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Rooted architecture redefines ‘local architecture’ in a world where ideas are teeming and cultures along with many social issues are all already fused together. We recognize there is no longer a style that is ‘just belonging to a certain place’. All that we are as architects and what we discover and learn everyday is constantly re-shaped by our knowledge of history, what is happening now, and what is possible for the future, applying it into our practice of ideation and creation of spaces that have a strong foundation yet are unique and versatile.
Our process is context-based imbued with a deep sense of sustainability, users’ quality of life, and a distinct aesthetic perhaps only Atelier FIJI can conceive. This begins with an intimate and free-spirited approach; we work with you (together) in an atmosphere of openness and readiness for the unexpected. We love to focus on context and how people can fully experience, appreciate, and grow with the spaces we create. This is place-making as a craft.
Fifi, Jen, and Ishka (FIJI) was first formed during our architecture school days at the College of Architecture, University of the Philippines - Diliman (UPCA) in Metro Manila, Philippines. In 2019, we decided to establish our practice as a studio. Our individual exploits today—aside from architecture—span from urbanism, interior design, art & photography, travel, to being one with nature.
Fifi and Ishka each received the Philip H. Recto Design Excellence Award (Best Thesis) in the UPCA graduating classes of 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Fifi pursued a semester at the Tokyo Institute of Technology's Department of Architecture and Building Engineering in 2017 and graduated magna cum laude.
Ishka completed her MSc in Urbanism at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in The Netherlands and is currently based in between Paris and Manila. Her work as an urbanist focuses on decolonial urban design and research, which she does concurrent to pursuing a DSA at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville (ENSAPB) in France. She is also a board member and the urbanism chair at Tukod Foundation.
Kaluluwa 'Soul' Art Installation with Youth Atlas
Good Design Award 2026 for Imagemaking
The Houses Built to Survive Floods
BBC Article Feature on Indigenous Design 2023
The River as Endless Territory
TU Delft Master Thesis in Urbanism 2023
What Is Sustainable Architecture?
Honorable Mention - Essay 2020
Microhome
Shortlist 2019
Salu-Salo Design Project
Archikonst Magazine Feature 2019
Ishka Mejia
Principal Architect, Urbanist
Fifi Gomez
Principal Architect
Jen Hou
Principal Architect
Rheymond Tomomatsu
Project Architect
David Santos
Junior Architect
Danica Sarito
Executive Assistant