Arch. Felino Palafox Jr.

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.

Regency Boracay Hotel

He is 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. He was instrumental in many real estate developments in the Philippines such as the establishment of Rockwell Center, Robinsons and SM malls, Gateway Mall in Araneta Center, Waltermart malls, Regency Boracay Hotel, La Mesa Watershed and Ecological Center in Quezon City and Subic Special Economic Zone.