Palafox Architecture Group, Inc.

The Palafox Architecture Group is the architectural design arm of Palafox Associates

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People behave in accordance to design. In a restaurant, warm lamps and candle lights create an impression that it is a romantic place. People talk softer, sit closer together, and the overall ambiance is calm and light. On the other hand, bright white day light gives an impression of liveliness and animation. Big groups of people can be talking and laughing heartily. Each small element of the interior communicate who and what the brand or business represents. It also guides how the customer should interact with it. Design is that powerful.

Having the third longest coastline in the world, even much longer than that of the United States and Australia, the opportunity for emerging market and development is insurmountable. We have the opportunity to learn from and even surpass coastal and waterfront cities like Chicago, Brisbane, Venice, Denmark, Paris, and New York.

Today, 16 March 2021, we celebrate the 500th anniversary since the Western world has discovered the Philippines. By addressing corruption, criminality, and climate change, we also lift ourselves from the ills of poverty, pollution, too much politics and the police, transportation and traffic, housing and health, education, environment, infrastructure, and incompetence, among others. It is with great pride that our country now joins the ranks of the top 20 economies of the world. It is indeed quite an amazing national feat, which all started with electing the right leaders just six years ago in 2016.

Buildings should be designed for at least one hundred years. (Our firm, Palafox Architecture is currently designing nine buildings good for a thousand years in Kathmandu, Nepal.) In terms of life cycle cost, the next 97 years are savings after the first years three years of investment on green and sustainable design, building construction and building materials.

It is in no doubt that the zoning of social classes is a cultural problem in the Philippines, and it has been a perennial problem through the centuries. But I believe that architecture and urban planning may help alleviate the situation through the creation of mixed-income homes.

As the Founder and Principal Architect-Urban Planner of Palafox Associates and Palafox Architecture Group, I have always been very particular about how our office is designed and how it functions. Let me share with you the inspiration behind our new office in 5/F PCCI Corporate Center, 118 L.P. Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati CBD.

Elsewhere in the world, developed nations are waging wars and territorial disputes for waterfronts, coastlines, and rivers. They even spend billions of dollars to extend what little they have. In our own country, however, we are graced with natural wonders. The Philippines has the third longest coastline in the world, not taking into account the newly discovered 400 islands.

GREEN buildings do not necessarily cost more to build, and any higher first costs are usually removed through lower operating cost. While a piecemeal approach to sustainable design may increase total project costs, integrated design leads to decrease net cost, according to Harvard Business School in reference to the US Green Building Council.

Our role is to help bring Nepal well into the 21st century, while making the buildings we are designing safe, inclusive, and universally accessible, and more importantly keeping in mind that it should preserve the Nepalese culture and heritage. We were instructed by the Master to design the schools and hospitals to last a thousand years.

Why don’t we have the grand and monumental structures such as the Borobudur temple (9th century) in Indonesia, the Angkor Wat (12th century) of Cambodia, and the ancient pagodas of Vietnam? What do we have to show for when the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century? Is there Philippine Architecture or may be described better as Architecture in the Philippines? This is a strong sentiment among many Filipinos since we as a Filipino people are continuously looking for our identity as a nation.

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