Palafox’s Postcards

Written by Joseph O. Cortes

Sunday, 14 March 2010 18:03

When Architect Felino “Jun” A. Palafox Jr. plans the design for a new project, he first creates what he calls a “postcard to the future.” It is a snapshot of how the project should look like if it were a postcard to be used by a future generation of Filipinos. Only after he has completed this postcard does his staff begin the nitty-gritty of planning the new development. He never works the other way around. It is the completed vision that takes precedence over technical matters. That is why he is passionate when talking about Metro Manila. He was team leader and senior planner of the World Bank-funded Metro Plan that was drafted from 1975 to 1977, which should have guided the development of Metro Manila within a 25-year time frame. That master plan addressed a variety of issues that now plague the metropolis: transportation, traffic, building codes, garbage disposal, floodings, earthquake-prone areas and the like. It offered in advance ways of addressing these issues even before they materialized. When he talks about today’s snapshot of Metro Manila, he can only blame the government’s urban planners during the past 32 years for the “uglification” of Metro Manila. Had the Metro Plan been implemented fully, he believes we would have developed at the same pace as Singapore and become a major political and economic presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Although his Palafox and Associates is now acknowledged as one of the best architectural and planning firms in the country, it is ironic that he first had to gain recognition abroad before being entrusted the projects that have made his name. He was invited by Sheikh Khalifa of Dubai to be part of the international team of consultants that mapped out the emirate’s emergence as a major global presence from the desert sands of the Arabian Desert. For four years, he worked alongside foreigners, the only Filipino in the group. In 1981 SM magnate Henry Sy Sr. came knocking on his door. Along with Jaime Zobel de Ayala, they encouraged him to return to the Philippines and share his expertise with fellow Filipinos. He did not hesitate to come home. It was after a six-and-a-half-year stint as architect-urban planner with Ayala Corp. and later Ayala Land that he decided to establish his own company, Palafox and Associates. JY Campos commissioned him to master plan Manila Southwoods, a golf-course community, his very first project. That was in 1989. From a three-man operation working at a desk in his home, Palafox and Associates has grown into a 100-man strong company that has chalked quite a number of feats in less than 25 years. In 1999 World Architecture Magazine named it one of the Top 500 design firms in the world, eventually making it into the Top 300 in 2000 and the Top 200 in 2004. In 2006 the magazine ranked it 94th in the world. It is the only Southeast Asian firm on the list. To date, Palafox and Associates has designed at least 7 million square meters in building floor area, master planned more than 11 billion sq m of land, and has worked on 800 projects in 33 countries. Projects he has worked on include Ayala Alabang, Ayala Heights, Ayala Center, Laguna Technopark, Madrigal Business Park and Cebu Business Park, all from Ayala Land; and Rockwell Center, Rizal Tower, Hidalgo Place, Amorsolo East and West, Luna Gardens, Forbes Tower, Sta. Elena, Manila Southwoods, The Country Club, Hacienda Sta. Elena, seven SM malls and four Robinsons malls, among others. It is this achievement that Palafox wishes to share with Filipinos in the book Architecture, Planning and Design: Palafox and Associates—The First 20 Years. The 12x12-inch highly visual coffee-table book features more than 150 landmark projects both here and abroad, evidence that Filipinos can influence the global landscape. The projects showcase the firm’s range of expertise and encompass the various dimensions of work undertaken, ranging from elite golf-course communities to visionary green buildings. Each page is featured in detail with glimpses of the planning stage and stunning visuals of completed projects. Through this book, Palafox and Associates hopes to inspire real-estate practitioners, leaders, architects, planners, designers and engineers by example—that, yes, the Pinoy can really make a difference. Isn’t the book telling too much about Palafox trade secrets? Palafox’s daughter Karima Patricia, who designed the book, says the volume is intended to inspire the youth. “We want the young readers to be inspired with what we’ve done. We want to show that a Filipino firm can succeed globally,” she says. This early, Palafox already sees the country being handled capably by the succeeding generation, led by his daughter Karima Patricia. He sees the firm becoming a leading design firm in the Asia-Pacific in 2020, a target that is easily within reach. “There is a potential to grow, to lead the largest design firm in the world,” he declares. “I am not retiring. I hope to live until 100 years old, and retire 50 years after I die.” Architecture, Planning and Design: Palafox and Associates—The First 20 Years will be launched in a special event at the Ayala Museum on March 23, just a few days shy of Palafox’s 60th birthday. The book will be available in bookstores in April. For preorders and to avail yourself of special volume discounts: 812-1254 to 55 or 752-3333. In Photo: Fil-Estate’sManila Southwoods was the first commission Palafox and Associates received in 1989. It involved making the master plan for a golf-course community, the first of its kind in the country.