The Hamilton Fashion Building

The Hamilton Fashion Building

Did you know?

The Hamilton Fashion Building (aka Olsen Building) in Ermita, Manila was the first of its kind to used reinforced concrete in its construction.

Reinforced concrete is a combination of steel (rods, bars, mesh, etc.) and concrete. The tensile strength of the steel combined with the compressive strength of concrete allows a building to better sustain different forms of stress and strain over a longer period of time. This can be observed with the Hamilton Fashion Building. While the top floor is almost completely gone and nothing remains but its outer shells, the fact that parts of it are still standing after numerous wars, earthquakes, and typhoons act as testament to its stuctural strength.

The design of the Hamilton Fashion Building is attributed to National Artist for Architecture Pablo Antonio. Several groups are working for its preservation as it still stands to be one of the most iconic buildings which reminds us of what Manila used to be.