Where were you born?
I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines.
Describe the moment in time when you knew you wanted to be an architect.
As a kid, I was obsessed with building a tree house. I kept drawing treehouses including the parts I needed to build it (I even made an inventory of wood planks and the amount of nails I needed). One day I told my parents I wanted to build buildings, then my parents told me then I should pursue being an architect. I gladly followed my parents advise, and tried to learn everything about architecture from then on. I would say, my parents inspired me and guided me to follow what I wanted to do. I would also like to add that there are some notable brutalist architecture in the Manila that really peaked my interests in architecture growing up.
What is your design or work philosophy?
My overall philosophies are: “you always discover something new, you never stop learning” & “learn from your mistakes.” Which I apply on both design & work. There’s always something new to discover and apply in design. My eye for design constantly evolves from the things I see and the things that can inspire me.
Can you attribute your design or work philosophy to a single event in your life that, for whatever reason, had a lasting impact on you and your perception of the world?
I think one of my memorable learning experience was when at a point in my life, when I was still new in the workforce, I was always afraid to speak out when I didn’t know anything or struggled with reaching out to my team. This would always result in me getting into trouble or having miscommunications. Then during an employee evaluation, my project manager, at the time, reached out and asked me if there’s anything I’d like to improve on. I told her I would like to improve on better communicating with people. So then she immediately helped me by giving me correspondence tasks to suppliers, contractors, etc. It was not easy at first, but gradually it helped me open up, and during that process, I’ve learned more things than just communication with people, but was able to also boost my confidence at work, ask the right questions, and learn more from different people in our industry.
At what moment do you know your project is or has become a success?
I think a project is successful when you know you have a good communication with your team; and at the end of the day, you create a good working relationship with the people you work with, including the client.
Is cooking high or low on your list of favorite things to do?
Cooking is on the top of my favorite things to do these days. I like to build things, and that includes cooking. Following instructions(recipes) and using tools(kitchenware) and materials(ingredients) to build something for your stomach(client)!
What do you do in your spare time/what are your hobbies?
Is eating a hobby? I like having food adventures with friends; Traveling, whenever I travel I tend to just walk around the city for hours exploring neighborhoods and districts; Trying to keep my plants alive!
