AgustinKas 1 Prof. SantillanAstejadaAzulCalaFuriano
MALCOLM HALL
On the corner of Osmea Avenue and Guerrero Street is Malcolm
Hall. Built in 1937 before the Second World War, it is one of the
two oldest buildings in UP Diliman, older even than the acacia
trees lining the academic oval. The other look-alike Benitez Hall
(College of Education), also built before World War II as part of
the planned transfer of UP from Manila to Diliman.
Orgiinally called the north building, Malcolm Hall was designed
by Juan Arellano, one of the first Filipino architects educated in
the Unided States. It is a 3-story structure with a theater annex.
Much like other buoldings of the colonial regime, it is of the
neo-classical style, summetrical in plan and formal in massing,
with high-ceiling rooms along corridors.
Better known as the College of Law, Malcolm Hall also housed the
College of Nursing up until 1984, when it moved to UP Manila. The
College of Nursing, established in April 1948, occupied part of the
first floor, while the College of Law, the second and third floors
in 1951. Nursing majors, mostly women were a sight for sore eyes
for the men of the College of Law. Often, they would be seen
fraternizing. As one law alumna would recall, many of them ended up
as twosomes, even basking in wedded bliss.
Before occupying the north building, the two colleges first
settled in Quonset huts following the transfer of UP from Manila to
Diliman in late 1948. The north building had to be resconstructed
after World War II badly damaged it.
The building also briefly housed the College of Dentistry,
occupying the first floor together with the College of Nursing, and
the University Library and was even temporarily occupied by the
administrative offices of the University from 1948 until 1950. The
College of Dentistry later nmoved back to Manila in 1954 after a
six-year stay in Diliman, while the University Library removed
holdings to its permanent home in Goonzales Hall and the
administrative offices to Quezon Hall. North building was finally
occupied by the College of Law in 1951. A Quonset hut, where the
Vinzons Hall now stands, used to house the college before its
transfer. The College of Law, at the time commemorating its 40th
anniversary, celebrated the transfer with a 3-day affair.
After years of being known as the north building, the building
was finally named Malcolm Hall in 1963, after the College of Laws
founder and first dean.
In 2001, Malcolm Hall underwent a facelift to equip the building
with world-class physical facilities.
Sources:Sites and Symbols 2: UP Diliman Landmark. Quezon City.
Office of the Chancellor, University of the Philippines Diliman,
2005.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines_College_of_Lawhttps://law.upd.edu.phhttps://urbandud.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/up-kopong-kopong-days/
