Filipinos most sought-after architects in Singapore

By Tessa R. Salazar |Philippine Daily Inquirer

Singaporean Theodore Chan cant help but comment about the ubiquitousness of the Filipino overseas worker. You guys are all over, he chuckled good-naturedly.

He meant that in a positive way. The president of the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA), and the director of CIAP Architects Pte. Ltd., hastily added that he had nothing but admiration for the skills and knowhow of Filipinos, especially in the architectural field.

Singaporean architects have taken interest in the Philippines because a lot of your architects work in our offices. I would say that 90 percent of our workforce in Singapore are dependent on foreign technical expertise, and of which maybe 70 percent are of Filipino origins, Chan told Inquirer Property during a panel discussion on Sept. 9 at the Masters Hall of Yuchengco Museum in Makati. The panel also consisted of other leading Singaporean and Filipino architects.

Under the theme Forefront of Asias Architecture: From Local to Global, the Filipino and Singaporean groups have been planning a platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and insights. Topics of the day included key challenges brought about by globalization, international trends, best practices vis--vis the broader topic of the 2015 Asean integration, and what it means for Filipino architects. It also highlighted the breadth and range of upcoming design-centric events happening throughout the year in Singapore.

The Singaporean group was led by Tai Lee Siang, president of Design Business Chamber Singapore and group managing director of Ong&Ong Pte. Ltd., and Andrew Phua, director for exhibitions and conferences of the Singapore Tourism Board. Organized by the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB) and BluPrint, Chan and the two other experts shared their insights on the regions biggest trends and most pressing challenges faced in architecture and design today.

With literally hundreds of projectslocal and internationalshared between the two countries, the Philippines own Carmelo Casas, principal architect of the Casas+Architects, and Abelardo Tolentino Jr., principal architect of Aidea Philippines, rounded up the panel of Filipino experts in an open industry forum which was facilitated by Toni Vasquez, chief operations officer of TI Vasquez Architects & Planners Inc.

In the field of architecture, globalization and the inevitable sharing of expertise across borders have long been happening. In fact, what is being discussed lately is how to improve the sharing of expertise, Chan revealed.

He added that Filipinos working in architects offices in Singapore are licensed and trained architects. They work in Singapore to do support work to help us document, elaborate and develop our designs. Because of licensing issues, however, they cannot call themselves architects in Singapore, Chan disclosed. Regardless, they are experts in their design and computer fields, which are very much in demand in Singapore.

Not enough local chances

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Filipinos most sought-after architects in Singapore