Words The Kanto team
Images Patrick Kasingsing (PICC)
Kanto joined a media familiarization tour of the newly reopened Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), an icon of Filipino modernism, restored and enhanced for the digital era. Closed for six months ahead of major events like the ASEAN Summit in 2026 and in anticipation of its 50th year as Asia’s first international convention center, the PICC underwent a sweeping renovation. The transformation honors National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin’s 1976 brutalist vision while upgrading the complex into a globally competitive MICE venue.
Material artisans, related government agencies, and the very hand that penned its spaces—Leandro V. Locsin Partners—worked in concert to bring the restoration to life. Concrete surfaces were laser-cleaned, 3,068 chandelier bulbs in the iconic lobby were replaced, with marble floors rebuffed and tile matched with new slabs. The 3,400-sqm Courtyard saw the most visible change: the fiery colored flooring was restored to its original pebble wash finish. It now houses the 20 sculptures donated by APEC member economies that previously peppered the front lawns, under the stone gaze of Arturo Luz’s gargantuan Anito. Landscaping was also revisited to reflect the minimalist vision of National Artist I.P. Santos.
Digital upgrades like LED screens, automated doors, responsive and efficient lighting, high-speed Wi-Fi, and more electrical outlets empower the complex’s event spaces and two premier venues: the Plenary and Reception Hall, whose designs were left mainly untouched but received quality-of-space enhancements like improved lighting, clearer seat labeling scheme, reupholstered seats, and new carpeting. Improved wayfinding and a new room-naming system at par with MICE global standards now make navigating the 12-hectare complex more seamless.
As a National Cultural Treasure, the PICC’s art pieces—including Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-owned works and creations by National Artists—were carefully protected or relocated during the renovation. There’s a growing effort to embrace PICC’s artistic bounty by adopting museum-grade standards for curation and conservation. Every intervention was guided by archival research and deep respect for form, function, and Filipino identity under the stewardship of the NCCA.
“We did our best to marry our duty to innovate, modernize, and update with our responsibility to preserve.”
As PICC General Manager Atty. Nicolette Ann P. Cruz shared, “We did our best to marry our duty to innovate, modernize, and update with our responsibility to preserve.” Beyond being a government edifice and the country’s premier venue for gatherings of international import, the PICC recognizes its role as a milestone space—one that symbolizes achievement, recognition, and community. Atty. Cruz herself took her lawyer’s oath under the prismatic lights of the Plenary Hall.
Atty. Cruz told Kanto, “When I was thinking about the PICC’s next steps post-restoration, foremost on my mind was the goal of re-igniting the fiery kinship people feel about and associate with the PICC. While we take our honor as stewards of the PICC very seriously, we aim to bring this National Cultural Treasure to the height of patriotic appreciation. It is most important to us that every one of our countrymen meaningfully experiences the PICC. From here on out, the PICC will be accessible to all through guided tours, inclusive events and fora, and many other initiatives aimed at bringing people to the PICC, and bringing the PICC to the people.” •
