their sights overseas, aware that with the economy down in the country, it “would make PA more competitive elsewhere in the world.” So, while it is designing projects like golf course communities Manila Southwoods and Sta. Elena, and the SM Southmall in Las Piñas, the firm also ventured in Indonesia, Saipan, United Arab Emirates, and the US.
“When we set up this company, immediately we knew our goals: in 15 years, we (wanted) to be No. 1 in the Philippines, and in 30 years, we hoped to be No. 1 in Southeast Asia,” Palafox says.
Surpassing Goals
Palafox and his team did not only achieve their goals; they surpassed them. In less than 10 years, PA became the No. 1 architectural firm in the country. And in less than 13 years, it became the top architectural firm in Southeast Asia.
Its list of achievements also include the distinction of being the only Filipino and the only Southeast Asian architectural firm to first make it into the list of the world’s top 200 architectural firms compiled by the London-based World Architecture magazine. In 2004, it ranked 127th; in 2005, 105th, and this year, it ranked 94th, making it a member of the global top 100 architectural firms.
PA is also the first Filipino architectural firm to be certified by TUV of Germany for its integrated quality and environmental management systems (QEMS) based on ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management) standards. The firm is the first in the architecture, planning, interior design, landscape architecture, and engineering professions – and the first planning and design company in the country – to undergo and successfully pass the certification audits from integrated QEMS.
Most known real estate developments in the Philippines in the last 16 years are PA’s projects, including mixed-use developments like the Rockwell Center; commercial/retail projects such as a number of Robinsons and SM malls, Gateway Mall in Araneta Center, and Waltermart malls; hotel/serviced residences such as Regency Boracay Hotel; residential high-rises such as Rizal Tower, and Amorsolo Square in Rockwell Center; residential estates such as Las Casas de Cala Buena in Ternate, Cavite; environmental parks such as La Mesa Watershed and Ecological Center in Quezon City; town/urban/regional/provincial/island planning projects like the conceptual master plan for Subic Special Economic Zone, Zambales; and golf course communities such as the Montemar redevelopment in Bagac, Bataan.
Though he is known for these high-profile projects, not many know of Palafox’s humanitarian ventures, including the rebuilding of public schools in the 2003 earthquake-stricken district of Bam, Iran.
Journalist Beth Day Romulo writes about Palafox’s enthusiasm for the project: “Palafox finds it (rebuilding) especially inspiring in this day and time when there is so much violence and ethnic hatred in the world.” She adds that Palafox’s effort is commendable as a “Filipino Catholic building schools for Muslims in the Middle East as a gift from a Buddist organization (Tzu Chi Foundation of Taiwan) in Asia.”
PA also did rebuilding projects in the 2004 tsunami-stricken areas of Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Master-planning the Philippines
Palafox is passionate about his advocacy for a “well master-planned Philippines – making the cities more livable, walkable, safe, and secure,” he says, drawing inspiration from former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who once said, “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.”
For now, however, that vision remains out of reach. “Now, our Philippine society is a fragmented metropolis,” Palafox laments.
To help address this, he came up with a paper, Manila Metropolis 2020 Manila Bay-Pacific Coast Metropolitan Region, detailing how Metro Manila is an urban laboratory for the mistakes made – as well as the lessons learned – in urban planning and real estate development. The paper also explains how development is largely concentrated in Metro Manila, and why there is, thus, the need for “counter-magnets” to address rapid population growth and relieve the metropolis from “urban pressures.”
“If growth is spread to other parts of Luzon (particularly in the new urban corridors in North Luzon, with other urban corridors that link the South China Sea, Manila Bay, and the Batangas Port), there will be people empowerment in the countryside through the jobs that will be created and means of production provided. There will be better access to markets that will boost economic activity in the region,” Palafox states in his paper.
To push the concept, PA presents its “urban renewal” recommendations to local government unit (LGU) leaders through a unique approach dubbed as “Postcards from the Future.” Instead of concept paper, PA presents perspectives in postcard form that show what can be done to areas that need to be rehabilitated and redeveloped immediately.
For instance, the Pasig River redevelopment, in PA’s view, is not just about the rehabilitation of the historic river; the plan also includes putting up a transportation and pedestrian system for Pasig River’s adjoining areas.
“For the Philippines to become like other progressive cities of the world, we need our political leaders to have visionary leadership, but our leaders must first be reeducated about the need for a ‘well-master-planned society.’ I also strongly believe that the private sector can be tapped for this endeavor,” Palafox says.
Palafox believes in the capabilities of Filipino architects, who are “creative and competitive, (and have the) knowledge on the latest standards, technologies, and trends.” Unfortunately, he says, the industry itself is plagued by various challenges, including “obsolete laws and rules that hinder development in the country, numerous restrictions when importing the materials, intellectual property rights, rampant graft and corruption, and lack of opportunities for Filipino architects.”
Bringing into – and implementing in – the country global best practices is one way of addressing the issues that hound the industry, he notes. “Although Filipino architects have the advantages, they are still lagging behind their (foreign) counterparts. Continuing education is a valuable option to take for practitioners to further hone their craft and develop discipline as well,” says Palafox, who, in 2003 when he was 52, finished the Advanced Management Development Program for Real Estate at Harvard University, making him probably the only Filipino, and the only Asian architect. to complete the course.
The architect who describes himself as a “very hands-on boss,” continues to work 16 to 20 hours a day, and always keeps in touch with his people, now scattered around the world. And as PA celebrates its 17th year this July, Palafox has set another goal: “beginning on our 17th year, we hope to have 100 projects a year,” he says.
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