Guide

Filinvest City Art and Architecture Walk

Recently, I've been rediscovering a lot of what Filinvest City in Alabang has to offer. As a southie, the main focal point of the area for me had always been Festival Mall or Westgate, which are primarily indoor commercial spaces, along with the couple of corporate office buildings scattered around the area. I’ve been based in the United Arab Emirates for the past four years, and ever since coming back for the holidays I noticed a quiet yet increasing number of new installations and public spaces that have a surprising amount of detail and care brought to them. I think that over the past few years after the pandemic, we’ve gained a deeper appreciation for nature and third places– environments away from home and work that encourage social interactions, physical activity, and spaces for reflection. I created this guide to highlight these hidden gems, which are surprisingly accessible and interconnected within a 2 km walk. Along the way, you get to walk along the Alabang Creek and throughout the district’s different parks. I hope this guide is able to highlight and celebrate these places, and that we to continue to advocate and see more spaces like this in Manila and around the Philippines.

1: Biological Production Services (BPS) Building

Unknown architect (1924), Headroom CDV – Renovation (2017)

The walking tour starts at the restored BPS building beside the Landmark dropoff area in Festival Mall. It was built in the Art Deco style prevalent in many institutional buildings at the time. The building's origins trace back to the Alabang Serum Vaccine Laboratory, a once 110-hectare large medical compound that researched tropical diseases. The building sat abandoned for many years and was under threat of demolition until it was restored and integrated into the new expansion wing of Festival Mall. It currently hosts the Las Flores restaurant and is a great example of adaptive reuse– showing that we can save and integrate existing heritage structures.

At the rotunda in front of the building stands a replica of José Rizal’s sculpture, The Triumph of Science over Death– a nude woman bearing a torch while standing on top of a skull. Framed behind it is the BPS Building itself. Its distinctive Art Deco architectural style can be seen in the intricate details of its facade. Ornamentation adorns the central block of the building, with distinct lines radiating from the second floor window, seals adorning the corners, and geometric patterns on the top of the structure, as well as the building’s windows. Extruded sun shades run horizontally from both sides of the building until they reach a rounded corner characterized by the streamlined design of the Art Deco movement. The building further stands on an elevated podium, invoking a sense of stability and progress, also most likely to prevent flooding from the nearby Alabang creek. Due to its similarities to other institutional buildings at the time, such as the Metropolitan Theater in Manila, it is thought to have been designed by Filipino architect Juan Arellano. However, its true architect has been lost to time.

2: Festival Mall Water Garden

Filinvest Development Corporation (2017)

A quick walk through the expansion wing of Festival Mall brings us to the Water Garden, a thoughtfully designed riverside promenade that runs along both sides of the Alabang Creek. Fully surrounded by the expansion wing, it brings an almost foreign concept compared to most malls in the Philippines by not just creating an air conditioned box but carving out an open waterfront park that integrates the convenience of a shopping mall with the energy of a public space. As a result, the space feels intentional. It gives people room to breathe. And its attendance shows. There’s rarely a day that I don’t see people using the space– from students and friends sitting on stepped staircases and (albeit fake) grass lawns, to couples, families and kids running around. On certain occasions the park also hosts food stalls, markets, and concerts. It’s a rare example of such a dynamic type of space in the Philippines and shows a demand for more spaces like this elsewhere in Manila.

Despite being surrounded by the mall, the Water Garden is accessible without needing to enter the building. Its connectivity is thanks to the river walk that runs alongside the Alabang Creek, connecting the Water Garden to the South Station transport terminal on one end, to more greenspaces and parks on the other. The latter is the route to take for the next stop of the tour.

3: Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel

Hiroshi Nakamura and NAP Architects (2022)

Located at the River Park, the Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel is the most architectural stop of this tour. By architectural, I mean that as a space it is the most experiential. One that I think captures the essence of why thoughtful architectural design is so important.

The main chapel building is a parametric design that forms the shape of an inverted White Lily that appears to barely touch the ground. The exterior white tiling creates gridlines that highlight the chapel’s unique shape, and combined with its gray exterior glass, is very reminiscent of a Zaha Hadid building. The harsh tropical elements haven’t been easy on the white facade, as some dirt and moss buildup can be seen in a way that reveals how water flows down when it rains. In a way, I think it makes the building feel grounded.




Humbling would be the best word to encapsulate the design. As you approach the building, the petal-like ends of the chapel create a covered entrance that makes you feel protected and welcome. Once you enter, the space inside expands to reveal a surprisingly tall interior leading to a congregation hall sunken altar. The skylight above rises to 98 feet high, and the once gray tinted glass openings are revealed to be adorned with a beautiful stained glass composition by Helen Whittaker, a British designer. A rainbow of light contrasts the sleek white aluminum strips of the ceiling that gradually meet the ground. Below, dark materials such as wood and granite further contrast with the white aluminum finish, giving the ceiling a sense of weightlessness and grounding the congregation hall.


I can go on more about the intricate details and observations, but the takeaway is this: the chapel is an example of how good architecture is enriching, and more than the sum of its parts. I’d recommend spending the most amount of time in this tour at the Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel to experience it for yourself.

4: Islands

Pete Jimenez (2024)

Located in a semi-accessible area next to a condo showroom, it’s almost easy to miss this series of five sculptures that blend with gray infrastructure and reflect the greenery around them. Islands is the newest of public art installations in Filinvest City installed at the end of 2024. These metal sculptures are shaped like folded paper boats of various sizes, scattered around the secluded greenspace. Each boat has a different metal finish, some are chrome, matte, bumpy, and dented. The image of a simple and universal object at this scale evokes a sense of childhood wonder and references Filipino identity and our connection to the sea. Three of the larger boats represent the island groups– Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao– while the two smaller ones symbolize the youth of the country, sharing a message of optimism and a reminder of our roots. An unintended outcome of their placement underneath trees is that a lot of leaves and branches get collected inside the boats. Whether they are regularly cleaned and emptied is currently a mystery to me.

5: Ikigai

Jinggoy Buensuceso (2019)

A short walk away at the front of the Parkway Corporate building is an installation that’s hard to miss. Ikigai is a bold sculpture consisting of various red metal sheets folded and crumpled in different directions. Its name is a reference to the Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being", or one’s purpose in life. The form of the sculpture evokes the rays of the morning sun and signifies a strong passion for life. Its unique color certainly allows it to stand out, something I’m guilty of using as it reminds me of a lot of my own work too.

6: The Book Stop Project Pavilion

WTA Design Studio (2024)

Hosted at the Filinvest Central Park, the Book Stop Project is an initiative of WTA Design Studio to create community libraries where people can gather to borrow, lend, donate, and read books. The circular pavilion at Filinvest Central Park is the project's fifth iteration, with other pavilions located at Ayala Triangle Gardens and Intramuros. Unlike their previous designs, this Book Stop consists of primarily translucent polycarbonate panels that allow a lot of natural light to enter the space making it feel open, welcoming and attended to. Shelves radiate around the walls, interrupted by a few seating benches. Occasionally, cats will make themselves at home on the shelves too. Although small and relatively simple, the pavilion is a great example of the effectiveness of social architecture– how small yet thoughtful interventions in our environment can positively contribute to our daily lives, something I aim to achieve with my practice.

7: The Tree Pavilion

Filinvest Development Corporation (2024)

The centerpoint of the park is the Tree Pavilion, a canopy consisting of three curvilinear columns sprouting like trees. Tensile fabric wraps around the structure creating volume and depth. The minimalist structure provides a shaded open space during the day and serves as an anchorpoint for stages when it hosts events. At night, light is projected onto the structure, with the fabric diffusing it in a way that creates smooth gradients between them. Next door to the space, the Ikea Vibe Park hosts various outdoor furniture from their in-store offerings, acting as both an outdoor showroom and a social public space.







The tour ends here at the Filinvest Central Park, where the lush green space provides an escape from the manmade infrastructure of the city. What you’d like to do next is up to you– take a breather at the Ikea Vibe Park next door, which acts as both an outdoor showroom and a social public space, bike around with a rental booth available nearby, or read a book at the Book Stop pavilion. Whether you're a design enthusiast or simply curious, I hope this walk through Filinvest City's hidden treasures showed you how art, architecture, and urban design can create pleasant and meaningful experiences.


Which of these places inspired you the most? Let me know @jasoncruz.arch