Philippine Institute of Interior Designers is celebrating its 62nd anniversary this year—marking six decades of growth from a small circle of practitioners into a licensed, regulated, and nationally recognized discipline.
Photo: Philippine Institute of Interior Designers
To celebrate this milestone, the organization is back with Manila Interior Design Week (MIDW), running from September 30 to October 3, 2026.
Previously a three-day summit, MIDW is expanding to a four-day event across Makati and Bonifacio Global City (BGC). The lineup includes showroom circuits, activations, design experiences, industry conversations, an exhibition, and a full-day closing symposium at The Proscenium Theater.
”A year is not enough to build anything,” states the PIID Leadership. “A year is only enough to deepen what you were handed. Our task now is to deepen, to propagate, and to replant, so that what happens next does not depend on any one term, or any one president.”
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What to expect across four days
Each day of Manila Interior Design Week is structured around a distinct theme exploring how humans interact with space:
- Day 1 (September 30, 2026) – The Welcoming: How space receives us. Kickoff begins in the morning at The Fifth, followed by an evening celebration for PIID’s 62nd year.
- Day 2 (October 1, 2026) – The Crafted Interior: How space holds us.
- Day 3 (October 2, 2026) – The City and the Future: How space carries us forward.
- Day 4 (October 3, 2026) – The Synthesis: How space makes us feel, closing out with the main symposium at The Proscenium Theater.
Staking the Philippines’ claim in regional design
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This year’s overall theme is “Designing New Worlds: Culture, Cities, and the Future of Southeast Asia.”
According to PIID, while neighboring ASEAN nations have already carved out distinct identities—Thailand with urban creativity, Singapore with institutional leadership, Indonesia as an emerging hub, Vietnam with innovation, and Malaysia with architectural platforms—the Philippines’ position remains wide open.
”Our position is not weak. It is simply unclaimed,” PIID highlights. “Walk into the back of house of creative studios in the Middle East, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and you will find a Filipino—in the drafting room, on the production floor, behind the render. We are in almost every one of those rooms, and almost never on the masthead. We have been building other people’s design reputations for decades. It is time we took the lead and owned our voice.”
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The program addresses this shift across eight interconnected tracks, spanning human experience and interior atmosphere; cities, density, and future urban living; sustainability, nature, and climate response; and culture, identity, and Southeast Asian design. The discussions will also cover hospitality, luxury, and experience design; adaptive reuse and reinventing structure; materiality, craft, and new technologies; and emerging voices shaping the profession’s future.
Global speakers and local visionaries
To foster a rich cross-cultural dialogue, MIDW 2026 brings together a distinguished lineup of international figures and prominent local visionaries.
The event will feature global perspectives from speakers including Carlos Arnaiz (New York), Takae Ito (Tokyo), Alexander Josephson (Toronto), Satoshi Ohashi (Beijing), and Defit Wijaya of IBUKU (Bali).
Joining them on stage to share a progressive, multigenerational Filipino perspective are leading local designers and architects Ed Calma, Tina Periquet, Anthony Nazareno, Anton Mendoza, Carlo Calma, Ramon Antonio, Chat Fores, Alex Co, and Edwin Uy.
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Highlights: Collective 8 and exclusive exhibits
Visitors at The Fifth can check out the Collective 8: Our Captains of Craft exhibition, highlighting product and furniture designers whose creations shape everyday Philippine interiors: Vito Selma, Leeroy New, JJ Acuna for Venzon Lighting, JB Woodcraft, Iñigo Elizalde, Jed Yabut, Rita Nazareno and Gabby Lichauco, and Milo Naval.
Alongside Collective 8, attendees can view the 62nd anniversary exhibit, Legacy Forward, and an APSDA exhibit featuring IDr. Nina Santamaria, IDr. Jonathan Matti, and IDr. Eric Paras alongside regional peers.
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”Is your designer licensed?”
Closing out the release, PIID pushes a critical message to the public regarding interior design as a regulated profession under Philippine law.
”There is still a widespread belief in this country that interior design is optional: an expense, a finishing touch, a matter of taste. It is not. It is a regulated profession under Philippine law… Anyone can style a room. Not everyone has spent years understanding how psychology and human behavior actually work, and how a room acts on the person standing in it,” said PIID national president, IDr. Maria Cecilia “Cecil” Ravelas.
The organization encourages the public to start asking one essential question when building or renovating: “Is your designer licensed?”
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Manila Interior Design Week 2026 will run from September 30 to October 3, 2026, across various venues in Makati and Bonifacio Global City (BGC). The four-day event kicks off with opening ceremonies and feature exhibits at The Fifth, then wraps up with a full-day closing symposium at The Proscenium Theater.
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