Today, we at Palafox Associates are celebrating our 33rd anniversary! Looking back at our humble beginnings and at a panoramic view of the past three decades, I am profoundly grateful to see how Palafox Associates has grown into a multidisciplinary team of professionals — architects, designers, urban and environmental planners, engineers, partners, staffers and accredited consultants — and be able to complete more than 1,800 projects in 40 countries. Throughout the 33 years, we have attained the master planning of over 50 billion square meters of land and the architecture and design of more than 20 million square meters of building floor area.

July 1989 was not an ideal time to start a company, but with the support of my wife, Wilma, and my family, I took a leap of faith and established Palafox Associates' professional practice in architecture, urban planning, and master planning. Myself and three other colleagues worked even on weekends and holidays to finish projects from three different time zones: Asian, American and European. In our first few years, we worked together in a rented office space in a condominium. Our working tables were made of plywood, and to make them last, we covered them in leather.