Meralco Building

The Meralco López Building, or simply the Meralco Building, is a skyscraper in Pasig, Metro Manila.

Meralco Building
Alternative names	Meralco López Building
Etymology	Meralco Eugenio López Sr. (since 1969[1])
General information
Status	Completed
Location	Ortigas
Town or city	Pasig, Metro Manila
Country	Philippines
Completed	1965
Owner	Meralco
Technical details
Floor count	14
Design and construction
Architect(s)	José María Zaragoza

History

The Meralco Building was built in 1965. At the time of its completion, it was one of the largest and tallest commercial buildings in the Philippines.^[2][3] The Meralco Theater was inaugurated within the Meralco Building on March 22, 1969.^[4]

On December 2, 2015, the Meralco Building was declared as an architectural legacy of a Philippine National Artist by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.^[5][6]

Architecture and design

José María Zaragoza designed the 14-storey Meralco building.^[7] Its facade is defined by a series of tapering mullions, which also serve the purpose of deflecting sunlight and sound. Its ends are marble-covered walls.^[8]

References

1. López Building, named in honor of Eugenio López (Marker inside building). Meralco Building, Pasig: Meralco.
2. Archictural Legacy of Philippine National Artist: Meralco Building (Marker inside building). Meralco Building, Pasig: Cultural Center of the Philippines. December 2, 2015.
3. Girard, Jean-Claude (2022). "Facades in Motion". Leandro Valencia Locsin Filipino Architect. Basel: Birkhäuser. p. 83. ISBN 9783035620931. It was not until the 1960s that some remarkable examples of office architecture were built in the Philippines, such as the Rice Research Institute (1960) by Alfredo Luz; the Philamlife (1969) by Carlos Arguelles; or the Meralco Building (1965) by José María Zaragoza.
4. Alcazaren, Paulo (February 21, 2009). "Meralco Theater turns 40". The Philippine Star. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
5. "Meralco Lights Up The Future". The Philippine Star. January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
6. Teehankee, Pepper (December 24, 2015). "Lighting the second century". The Philippine Star. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
7. Ruben Defeo (July 12, 2004). "José María Zaragoza: A forgotten architect". The Philippine Star. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
8. Lico, Gerard (February 2017). "Rising from of the Ashes: Post-war Philippines Architectur" (PDF). Docomomo Journal Modern Southeast Asia (57). Lisbon: DOCOMOMO International: 51.