Aborde Architects

28/07/2026

Late upload, taken last May 2026.

24/07/2026

Ready to bring your vision to life? 🏗️✨

Working with an architect is a partnership, but navigating contracts, site limits, and building typologies can feel overwhelming. Here is everything you need to know to align on scope, budget, and legalities before you sign on the dotted line! 👇

10/07/2026

You arrive in Tokyo after a long flight, luggage in hand.

The train station is about a kilometer from your hotel. You don’t book a taxi. You simply walk.

The sidewalk is wide, continuous, and unobstructed. Every intersection has curb ramps. Every crossing feels safe. You wheel your suitcase the entire way without lifting it once. Twenty minutes later, you arrive at your hotel wondering why something so ordinary feels almost luxurious.

Then you return to the Philippines.

That same one-kilometer walk suddenly becomes an obstacle course. Sidewalks disappear without warning. Motorcycles and parked vehicles occupy pedestrian space. Utility poles stand in the middle of walkways. Vendors, broken pavement, puddles, and construction barriers force you onto the road, inches away from speeding traffic.

That is perhaps one of the greatest deprivations Filipinos have quietly learned to accept.

We have been deprived of something as basic as a sidewalk.

Mobility advocates estimate that 94% of Filipinos either walk or use public transportation. Every commute begins and ends on foot. Yet our cities continue to prioritize moving cars over protecting people.

A sidewalk isn’t just concrete. It is the first and last kilometer of every train ride, jeepney trip, and bus commute.

Its absence punishes those who have the least.

If you own a car, a bad sidewalk is an inconvenience. If you rely on walking because you cannot afford a car, it becomes a daily hazard. That makes poor sidewalks fundamentally anti-poor.

The burden is even heavier for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and parents pushing strollers. Many sidewalks are narrower than the recommended 1.2-meter minimum width. Others have no usable curb ramps or tactile paving. Some end abruptly, while others are blocked by poles or parked vehicles. For someone using a wheelchair, these aren’t inconveniences—they are walls.

Ironically, national policies already place pedestrians at the top of the road-user hierarchy and require accessible, PWD-friendly sidewalks. Yet implementation remains fragmented, with inconsistent planning and enforcement across local governments.

The cost of neglect goes beyond discomfort. Better sidewalks reduce pedestrian deaths, encourage walking, improve access to public transport, ease traffic by replacing short vehicle trips, support neighborhood businesses, and promote healthier lifestyles.

The irony is painful.

We celebrate every newly built sidewalk as if it were a gift.

It isn’t.

A safe sidewalk is not a luxury reserved for wealthy countries. It is one of the most basic public services a government can provide.

My walk in Tokyo wasn’t memorable because Japan is extraordinary.

It was memorable because it reminded me what a city looks like when it remembers that people walk.

Filipinos deserve that too.

✍️: Top Dagohoy

10/07/2026

Public libraries in the Philippines have once again become the subject of online debate after some Threads users argued that physical libraries are no longer necessary because of e-books and digital resources.

A user who favors digital platforms argued that in a third-world country like the Philippines, public libraries are "often inaccessible, underfunded, outdated, or don't even exist."

"Not everyone has the same opportunities or access. Touch some grass," the user said.

Others pushed back, noting that while online options are available, they fail to consider Filipinos who have limited internet access or cannot afford digital alternatives.

"People need libraries because people read and need actual spaces to read," one user said, adding that libraries are also safe spaces for kids who live in troubled households.

"Libraries are where people learn that reading is not a daunting hobby. [They] are run by actual librarians and are so much more than just a physical space holding books," the user also said.

The discussion reflects a long-standing gap in public access.

Republic Act No. 7743, or the Establishment of Public Libraries and Reading Centers Act, requires the establishment of at least one library in every congressional district, municipality, and city, as well as at least one reading center in every barangay.

Based on those targets, there must be a total 43,911 public libraries and reading centers nationwide. But the National Library of the Philippines' 2025 annual report lists only 1,753 affiliated public libraries in the country—roughly 4% of the number envisioned under the law.

The gap is further highlighted across the regions. The Cordillera Administrative Region, which has a population of 1.8 million, only has 10 affiliated public libraries across Abra, Kalinga, Ifugao, and Mountain Province.

Zamboanga del Sur, meanwhile, has only 11 libraries available for at least one million residents.

The debate may not be about whether public libraries are outdated. Rather, it is about whether Filipinos have ever had meaningful access to one in the first place.

(✍️: Allyson Capati)

08/07/2026

This is the right time to rethink and consider designing the 3rd spaces for pedestrians in our community, not just the ROADS & VEHICLES only.

MOBILITY SHOULD CONNECT, NOT ISOLATE

The quality of a journey are set long before one boards a transport option.

Long waits in uncomfortable, overcrowded transport stations can quickly turn an undesirable travel experience into a travel nightmare. But transport stations can and should accommodate and enhance the travel experience.

Transport stations that implement shading, seating, signage, and restrooms create a public space where patrons are able to wait, interact, and move comfortably.

Excellent system connectivity and transport should be predicated on an appreciation of the traveler's time, dignity, and peace.

08/07/2026

😆

1st Year: Willing to learn.
2nd Year: This is not part of my job description.

08/07/2026

𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐆𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐘 𝐍𝐀 𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈 𝐌𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐇𝐀𝐘 𝐌𝐎!!

See the pictures below👇

05/07/2026

The 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 for the Philippine Architecture and Allied Arts Festival (PAAAF) Palawan 2026 is finally here!

Join us as we celebrate architecture, allied arts, creativity, research, culture, and collaboration through a dynamic gathering of students, educators, professionals, artists, and industry partners from across the country and beyond.

PAAAF Palawan 2026 will also feature the 1st International Research Conference for Architecture, Allied Arts, and Creative Works (IRCAAC 2026), bringing together local and international presenters, researchers, and creative practitioners for meaningful academic and professional exchange.

Stay tuned for more announcements, schedules, and exciting activities.

01/07/2026

01/07/2026

Bakit nga ba mainit sa loob ng ating mga tahanan?

See the photos👇