Architecture will step beyond the confines of buildings and design studios as Anthology, the Philippines’s architecture festival, returns to Intramuros for its 10th year with a program that puts community, culture and collective action at the center of the conversation.
Now on its 10th year, Anthology 2026 will be held from October 2 to 4 under the theme ‘Shared Ground,’ bringing together Filipino and Southeast Asian architects, designers, government institutions, developers, cultural workers and the public to examine how architecture can respond to the communities and societies it serves.
The festival is being mounted in partnership with the Intramuros Administration and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), reinforcing its ambition to make architecture a public conversation rather than an exclusive discussion among professionals.
‘Buildings only become architecture when they are public,’ Anthology founder and curator Architect William Ti Jr. said, underscoring the festival’s central premise that architecture must engage communities and be shaped through collaboration across different sectors of society.
For Anthology, architects are not the sole authors of the built environment. Rather, architecture emerges from the interaction of designers, communities, government, developers, cultural institutions and the people who ultimately inhabit and use spaces.
That philosophy is reflected in this year’s program, which replaces the conventional lecture-heavy format with conversations and dialogues organized around three themes: care, culture and collective futures.
Benjee Mendoza, co-founder and principal architect of BAAD Studio, emphasized the importance in the design. ‘I don’t think you can be a good designer or should even do a design if you don’t really care for the product that you’re doing, the people who are going to use it-whether it’s a product, a space, or an idea,’ says Mendoza.
‘So I think the best made products or the longer lasting products are the ones who really had been taken care of not just by the designer, but also the manufacturer, the builder, but the entire idea. So I think the best things that last are the ones who have the greatest fear,’ adds Mendoza.
Mendoza said attaching emotion is important that should be felt by the users as well.
‘Although technical performance is frequently evaluated in design, Plaza-Ti points out that architects often overlook social impact and how architecture affects the surrounding community.Rather than simply maximizing leasable ground-floor space, the developers prioritized human experience and community engagement,’ she says.
Plaza-Ti says architecture begins with understanding a site and its surrounding community. While it is an art form that strives for beauty, she says it differs from other media. ‘The buildings we create will outlive us, standing the test of time and profoundly shaping generations to come,’ she says.
The first day will focus on care, challenging the conventional view of architecture as a process that ends once a building is completed and turned over.
Anthology will explore how architects can remain involved in the life of buildings beyond construction, particularly in their maintenance, stewardship and long-term sustainability.
The second day will tackle culture, asking the provocative question: ‘Whose culture gets built?’
Rather than treating culture as something imposed from the top down or reduced to architectural motifs, the festival will examine how everyday rituals, traditions and community practices shape the spaces people inhabit.
The third theme, collective futures, looks at how cities and public spaces can be shaped in an era increasingly defined by technology, artificial intelligence and rapid social change.
The discussions will challenge the idea that the future city can be designed by a single architect, institution or generation, arguing instead for broader participation and collective authorship.
A major component of Anthology 2026 is Groundworks, featuring 10 installations created through collaborations between Filipino architects and their ASEAN counterparts.
The installations will be distributed across Intramuros, including Plaza de Roma, the Pasig River Esplanade and other public spaces, transforming the historic walled city into an open-air platform for architectural experimentation and public engagement.
The participating international architects represent some of the leading practices in the region and beyond, with many experiencing the Philippines as a place where they have not previously built.
Anthology organizers envision the installations not simply as objects to be viewed but as physical conversations-places where people can wander, interact and experience different approaches to architecture and public space.
The festival will also feature Anthology Talks, replacing traditional lectures with paired conversations between architects and other practitioners; Shelter Dialogues, which will bring architects together with government, developers and other stakeholders; and Anthology Lab, an open forum for unfinished ideas.