CONSTRUCTof
PLACE an exploration of meaning in San Juan
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CONSTRUCT of PLACE an exploration of meaning in San Juan
Jorge G. Concepcion Batista
Submitted in Partial Fulfolment of Recuirements For the Degree of Master of Architecture at The Savannah College of Art and Design
Š May 2013, Jorge G. Concepcion Batista
The author hereby grants SCAD permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic thesis copies of document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created.
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Judith Reno
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Algar Thagne
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Thomas Gensheimer Comittee Member
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CONSTRUCT of PLACE an exploration of meaning in San Juan
A Thesis Submitted to Faculty of the Architecture Department in Partial Fulfillment of Requirments for the Degree Master of Architecture
Savannah College of Art and Design
By
Jorge G. Concepcion Batista
Savannah,Ga May 2013
Para la bonita isla de encanto, siempre te tendre en mi corazon
For the beautiful island of enchanment, I will always have you in my heart
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Abstract PART 1 General Architectural Principles, Proposed Goals, and Justification PART 2 Context Analysis And Regional Description PART 3 Site Analysis PART 4 Program Analysis PART 5 QuantitativeProgram Development PART 6 Schematic Site and Building Design PART 7 Design Development PART 8 Final Design Conclusion Final Boards Final Exhibition Sources
1 5 7
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59 77 91
95
113 119 149 151 153 155
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1 Figure 1.1 Conceptual Collage Texture Figure 1.2 Salk Institute de la Jolla Figure 1.3 Conceptual Collage I Figure 1.4 Conceptual Collage II Figure 1.5 Bahia Urbana Waterfront Re-Development Proposal I Figure 1.6 Bahia Urbana Waterfront Re-Development Proposal II Figure 1.7 Sagrada Familia Door Detail Figure 1.8 Sagrada Familia Tower Figure 1.9 Sagrada Familia Stained Glass Figure 1.10 Conceptual Collage Texture I Figure 1.11 Conceptual Collage Texture II Figure 1.12 Interior of Notre Dame de Haut by Le Corbusier, Ronchamp, France Figure 1.13 Chandigrah “Open Hand” Monument Figure 1.14 Arrival Plaza and Astronomical Structure, Cranbrook Academy, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 1994 Figure 1.15 Luis Barragán, Tlalpan Chapel, Mexico City Figure 1.16 North coast looking from El Morro Fort, San Juan, Puerto Rico Figure 1.17 The Island of Puerto Rico and Vieques Figure 1.18 Master Raphael Cordero,ca 180-92 Franciso Oller Figure 1.19 The Wake or El Velorio ,ca 1893 Francisco Oller Figure 1.20 Circulo, 1983 Jaime Suarez Figure 1.21 Los Tres Santos Reyes by Eleno Cajigas Figure 1.22 Vejigante Mask Figure 1.23 Taino Ceremonial Ground Figure 1.24 Plaza de Armas Figure 1.25 House of Spain Ground and Upper Level Figure 1. 26 Plan of Ronchamp Figure 1. 27 Approach to Ronchamp
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 World Figure 2.2 North America Figure 2.3 Puerto Rico Figure 2.4 San Juan Figure 2.5 Satellite Image of San Juan Figure 2.6 Bird’s Eye View of Islet Figure 2.7 Satelitte Image of Old San Juan Islet Figure 2.8 Puerta de Tierra in the early 1900s Figure 2.9 Puerta de Tierra Today Figure 2.10 Bird’s Eye of Protest in front of the Capitol Building Figure 2.11 Capitol District Figure 2.12 Bird’s Eye of Capitol District Figure 2.13 Population of Puerta de Tierra Figure 2.14 Santiago Door 1895 Demolished 1897 Figure 2.15 Capitol Within Construction Figure 2.16 Exit out from Puerta de Tierra in the eartly 1900s
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Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 Topography Figure 3.2 Axis Relationship Figure 3.3 Potential Entrances Figure 3.4 Uses Figure 3.5 Street Figure Figure 3.6 Public Space Figure 3.7 Vehicular Circulation Figure 3.8 Main Elements Figure 3.9 Parking Figure 3.10 Conceptual Sketch Figure 3.11 Institution - Site Figure 3.12 Institution - Body Figure 3.13 Man - Site Figure 3.14 Man - Body Figure 3.15 Environment -Site Figure 3.16 Environment -Body Figure 3.17 View towards the South Waterfront Figure 3.18 Gateway Figure 3.19 Sketch of the Capitol Figure 3.20 Conceptual Collage of the Gateway Figure 3.21 Bird’s Eye View of the Site Figure 3.22 The Two Institutions I Figure 3.23 The Two Institutions II Figure 3.24 Objects within a Field Figure 3.25 Longitudinal Section Figure 3.26 The Current Condition Figure 3.27 Site Panorama
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1 Law of the Indies Illustration I, La Arquitectura de Los Templos Parroquiales de Puerto Rico - Architecture of Parish Churches in Puerto Rico Figure 4.2 Law of the Indies Illustration II, La Arquitectura de Los Templos Parroquiales de Puerto Rico - Architecture of Parish Churches in Puerto Rico Figure 4.3 Law of the Indies Illustration III, La Arquitectura de Los Templos Parroquiales de Puerto Rico - Architecture of Parish Churches in Puerto Rico Figure 4.4 Law of the Indies Illustration IV, La Arquitectura de Los Templos Parroquiales de Puerto Rico - Architecture of Parish Churches in Puerto Rico Figure 4.5 Series of Program Conceptual Sketches Figure 4.6 Iglesia San Martín de Porres, Cataño, Puerto Rico Figure 4.7 Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, San Juan, Puerto Rico Figure 4.8 Conceptual Piece Figure 4.9 Setre Chapel Figure 4.10 Interior View of Setre Chapel Figure 4.11 Site Plan Figure 4.12 Lighting Studies Figure 4.13 Golden Section Figure 4.14 Program Organization Development Figure 4.15 Program Organization
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Quantitative Program Organization of Sacred Institution Figure 5.2 Quantitative Program Organization of Proposed Axis 2
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 Design Proposal Sketch Figure 6.2 Exquisite Diagram Model Figure 6.3 Christine Hawley, Peckham House, London, UK, 1982 Figure 6.4 Spectral Building Models Figure 6.5 Series of Details of Spectral Building Models Figure 6.6 The Sacred Figure 6.7 The Plaza Figure 6.8 The Gateway Figure 6.9 Prospect Figure 6.10 Procession Figure 6.11 Threshold Figure 6.12 The Sacred Structure Plan Figure 6.13 The Plaza Plan Figure 6.14 The Gateway Plan Figure 6.15 Longitudinal Section Figure 6.16 Program Diagram Figure 6.17 Program Diagram II Figure 6.18 Schematic Model Figure 6.19 Schematic Model II
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 Past Location of the Sacred Institution Figure 7.2 New Location of the Sacred Institution Figure 7.3 Panorama of the New Site
Chapter 8
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Figure 8.1 Proposed Axial Design Figure 8.2 Proposed Site Plan Design Figure 8.3 Bird’s Eye View Figure 8.4 The Two Institutions Figure 8.5 Site Plan Figure 8.6 Distance Figure 8.7 Main Mass Figure 8.8 Two Main Walls Figure 8.9 Diagram of Plaza Figure 8.10 Axonometric of Plaza Figure 8.11 Foundation Section Perspective Figure 8.12 Tower Section Perspective Figure 8.13 Diagram of Tower Figure 8.14 Stairs Leading to the Viewing Deck Figure 8.15 View From the Capitol Stairs Figure 8.16 Cobble Stone Figure 8.17 Concrete Texture Figure 8.18 Wood Texture Figure 8.19 Path Entrance Figure 8.20 Path Procession Figure 8.21 Congregation Space Figure 8.22 Stairs leading to Tower Figure 8.23 Congregation Space Figure 8.24 Plan of Sacred Structure Figure 8.25 View from Tower Figure 8.26 Longitudinal Section Figure 8.27 View Towards the Horizon of the Atlantic
Figure 8.28 Final Boards Figure 8.29 Final Exhibition I Figure 8.30 Final Exhibition II Figure 8.31 Final Exhibition III
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CONSTRUCT of PLACE an exploration of meaning in San Juan
Jorge G. Concepcion Batista
May 2013
There has been a neglection in the way society classifies itself as a whole in Puerto Rico. A lack of character within the public realm raises certain questions about meaning and place. By examining these elements and the origin of Old San Juan, a placement of a church would be provided in order to provide a sense of place in the capitol district where there is none. Provide a re interpretation of a church in conjuction for a plaza would be be vehicle of self-discovery in which provides a means of understanding man and its environment.
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PART 7
General Architectural Principles, Proposed Goals, and Justification
1
Arguable Position
In our current society we have given too much priority to the intellectual agendas that are essentially accepted in common conditions. One of the most essential task of architecture is to have an understanding of being and to experiense a sense of place. Could this be due to the rationalization of ideas in architecture or is it due to the lack of the architecture not provoking the individual to perceive an understanding of place? We have ignored the value of making authentic architecture, an architecture that expresses civic value and cultural understanding of a place.
Thus an emotional and subjective force is required to captivate this through civic design. Yet, forced meaning in an architectural space isn’t the matter; meaning should be open for interpretation and for the imagination of the human spirit. 9
Figure 1.1 Conceptual Collage Texture
Figure 1.2 Salk Institute de la Jolla
“the primary task of architecture is to create the experience of placeness, that is, to define man’s location in the homogenous, placeless and meaningless ‘natural’ space that extends to infinity.” Juhani Pallasmaa “The Aura of the Sacred” 10
Main Issues
Could architecture be able to establish an interpretation of understanding locality and one self? Podría la arquitectura de ser capaz de establecer una interpretación de comprensión localidad y de uno mismo? Is architecture continuing the conversation of the character of a place? La arquitectura continúa la conversación del carácter de un lugar?
Figure 1.3 Conceptual Collage I 11
Figure 1.4 Conceptual Collage II
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A Mere Meaningless Dialouge Of Form
Since 2009, The Bahia Urbana Project or the Urban Bay Project was beginning to take hold in the city of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico as one of the most ambitious redevelopment projects within the island. Most of south waterfront of what is called “Puerta de Tierra” or the Earth Door of Old San Juan was an active commercial port but it did change since the government of Puerto Rico issued the decision of wanting to transform this area into a place where tourism and commerce could potentially thrive. It is to be believed that this is a project with good intentions in which it serves as a public and private investment to change not only San Juan’s urban landscape, but its overall long-term economic prospects and its quality of life. Although this may be true to a certain point, the project may be considered as superficial attempt that is only targeting a specific group of people that in various ways would represent the elite society of not only just San Juan but of the whole island of Puerto Rico. Bahia Urbana in itself is an example of how this mentality of trying to “fix things up” disregards important questions of locality and civic value of a place.
By noticing the type of people who are being used within the renderings of the project one could determine to who is this redevelopment intended for and how it just shows the expansion and appreciation for a more consumerist society as the our only apparent solution to make a better sense of place. Overall, this redevelopment demonstrates us of how the recycled “American Dream” is taking more drastic effect in this civic valued area which is known as Old San Juan.
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Figure 1.5 Bahia Urbana Waterfront Re-Development Proposal I
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Figure 1.6 Bahia Urbana Waterfront Re-Development Proposal II
What is Place?
Place is a subject of thought that is being presented here, place as not the actual representation but the idea of it. Through the investigations and discussions on this subject, the idea about place has been thought through in several forms, for example of how we consider place not being an actual physical setting but more of the actual interpretations and experiences we can relate it with. This ideology about place is reflected to how we can consider what constitutes this main critic of it. Elements that even consider the fact that this idea is an abstraction, of an actual setting dealing with a set of characteristics expressing locality are some of the subjects discussed among theorist. Place deals with the actual phenomena of our reality which by our perception, one could understand their own locality within this vast planet. This is due to the way architecture can induce us to experience this sense of place by using the basic vocabulary of architectural elements. Bringing back this essence of architecture relatable to how we can experience this sense of place, is some way a reaction towards the obsessive play of meaningless form we have gotten used to.
Figure 1.7 Sagrada Familia Door Detail
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Figure 1.8 Sagrada Familia Tower
Figure 1.9 Sagrada Familia Stained Glass
“Place is evidently an integral part of existence. What, then do we mean with the world ‘place’? Obviously we mean something more than abstract location. We mean a totality made up concrete things having material substance, shape, texture, and colour... In general a place is given as such a character or “atmosphere”... It is a total phenomenon, which we cannot reduce to any of its properties, such as spatial relationships, without losing its concrete nature out of sight.” Christopher Norberg Schulz The Phenomenon of Place 16
Abstract of Research
By studying theoretical sightings of symbols and meanings; also addressing
current
understandings
involving
the
“embodied
experience”, is a way to approach cultural or political struggles. This research focused on how these ideas of meaning translate to an understanding of place. The focus is on how this study of symbols is relevant in civic building in Puerto Rico, and what represents the people of San Juan being such a historic place. Also, developing the topic of “place” requires an understanding of the essential roots of the Puerto Rican cultural makeup.
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Figure 1.10 Conceptual Collage Texture I
Place
-Architecture as a means of Identity -Meaning through a Sense of “Placeness” -The Iconic in Civic Building -The Embodied Understanding in Architecture -Phenomena of Place -Origins of Traditions and Culture within the Landscape -Nature of Climate -Importance of Traditions
Dimension within Culture
-Encountering a sense of Identity
Meaning
Character of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico as a Territory
Migration or the “Come and Go”
Search for nationality
-Art and traditions as a search for Identity
The Start of the search with Francisco Oller
Ceramics
Pre-Columbian and Contemporary Uses
Ceremonial Masks and Saint Carving
-Relationships of Cultural Diversity to Place -Cermonial and Public Spaces -Founding of the Spanish Colonial City.
Spanish Law of the Indies
-Old San Juan as the protagonist of tradition and culture -The Contemporary City of San Juan -Modernism and Puerto Rico 18
Figure 1.11 Conceptual Collage Texture II
Architecture as a Means of Understanding
In our current society we have given too much priority to
the intellectual agendas that are essentially accepted in common conditions. We have lost or ignored the value of making authentic architecture, an architecture that expresses civic value and cultural understanding of a place. Could this be due to the rationalization of ideas in architecture or is it due to the lack of the architecture not provoking the individual to perceive an understanding of place? The most essential task of architecture is to have an understanding of being and to design a sense of place. Thus an emotional and subjective force is required captivate this complex historical background in civic design. Yet, forced meaning in an architecture space; meaning should be open for interpretation and for the imagination of the human spirit.
Meaning can be described pertinent to society as a way to give
reason to an act or an object. Meaning in architecture can be considered as how Francis Ching considered it, “as in language, however, architectural forms and spaces also have connotative meanings: associative values and symbolic content that are subject to personal and cultural interpretation, which can change with time.”1 This sense of meaning would be essentially tied to a place in which people could feel a sense of identity. Architecture is then created through reflection of place and its people. “The primary task of architecture is to create the experience of placeness, that is to define man’s location in the homogenous, placeless and meaningless ‘natural’ space that extends to infinity. The experience of placeness implies the perception of place as a distinct gestalt, naming it and projecting a specific meaning to it.”2 1 Ching, Francis D.K. Architecture: Form, Space, and Order. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2007. 2 Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2007. 19
This experience of placenessis described by Juhani Pallasmaa, who is a Finnish architect and theorist. He also expresses “that architecture is to make us know and remember who we are.”3 This idea of place provides a way to understand our human condition in the everyday reality.
Placeness can be applied to a specific architecture that has
a reference to its place. The Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp is a modern example of how architecture not only talks about the abstraction of its religious symbolism but also has a reference to it the Figure 1.12 Interior of Notre Dame de Haut by Le Corbusier, Ronchamp, France
historical context it is placed in.“The lighting slots obviously resemble fortification gun apertures perhaps a why reminder of the Second World War history at Ronchamp.”4 (See Figure 1.12) This reference talks about how although not having a direct relationship with the use of the space it carries a certain meaning towards the site granting it or describing it sacred to the residence of Ronchamp. The meaning of the architecture is suggested by a historical reference but the essence of the architecture is truly grasped by the sublime and spiritual experience it conveys. The play of light, the roof and the walls of the chapel work in a composition that embodies a sense of place only through the experience.
Although the late works of Le Corbusier specifically
demonstrated this sense of place, early modernity perpetuated this lack of locality within architecture through abstraction of building. Modernity evaded this necessity of referring to the context by essentially providing a way to a universal identity. Modernism significantly impacted the 3 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011 20
4 Curtis, William J. Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms. Sacral Forms, Ancient Association. Phaidon, New York.1994
architect’s tools that enabled an understanding of a specific place. In our culture, the effects of mass production, technology, and corporate uniformity, has diluted the way we think about diversity and context. Pallasmaa described this in one of his essays about a critical regionalism by asking, “What is the feasibility of regional culture and architecture in a world in which two billion people gather simultaneously around TV sets to watch the same football match?”5 He then ended by adding on another question on current attempts to address this sense of place through the use of culture, “Isn’t our culture doomed to lose all Figure 1.13 Chandigrah “Open Hand” Monument
its authenticity and turn into a planetary wax works-show.”6 With this it could be determined the effects of modernism in our contemporary society which have forced architecture to lose the close relationship to the context.
These interpretations of meaning weren’t put into practice in our
contemporary society but could be traced to the origins of postmodernism which also referenced historical identities in order to introduce meaning to architecture. An example would be the ‘House of Bones’ or the Casa Batlo by Antonio Gaudi, which represented Catalan victims who lived and died under Castilian rule. This idea of iconic architecture was a basis that anchored one of the postmodern influences. The word icon in semiotics refers to “a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of resemblance or analogy to it.”7 Although the modernists were opposed to icons and symbols in architecture that recognized a historical context, an example of this iconic representation could be seen with the late works of Corbusier with his symbolic buildings in 5 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011 6 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011. 21
7
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/icon
Chandigra, India. He used the idea of icons as a touchstone for an architecture committed to communication and local culture. The signs and symbols of the General Assembly Building in Chandigrah relate to the local climate, rainfall, strong sunlight, and fauna of the area. “The Open Hand was another symbol of dialectal government, giving and receiving, and placed over the outdoor res publica, meaning public affair.�8 (See Figure 1.13) The main assembly hall was also designed to let the sun enter and dates such as the twenty-first of June and shine on the speaker who was carrying the democratic discussion. Similar to the colonial housing in Old San Juan, the central courtyard permits a good use of ventilation and day lighting while having a communal meaning to the residences. With all of this sense of symbolism, the architecture then speaks about a certain meaning that is being inserted by its conceptual significance to a place.
Semiotics in architecture, the importance of symbols in
architecture, was reintroduced and debated all through postmodernism. It is truly the truthful way to understand authenticity via meaning and place. Semiotics provides a theoretical framework to study different systems of signification and patterns of meaning. It is mainly based on concepts adapted from linguistics. Communication through architecture could then be reconsidered of not having an imposed symbolic meaning but more of an understanding in relation to a personal experience. Experiencing place is the key factor of understanding a certain purpose within the architecture which is open to interpretation by its user. The phenomena of place is described Christian Norberg –Schulz referencing the philosopher Martin Heidegger as a means
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8 Jencks, Charles. The Story of Post Modernism: Five Decades of the Ironic, Iconic and Critical in Architecture. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England. 2011.
of understanding our environment by the objects we have a direct relationship on in our lives, “Evidently Heidegger wants to reminds us of the fact that our everyday life-world really consists of concrete things, rather than the abstractions of science.”9 The idea of place making is not only due to the symbolic meaning of place it is also due to the embodied understanding of place. This relationship is considered as an embodied experience in which the body and the mind are seen as an instrument to have an understanding of space. Figure 1.14 Arrival Plaza and Astronomical Structure, Cranbrook Academy, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 1994
Phenomenology strives to depict phenomena appealing
directly to the consciousness without any conceptual understanding of what is being experienced. In The Geometry of Feeling: A Look at the Phenomenology of Architecture, Juhani Pallasmaa, again looks at architecture’s loss of communicative power. Within this essay Pallasmaa indicates the essential elements that constitute meaning in architecture which depends on the ability to symbolize human existence or presence, not completely due to form making. “A column, gable, arch, dome, tower are archetypal forms that indicate a stylistic agenda”10, referring to postmodern historicism Pallasmaa criticizes how this collage of elements only creates of senseless dialogue of forms without any relationship of place. Reinforcing this idea, he develops his argument by mentioning the experience of loneliness as one the basic feelings given by architecture, “A strong architectural experience always produces a sense of loneliness and silence irrespective of the actual number of people or the noise. Experiencing art is a private dialogue between the work and the person experiencing
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9 Nesbitt, Kate. Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory. Princeton Architectural Press, New York.1996 10 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011.
it which excludes all other interaction.”11 (See Figure 1.14) This private dialogue to due to the multisensory experience in which symbols and associations in the language of art can be interpreted in many ways making our consciousness shift from one to another. Considering this idea, can architecture be a means to understanding an identity of a place.
Origins of Traditions and Culture
What constitutes a sense of place or locality? Is it the reflections
of natural, physical, and social realities? They are the expression or experiences of a specific place defined by cultural patterns, landscape, and craft. They are not separated but bonded together with traditions in which communicate a collective permanence to a place. Without any consideration of the continuity of an authentic tradition, any intention to design an cultural driven place could be misled into shallow attempt that only speaks about recycling the nostalgic past. “Culture is not composed of elements which can be disassembled and re-composed: culture has to be lived; culture mature and sediment slowly as they become fused into the context and continuity of tradition.”12 It could be consider that culture is an entity of facts and beliefs, history and present material realities and mental conditions, meaning that there could be an opportunity for an architecture that can be dealing with differentiated patterns of culture, not fashionable stylistic objects.
A sense of place could be subject to the behavioral or cultural
traits of a community. “A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, also a basic character of a society still maintained in the present, with origins in the past.”13 Traditions could be considered 11 Nesbitt, Kate. Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory. Princeton Architectural Press, New York.1996 12 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011 24
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Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional
as a manner to understanding a collective meaning of what identifies a certain group or a society. This could be said similar to culture, which is a continuity of tradition, it is an entity of facts and beliefs, history and present material reality and mental condition. Hence there is a possibility to create and architecture that can be formed from these different patterns of traditions not from fashionable ideals of design. An example of this for instance is the work from the Mexican architect Luis Barragan reflecting in somewhat the Mexican culture, specifically the presence of death as an accepted dimension of life. Barragan turns these cultural ingredients into his unique metaphysical and surreal art, which is traditional and individual, timeless and radical at the same time. (See Figure 1.15) Figure 1.15 Luis Barragán, Tlalpan Chapel, Mexico City
Culture in away has it certain complexities relating to man,
object and the environment. Identity is expressed strongly relatable to a sense of place in which deals with these cultural attributes. It could be then determined that they are hidden cultural realities dealing more with the unconscious level, realities that are accepting the cultural conditioning of our behavior in space and place. Pallasmaa mentions language as an example of what is considered this hidden dimension. “It could be used to generate a sense of place in which it conditions man’s spatial behavior in a way specific to a particular language”14 He continues by also emphasizing the importance of how the body and muscle system are connected with cultural identity of a place. For the example he mentions the mud-building traditions in Africa as a cultural practice that appeals more to man’s tactile sense rather than the visual. Pallasmaa concludes by clarifying the ideas relatable to the
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Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011. 14 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011.
built environment and culture: “A culturally specific character or style cannot be consciously learned and added on the surface of design; it is the result of being profoundly subject to a specific pattern of culture and of the creative synthesis in which fuses conscious intentions and unconscious conditioning, memories, and experiences in a dialogue between the individual and the collective.”15 Culturally adapted architecture reverberates with tradition. Architecture as an identity essentially has to rediscover and revitalize elements and characteristics of tradition; it has to demonstrate the hidden cultural dimension of a place.
Although it has been mentioned the relationship of traditions
and culture, much is to be said in the context of an individual. An artist could have an interpretation of what is a traditional element based on its historical value. Although authentic artist are usually more concerned with a general feeling for time and history. As with T.S. Elliot mentioned in an essay titled Tradition and the Individual Talent, “No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You can’t value him alone; you must send him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead.”16 Meaning that there isn’t just solely an attempt to re-create a sense of place and rootedness in history though historical and regional motifs. These attempts are considered to be a failure because of the one dimensionally use of these elements of the past. Culture and tradition have the potential to be taken as 15 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011. 26
16 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011.
an objectified, external, and given reality which can be consciously applied and expressed in design.
Cultural isolation and protection don’t offer any guarantee of a
meaningful and unique architecture that would essentially transcend a person’s perception of being intimately identified with a space. Frank Lloyd’s Wright architecture does somewhat achieved a complexity by synthesized themes from North American and Mexican Indian Cultures, as well Japanese and European. Another example if with how Corbusier’s architecture is strongly influenced by Mediterranean Figure 1.16 North coast looking from El Morro Fort San Juan, Puerto Rico
vernacular tradition, it has given rise to one of the strongest contemporary traditions in Japan and India. This is true by how architecture and art in general should create this sense of pertinence as described by Pallasmaa through a colleague of his in which he expressed, “All great art tends to be regional for the simple reason that it is open to interpretation and, consequently, can echo any cultural conditions, it is a great common property and heritage of mankind.”17 As in Puerto Rico, art is a strong means of preserving these cultural conditions. Meaning beliefs or objects collectively accepted within a society. Art to culture can achieve more than just an echo of the past; it could also be somewhat a dialogue between the past generations with the present.
The phenomena of a place could be understood by certain
interpretations due to memory, imagination and the unconscious of the user. That is why architecture should have a reference to its place with certain elements identified throughout the spaces. Through civic architecture, there could be a way understanding a sense of place not
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17 Pallasmaa, Juhani. Tradition and Modernity: The Feasibility of Regional Architecture in Post Modern Society. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, 2011.
only through symbolic meaning but the embodied understanding that speaks about the identity of place or culture. Traditions give a sense of character pertaining to a region which is the connective tissue of place and people, which is why Puerto Rico could be considered as a focus or an exploration of place making due to its unique cultural makeup. Old San Juan is a historic city in which it holds its significance in the island of Puerto Rico. (See Figure 1.16) Due to the influence of the United States, redevelopments of modernized civic and private institutions are being proposed in Old San Juan which widens the gap between the past Puerto Rican traditions and our contemporary culture.
Encountering a Sense of Identity
In order to have a sense of place there has to be an
understanding of the traditions that genuinely express this determined search for identity of its people. It has been brought to attention a study of the origins of the tri-cultural make up, Spanish Colonial, Indigenous, and African roots are necessary to capture this understanding of place within Old San Juan. Understanding the cultural roots of a specific place gives the opportunity to bring a re-interpretation of an architecture that could be subject to interpretation in which the meanings could be understood through experience not solely dominated by the object itself. The Spanish Colonial architecture elements such as the plaza have been a symbolic entity that brings the people of Puerto Rico together since the establishing of the colony itself. It comes to a certain attention that there could be an opportunity of exploring these traditional elements in order to transform the meaning of place by using the body as a means of understanding and awareness. These cultural or traditional identities could have the potential of being explored and understood not merely as objects but experiences subjected to a
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person’s interpretation; but before the explorations of the traditions, there needs to be an understanding of what is the meaning behind this search of national identity
Puerto Rico in its particular case has long been subjected to
different influences that have shaped the island’s complex cultural differences. The island of Puerto Rico has a distinct status from other Latin American countries, because of its long experience of Hispanic influence. Series of events have had a pertinent impact in the way we thing such as: July 25, 1898, was when U.S. troops invaded the Island during the Spanish-Cuban- American War, 1901 was when the U.S. Supreme Court defined Puerto Rico as “foreign to the United States in a domestic sense”18, and in 1917 Congress granted U.S. citizenship to the people born in the island. While still a colonial dependency, Puerto Rico gained limited self-government as a commonwealth in 1952. This status has of course significantly impact the way people reflect on their nationality and pertinence. The island also has been exposed to a significant influence of the American capital, commodities, laws and customs unequaled in other Latin American countries. Although this is relevant, Puerto Ricans portray a strong cultural identity within the Caribbean and in Latin America that has lead then to not be in a complete lost. It has been over more than a hundred years ago and still the citizens have valued their unique cultural make up.
The island of Puerto Rico has always been thought to be
considered part of the United States for the reason of its acquisition of territory. Even today roughly half of the citizens feel the need to support the commonwealth status and not become the fifty-first state of
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18 Duany, Jorge. Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island & in the United States. University of North Carolina Press. 2002
the Union while others feel the polar opposite, also a small population supports the idea of becoming an independent country, “Recent studies of Puerto Rican cultural politics have focused on the demise of political nationalism on the Island, the rise of cultural nationalism, Figure 1.17 The island of Puerto Rico and Vieques
and the enduring significance of migration between the Island and the U.S. mainland.”19 This phenomenon of both types nationalism are significantly linked to how Puerto Ricans value both their status of citizenship and value their cultural makeup, although due to the constant back and forth of the two mainland’s, it is right to question what then happens to a sense of pertinence. It is to be said that they become less relevant and less important. This leads to question on how a person can consider to be significantly tied within a culture of a place when there are several of conflicts concerning this search for identity.
High fluctuation of people has been considered one of the
reasons in which this notion of identity has been questioned to a certain extent. This “come and go” of the people has led to rethink our identity and also to dispute the entitlement of Puerto Rico as a significant nation. Puerto Rican migration is best visualized as a transient and pendulous flow rather than a permanent one. “In the past few years Puerto Rico is known as a nation that is in constant movement, a in and out of the island that has been subject t to different adaptions in which citizens consider having some culture significance.”20 Although this is true, the sense of peoplehood has been always pertinent throughout the years. One event that proved this sense of national identity was when 19 Duany, Jorge. Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island & in the United States. University of North Carolina Press. 2002
20 Duany, Jorge. Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island & in the United States. University of North Carolina Press. 2002 30
the U.S Navy carried out Operation Access to the East which moved almost two hundred locals from the training grounds by the name of Vieques, a small sister island off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico. (See Figure 1.17) Political and religious leaders, university students, and community activists practice their civil disobedience in order to get their voice heard. The series of events escalated due to an accidental death of a security guard by the name of David Sanes Rodriguez on April 19, 1999. After this unjustifiable event, Puerto Ricans called for an end to the live bombings which would then cause the navy to exit the premise and the return of the military lands to the civilians. This resulted into having not only the citizens of Vieques but also Puerto Rican delegates to express their demand for the removal of the navy. Having this then as an example of how events that threaten or disturb or way of life, is in way approached in a unified way in which causes this sense of nationality.
As we could distinguish, this search of nationality or identity
has been ongoing debate which has been seen throughout the history of the island. One question that could be posed in this ongoing debate genuinely is “what is a nation?” As mention by Jorge Duani in reference to the French scholar Ernest Renan, “It was a ‘spiritual principle’ based on shared memories, the cult of a glorious past, as well as the ability to forget certain shameful events, and above all a daily plebiscite: the Figure 1.18 Master Raphael Cordero,ca 180-92 Franciso Oller
collective affirmation if a national ‘will’ by the citizens of a country.”21 There is a certainty a great expression for the greater good in which a person could be identified with also among a collective whole. There is another question which is the ability to achieve this spiritual principle, 21 Duany, Jorge. Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island & in the United States. University of North Carolina Press. 2002
31
simply defining the how? This search for the essence of the nation has continued throughout the twentieth century, especially among a colonized civilization such as Puerto Ricans. In situations like these, a need to question identity or belonging is not only for intellectual purposes but rather to relate on people’s struggles for survival, lived experiences, and rights to political representation. “For most of Puerto Rico, it has always been a constant discussion that could be described as between “us” and “them”, meaning Puerto Ricans and American. Cultural nationalism has become one of the leading discourses of identity in contemporary Puerto Rico, even though it is articulated across various social positions, including class, gender race, and color age, and ideology.”22 Although with this search and referencing of the meaning of identity, the significance of this search is relevant to how people would feel about place. This search has led its people to realize how Puerto Rico could be considered this “postcolonial country” in the sense of a people with a strong national identity but no desire to become part of the United Sates. The prevailing feeling of the Island being considered neither a state of neither the Union nor a sovereign republic has created an ambiguous and problematic political status which is reflective the native population. Is it then a necessity to readdress this search identity translated into a way of considering the construction of the culture, of what makes a certain statement about the Puerto Rican identity?
Art and Traditions as a search for Identity
With these topics about nationality or pertinence to a certain
place, it could be considered the way we value the fine arts as a means of identity. The fine arts are relevant to these expressions of nationality 22 Duany, Jorge. Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island & in the United States. University of North Carolina Press. 2002
32
in which captured an essence of identification, of the hardship and experience in which it shaped a Puerto Rican civilian. During the eighteenth century it could be said that our fine arts started to bloom and pointed to an improvement of the formative process of the capacity of this collective expression. It was then in the middle of the 19th century that the highly-sensitive Puerto Rican discovered Puertoricaness. One of the first main pioneers of this century which introduce a cultural identity within his work is the painter Francisco Oller y Cestero. “Oller began to capture this expressive form of the essence of being through subjects Figure 1.19 The Wake or El Velorio ,ca 1893 Francisco Oller
that pictured his concern for the social redemption of the forsaken human being.”23 His work didn’t necessary establish an archetype of what was Puertoricaness but rather he simply projected the everyday life of the people never disregarding the racial integrity of the Puerto Rican. For example in his Master Raphael Cordero,(ca 180-92) (See Figure 1.18), Dr .Osiris Delgado mentions how this painting capitalizes on the fact black teacher shared his wisdom without any monetary interest, with pupils who, in due time, would become relevant figures in society. Another example of Oller’s work trying to capture for the first time in the history of the essence of what makes us Puerto Rican is The Wake or El Velorio, (1893)(See Figure 1.19). It is here where Oller best represents the whole human inventory of a Puertoricanness that responds to an awareness to the people. Oller’s efforts of establishing his sense of identity go on further by capturing the native landscape, also with his still-life. “In those Oller replaces the romantic fruit bearer of harvests foreign to our soil with our native staples and complements them with wares of native lineage.”24 It is define that Oller’s work is 23 Hermandad de Artistas Graficos de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: Arte e Identidad. Universidad Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.1998
33
24
Hermandad de Artistas Graficos de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: Arte e Identidad.
simply considered that foundation of thought which addressed issues concerning the identity of the people.
The art of modeling clay or ceramics has a significant tool
that has had influence through the fine arts. The ceramics made by different cultural tribes that populated Pre-Columbian Puerto Rico did not reach to such sophistication. This art was a very popular tool with the Pre-Columbian Indians such as the Tainos that inhabited the island in which produced a much more primitive ceramic. That being said, it takes us to consider how this is in reference to the influence it has left Figure 1. 20 Circulo, 1983 Jaime Suarez
contemporary ceramist such as Jaime Suarez who through his work expresses this nostalgia. Jaime Suarez, artist and educator, firmly believes in the power of ceramics being both a rational and intuitive tool of expression. His work expresses a distinct way he treats surfaces which makes a certain characteristic of his pieces. “Clay is beaten, torn, punctured, soaked in vinegar and/or exposed to the rigors of tropical weather before firing it”25 . Although the unique experimentation of his work, as emphasized by Jose David Miranda through a commentary of one of his pieces titled Circulo (1983) (See Figure 1.20), “Suarez wants to share with his viewer his concern for the destruction of the environment, the devastation of the landscape by man’s waste and greed, as well as his indifference to the deterioration of urban centers.”26 His themes within his work although considered abstract to a certain sense, talk about this search of identity as a contemporary example. Again we could say about another of his sculptural pieces combining Universidad Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.1998 25 Hermandad de Artistas Graficos de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: Arte e Identidad. Universidad Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.1998 26 Hermandad de Artistas Graficos de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: Arte e Identidad. Universidad Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.1998
34
weathered wood, ropes, corroded nails, feathers, clay prints in which have an analogy of the constant act of intellectual exorcism undertaken by the artist as a tribal shaman to avoid annihilation as a cultural entity. This is a true contemporary example of an attempt to make the viewer remember aspects of how this deterioration of culture in Puerto Rico is evident. Contemporary Puerto Rican ceramics blossomed into one of the most outstanding media in fine arts, even though lacking a strong ceramic tradition. “Following an essentially sculptural trend, the island’s contemporary ceramics is noted by the strength and quality of Figure 1. 21 Los Tres Santos Reyes by Eleno Cajigas
the works where, without denying the nature of the material, deal with the most varied subjects through a great diversity, always maintaining a profound commitment with the land and the society where they live.� 27
It is to be considered other realms within the fine arts that use
this notion of identity or self-understanding of a culture that go a bit beyond professional artist or established. Folk art is an example with how artisans or craftsmen use traditional themes in their skillful abilities. Examples such as the carving of santos and the use of caretas or mask worn during carnivals are still reinvent elements in which the people have certain attachment and identity. The carving of the santos is one of the oldest and most traditional expressions of Puerto Rican culture in which its roots are closely linked to the beginnings of our identity as a people. (See Figure 1.21) This skill is still appreciated within contemporary artists in whom this theme serves as an inspiration that continue to be aware of the value of our heritage. These Santos as examples of typical Puerto Rican folk art, and as antiques, are 27 Hermandad de Artistas Graficos de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: Arte e Identidad. Universidad Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.1998 35
considered a value as a testimony of the religious traditions of the people. Similar could be said with the art of mask making. There were similar masks that were used both in Spain and Africa having distinct purposes. While the Spanish used the mask to frighten lapsed Christian in order to return to the church, the Africans used them as to scare of evil spirits from the tribe. Their adaptation is seen in festivals and in carnivals in which they are made out of papier-mâchÊ or coconut shells or a fine metal screening all belonging to distinct towns. The caretas of the vejigantes (See Figure 1.22) are a consideration of expressing a certain identity which is still seen throughout the island.
Relationships of Cultural Diversity to Place Making
As it has been identified there have been several of factors
or elements in relation to this expression of identity or belonging. Rather now it is to be discussed in relation to architecture as a means of establishing and identity. Since the Columbus led the Spaniards into the beaches of Puerto Rico and through all the development of the what we consider spaces that resemble this historical essence, the Spaniard colonial language has been a main influence in not only the architecture of all our main towns but the organization of each. Although this is true with Spaniard Colonization being a still a strong entity in what as a collective whole consider architecture in relation to a historical context, we have to consider also the way the American or Modernization has influence and shaped our the way we consider an universal identity through architecture.
Although the Spanish plaza is still seen predominately as the
example of a successful and well used public space, it wasn’t the first Figure 1. 22 Vejigante Mask
one. In actually the first important work of architecture and urbanism in Puerto Rico took place in the pre-Columbian epoch. The Taino Indians
36
accomplished the design of ceremonial plazas (See Figure 1.23), similar to the public square, in the archeological places of Caguana, near Utuado, a small town in the mountain range. These ancient communal spaces consist of a series of rectangular, square and circular plazas, where the Tainos practiced religious ceremonies and practiced sports similar to the Mayan culture. Along this ceremonial space, it was investigated that there was also evidence of primitive Figure 1. 23 Taino Ceremonial Ground
houses for the significant figures within the native communities such as the chief or cacique. “The aligning of great monoliths, with basrelief mythological figures, and the orderly urban plan, indicates a great degree of excellence in the creative intellect of the primitive Puerto Rican.�28 By the use of these great monoliths there is an importance that transcends the typical batey or ball court use of these ceremonial plazas. The cemies, which are sculptural representation of the native deities and the monolith bas-relief which was represented to their native tradition, defines the specific significance of the ceremonial plaza.
San Juan, as a city, is considered to be a main example of
the ongoing change of what is accepted as reflective to our culture as Puerto Ricans. Within San Juan there is the historic district by the name of Old San Juan in which is considered this historic jewel representative to our past. In order to fully understand this claim, there has to be an understanding of its establishment. The Spanish Law of the Indies Figure 1. 24 Plaza de Armas
was intended to regulate social, political and economic life in the areas obtained by the Spanish Crown. This regulation indeed help formulate the urban language organization of many of the pueblos or towns in Puerto Rico specifically San Juan. In the way the regulations structure
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28 Fernandez, Jose A. Architecture in Puerto Rico. Architectural Book Publishing Co. Inc., New York. 1995
public spaces by providing a places in axis with civic institutions is an example that is seen not only in Old San Juan but in other towns. Plaza de Armas (See Figure 1.24) in Old San Juan is still a valuable example of a public space that is defined by civic institutions such as the city hall or alcaldia within the north while the Puerto Rico Department of State lies at the west. Plazas, in the turn of the 1900s, were beginning to expand or be reconsider the value as mentioned by architect Jorge Rigau “In each plaza-a city’s public meeting place-collective affairs such as rallies, concerts and commemorative events took place.”29 Due to the Spanish Revival in the early 1900s, there was a need of a true expression of the contemporary spirit, acknowledging that Puerto Rico didn’t need a nostalgic representation. “Yet the wellknown nineteenth century colonial vocabulary-as epitomized by the restrained Old San Juan housing prototype with party walls and flat facades-was readily discarded in favor of the free-standing playfulness of the new “international” architecture.”30 Casa de España or the House of Spain is considered one of these examples of the “contemporary”. The building’s purposes was to bring together Spanish citizens living in Puerto Rico in a place where they could meet and present the civic, cultural and social typical of Spain and its environment. Being this so, the architecture reflected architectural elements coming from the Spaniard influence with the Moorish such as the open courtyard. Figure 1. 25 House of Spain Ground and Upper level
(See Figure 1.25)It clearly identified aspects about establish a certain contemporary revival notion of the past but it felt short in confronting 29
Rigau, Jorge. Puerto Rico 1900: Turn-of-the-Century Architecture in the His-
panic Caribbean 1890-1930. Rizzoli International Publication, Inc. NewYork, NY, 1992 30
Rigau, Jorge. Puerto Rico 1900: Turn-of-the-Century Architecture in the His-
panic Caribbean 1890-1930. Rizzoli International Publication, Inc. NewYork, NY, 1992 38
the complexities of what demonstrates a certain place or a sense of pertinence.
The Contemporary City of San Juan
Attempts to establish a national identity through architecture in
Puerto Rico are varied and seen at different periods within our history such as within the fine arts. If we would then compare this search for identity within the early 1900s to modernism, there is a significant change that is contradictory to other periods due to the standardization and mass production of the era. Not only this was in architecture and design, this change was a social act that transcended different realms in which one disregarded any historical or past influence. During the 1960s this modern influence was to be seen at its starting point which was more the future concerns rather than not regarding the past. Modernism in Puerto Rico was adapted in a unique manner rather than been considered completely universal or even commercial. Although people could argue how modernist examples by architect Henry Klumb was significant to Puerto Rico because of its high consideration to the weather or site elements, the effects have been drastic which has led to fall into a trend of corporate design which has little or no attention to the cultural technical, or artistic thought ,“To this day architectural discussions in Puerto Rico tends to emphasize form over conceptual analysis, historical determinism over present-day experimentation, sanctioned professional practice over independent thinking as if protecting architecture from subversive forces of change.�31 This is some way reflects the colonial relationship with United States in which it’s not always viewed through a negative way but it has a part in how 31
Rodriguez Casellas, Miguel. Puertorricanism or Living at Ease in the Sur-
face, Harvard Design Magazine 34: Architecture of Latin America, 2011 39
these take effect in our the way we consider a certain place. Miguel Rodriguez Casellas express his view towards the involvement with modernism “Back in the’50s, the perception of Modern architecture was conveniently transformed by the brand – new locally elected government of the Estado Libre Asociado or Commonwealth from and ambiguous sign of domination to the testimony of a new national identity that stripped it from its oppressive past.”32
Although this
statement being somewhat true, the general idea is that contemporary architecture nowadays may or may not attempt to create or stimulate this notion of identity. Questioning then what is considered a new identity that accepts these complexities without attempting to bring a meaningless dialogue of historic elements.
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32 Rodriguez Casellas, Miguel. Puertorricanism or Living at Ease in the Surface, Harvard Design Magazine 34: Architecture of Latin America, 2011
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Conclusion
We have seen the importance throughout how having a sense
of place brings certain awareness and feeling of belonging. Through an embodied perspective, one could achieve this sense of identity without been bombarded with historical connotations that don’t or may not have the same meaning or appearances. In a place such as San Juan, Puerto Rico, contemporary redevelopments of an area needs to be sensitive to its context by not just simply using historical or stylistic agendas. A place is then defined by its people and their interpretations and experiences of a place. There is an opportunity for having an architecture that does more than merely represent a sense place, which is to provoke this reflection and awareness of its people; an architecture that provides a place for the teachings and cultivation of the arts and tradition in which a Puerto Rican citizen is identified with. Not just merely doing art for the sake of art but more as a selfdiscovery of a spiritual and emotional force that transcends the basic meaning a culture.
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Notre Dame du Haut
Le Corbusier Ronchamp, France Chapel 1955
-realist objections against abstract art were countered with
the
expressionist argument that intense arrangements of form might simulate, spiritual concentration and thus elevate the quality of communication. -significant relationship with site and history
-a modern language of sacred spaces. Figure 1. 26 Plan of Ronchamp
-arragement of forms might stimulate spiritual concentration and thus elevate the quality of communication to the faithful.
-individuality and collectivity understood as a fundamental dualism
-roof as a vessel of contemplation
-lighting slots resemble fortification gun apertures perhaps as a weary reminder of WWII history at Ronchamp.
“the church as a dead instituion� 43
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Figure 1. 27 Approach to Ronchamp
PART 45
Context Analysis And Regional Description
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2
Figure 2. 1 World
Figure 2. 2 North America
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Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico in its particular case has long been subjected to different
the island of enchantment
influences that have shaped the island’s complex cultural differences. Series of events have had a pertinent impact in the way we thing such as: July 25, 1898, was when U.S. troops invaded the Island during the Spanish-Cuban- American War, 1901 was when the U.S. Supreme Court defined Puerto Rico as “foreign to the United States in a domestic sense” Being in the the greater antilles, the island of Puerto Rico has been a sister island to the most visited Dominican Republic and Cuba. It is five hundred miles north away from the Puerto Rico trench, reaching a drop if 497 miles, it is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean.
Figure 2. 3 Puerto Rico
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San Juan
This status has of course significantly impact the way people reflect on their nationality and pertinence. The island also has been exposed to a significant influence of the American capital, commodities, laws and customs unequaled in other Latin American countries. Although this is relevant, Puerto Ricans portray a strong cultural identity within the Caribbean and in Latin America that has lead then to not be in a complete lost. It has been over more than a hundred years ago and still the citizens have valued their unique make up.
San Juan
Figure 2. 4 San Juan
Figure 2.5 Satellite Image of San Juan 49
50
La Isleta
La Isleta or the Islet we know today as Old San Juan, is the center of government where the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. It is a main destination where tourism and “culture” strive in a dynamic center. It is the historic district in which it values colonial aesthetics as one of the unique characteristics the place preserves. It is a center for jobs and services and remains an active commercial area in the metropolitan area. It a certain national symbol of the not only San Juan but the island as a whole.
Figure 2.6 Bird’s Eye View of Islet
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La Isleta
Figure 2.7 Satelitte Image of Old San Juan Islet
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Puerta de Tierra
Puerta de Tierra was the first neighborhood outside the walls of San Juan. It is located within, or is part of the “Old San Juan”, as many now claim. Old San Juan occupies that portion west of the island in the past the Spanish became a fortified place entirely surrounded by walls. In the census maps appears Puerta de Tierra located east of the old city, in the “Old San Juan” to differentiate it from “Old San Juan”.
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Figure 2.8 Puerta de Tierra in the early 1900s
Figure 2.9 Puerta de Tierra Today 54
A Civic Venue
The site selection was due to how the capitol district was subject of a redevelopment that brought a different image of what marked the identity of the city. The capitol district is considered to be placed arbitrarily outside the old city adjacent to one of the main avenues that connect the formal entrance to the extension of modern San Juan. This site is chosen not only because it is being subject to change but because it is proof how what is being categorized as being a civic area or a node. Although it may be it described as this center, the reality is
Figure 2.10 Bird’s Eye of Protest in front of the Capitol Building
that this change of redevelopment of this area isn’t what we completely need.
30
55
Figure 2.11 Capitol District 0
1.97
residence
site
commerce
capitol
0
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Figure 2.12 Bird’s Eye of Capitol District
1.64
E
2.64
E
History
As we have seen, the urban expansion of San Juan beyond the south walls in the nineteenth century, and to the north and east especially in the first decades of this century. The Sprig Marina is defined as the commercial sector and port. The Puerta de Tierra Perla and become working class communities but in this second set also uses industry and institutions. The traditionally had put obstacles in the army to
Figure 2.13 Population of Puerta de Tierra
construction were overcome-with extramural dificultas and gradually, by population pressure inevitably of the capital city. The area since the early 1900s has been descirbed as the working class neighborrhod outside the old city. The population since then has declined due to the availabity of housing out the islet of San Juan provoking a sense of decay in the community. Figure 2.14 Santiago Door 1895 Demolished 1897
As we see the contruction of the capitol, capitolio, as one of the first civic places within the 1920 being ereceted. Ther avenue Luis Mu単oz Marin adjacent to the capitol, then becomes a venue for other elements such as the House of Spain and the Puerto Rican Anthenuem.
Figure 2.15 Capitol Within Construction
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Figure 2.16 Exit out from Puerta de Tierra in the eartly 1900s
PART 59
Site Analysis
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3
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Figure 3.1 Topography
residence government commercial
Figure 3.2 Axis Relationship
Figure 3.3 Potential Entrances
Figure 3.4 Uses
Figure 3.5 Street Figure
Figure 3.6 Public Space
Figure 3.7 Vehicular Circulation
The Capitol sits within forty feet above sea level, having a gradual slope towards the south waterfront. The urban layer of this capitol district is seen in different manners as an understanding of the underlying factors that it holds.
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Figure 3.8 Main Elements
Figure 3.9 Parking
Body in Space
Series of observations of the define axis of the capitol building within the site in San Juan, Puerto Rico, describe to some degree the phenomena of the area. The series are organized with how the human body perceives not space but the symbols that are embedded within the site. “The Geometry of Feeling: A look at the Phenomenology of Architecture”, is an essay that has informed greatly with the ideas that are explored in the thesis. Pallasmaa is known to be someone who has kept challenging the human imagination with ideas concerning human sense and how we could understand our surroundings through them. In this essay he starts by questioning this idea of meaning in relation to symbols and how modernism constantly imposed it on their buildings with any regards on the interpretation of the human experience, just an
Figure 3.10 Conceptual Sketch
intellectual agenda of thoughts. Being this so, he stressed clearly on the fundamental feelings architecture introduces by bringing the emotional intuitive response within those spaces not so much an intellectual jargon. Memory, imagery and imagination are some of the themes he mentions as way to relate the human body an interpreter of meaning and place. The body is a vehicle for understanding ourselves and our surroundings, a means of realization of the present. I would consider that most contemporary architects don’t give this opportunity to explore these ideas of the multisensory experience within design. Society itself has subsided to a fast paced environment usually ruled by commodity. This is seen as how we, architects, have striped our buildings to commercial artifacts which don’t speak of a more meaningful intent within their designs.
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Figure 3.11 Institution - Site
Figure 3.12 Institution - Body
Figure 3.14 Man - Body
Figure 3.13 Man - Site
Figure 3.15 Environment -Site
Figure 3.16 Environment -Body
The body and the mind are crucial in the way that it is the fundamental understanding of our environment. The narrative of any place is related to an interpretation which is subjective to our emotional response to the design. Architecture should explore this narrative which in its essence is what impacts our daily lives. 64
Ode to Place
The place that the poem describes is a place of change in which memories merge with experience that help relate what this place was. This idea of understanding place is explored to a manner that relates to how the qualities of an experience can tell us an interpretation of a specific site. The intention with this poem was to commemorate the site with its civic value but in reality it is being utilize in a superficial manner which is neglecting its people. This interpretation of civic value and presence could related to how we place a lot of meaning to an object without regarding how it is being utilize and how it being placed. This goes to the poem where it mentions how we can relate what is actually happening to an alternate crude reality that is affecting that essence of that place. Also going back to Schulz text about place, this idea about how phenomena is the means of understanding an emotional impact is of high value in order to achieve this ideal of presence and understanding. Being conscience about how we understand a space being with a specific memory or impact could initially make us value a certain place. This value is subjective which transforms through our understanding of our daily lives.
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Figure 3.17 View towards the South Waterfront
“Seeing the days pass with ease I wait for them to be of bore Those afternoons filled with breeze Hearing the echo of waves no more It is true that they want change For only a few millions of course They want your enchantment But your image never before”
“Viendo los dias pasar Espero que sean de buen azar Los atardeceres llenos de viento Escuchar las olas no puedo mas Es cierto que lo quieren cambiar Por unos punto millones na’ mas Ellos quieren tu encanto Pero tu imagen nunca jamas” 66
Objective Chance
In relation with the idea of objective chance, an object related to the certain place could clearly bring a relationship of discovery, of interpretation. The object could be abstracted to an idea that is then transmitted to how we can understand an interpretation of thought. Choosing a tangible or an intangible object brings us to understand in a clearer manner specific elements that helps us understand the complex and abstracted interpretations of a place. The object chosen for this interpretation of place was a
gateway,
an element that represents the civic value of this capitol district which serves as a transition area toward the walled city ,Old San Juan.
According to Surrealist theory, the most powerful imagery was that which caused the greatest surprise. In order to create marvelous images, Surrealist poets juxtaposed two terms that appeared to conflict with each other but were secretly related. The power of the resulting imagery was directly proportional to their apparent dissimilarity. http://science.jrank.org/pages/11372/Surrealism-MarvelousEncounters.html#ixzz1jxBtAJup 67
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Figure 3.18 Gateway
This gate way brings into thought this idea of these two institutions, the binary opposite of the house of power meaning a place for religion. How can this piece, create a certain dialogue of procession between these two elements.
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Figure 3.19 Sketch of the Capitol
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Figure 3.20 Conceptual Collage of the Gateway
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Figure 3.21 Bird’s Eye View of the Site
Genius Loci
Architectural theorist, such as Christopher Norberg-Schulz, stress in their works clearly not to disregard this idea about place and its significance, “A concrete term for environment is place. It is a common usage to say that acts and occurrences take place; In fact it is meaningless to imagine any happening without reference to a locality. Place is evidently and integral part of existence.� Architecture expressing a sense of locality gives certain significance not just to the design itself but to the people. The spirit of a place or as it is described as representing a certain sense of locality is an idea that should be explored in order to have a certain dialogue of what the design is intended to be. The illustration on the bottom left demonstrates how these flying volumes are being placed within the landscape in order to impose some kind of significance; a meaning that again does not go beyond a certain depth rather it describes our dependence on a greater power.
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Figure 3.22 The Two Institutions I
Figure 3.23 The Two Institutions II
Figure 3.24 Objects within a Field
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Figure 3.25 Longitudinal Section
This notion of arbitrariness is being expressed by illustrating a crane like structure, within one of the ports of the current construction, carrying a box of what it seems to be images of what is considered and recognized as civic architecture within the area. Current civic structures adjacent to the capitol building were used to relate how the government is still trying to impose some kind of hierarchical importance to this place other than just being the capitol district.
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Figure 3.26 The Current Condition
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Figure 3.27 Site Panorama
PART 77
Program Analysis
78
4
A Church
Being tied in with the theory of place and meaning, Old San Juan as whole has been inscribed with this essence that is distinctly rooted by the Spaniard Colonial image. Being this so and also how the characteristics of “Puerta de Tierra” demonstrate how the area is considered a civic place more as it was formal gateway to the walled city which is Old San Juan. The challenge would be to formally respond to this gateway as a place of significant civic value, that is why formally placing a reinterpretation of a church in axis with the walled city would create this sense of place. Although it could not represent the center of the city, it is responding to the current house of power which is the Capitol Building. This in a sense brings again not emphasize cultural value through a generic building type but transcending the significance of “culture” and having a more emotional response to the site. The potential of having the surrounding context with its textures, views and movements tell the significant value of the religious institution. Having then a structure that could be used as the vehicle to explore these ideas of meaning in which the human imagination has the significant role.
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Figure 4.1 Law of the Indies Illustration I
Figure 4.2 Law of the Indies Illustration II
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Figure 4.3 Law of the Indies Illustration III
Figure 4.4 Law of the Indies Illustration IV
Purpose
The alternative look to the church will be to establish a significant value to the public as also to the individual. This Christian destination will begin to provide a public space which could be considered as what could be called as the plaza which will be considered as the relationship between these two institutions, the capitol and the church. Considering that this is a reinterpretation of how the sacred institution has been deprived from its essential characteristics as how the actual site is being put in this situation of loss of character, having this place for contemplation will essentially bring a significant value to the place. The landscape of the site and the church will provide interior and exterior spaces which serve as a narrative of the Christian religious imagination. Using the tangible elements
(the site and the architectural vehicle)
to explore the intangible elements such as the human imagination and the emotional response to the place is the comprehensive overall issue. Putting into question this search for meaning and value where there is clearly none.
The church will be open to the public as a house for congregation and for contemplation, which it would be used as a common house of worship and provide space for seclusion. As mentioned there will be main spaces for contemplation and secondary space for reflection. The Figure 4.5 Series of Program Conceptual Sketches
plaza will be the public response in relation to the main congregational space in the plaza. The plaza could also provide a space for local artisans including the public to be used for activities involving civic pride such as markets and festivals. In its totality the church will provide public and private space to could initially give a significant thought to the place as well to the individual.
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Figure 4.6 Iglesia San Martín de Porres, Cataño, Puerto Rico
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Figure 4.7 Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Draw an Idea, Make an Idea
Solitude is a feeling that in a way has a meaningful impact in our daily lives. Sometimes as people we get too caught up with problems from a past and have insignificant thoughts which could cause a distraction to what really matters which is the present. In relation to architecture, few places can achieve this kind of intimate level of experience of this nature. One way to describe that is when your attention is drawn towards the object that may be a curious work of art or even a window. When you look onto the world may it be through any kind of opening, it could cause this ruminating state in which makes a person realize where they are. Another example relating to this sense of loneliness could be seen when entering an atrium like space. An atrium though a significant highly used congregating space, has a quality in which one could understand their location. The high the natural light and the acoustics are some of the spatial qualities that are associative although the atrium’s centrality within the design induces you to realize one’s location. It is this state of realization that impacts our understanding of the present.
“A strong architectural experience always produces a sense of loneliness and silence irrespective of the actual number of people there or noise. Experience art is a private dialogue between the work and the person experiencing it which excludes all other interaction.” Juhani Pallasmaa “The Geometry of Feeling: A Look at the Phenomenology of Architecture”
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Figure 4.8 Conceptual Piece
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Setre Chapel
the Setre Chapel in Kobe, Japan designed by Ryuichi Ashizawa is used as an example of how the actual phenomena of the context and the environment is used to indicate the sacredness of the pruposed chapel.
Figure 4.9 Setre Chapel
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Figure 4.10 Interior View of Setre Chapel
Figure 4.11 Site Plan
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Figure 4.12 Lighting Studies
Within Geometry
Geometry and proportions have been regarded as an element of an ideal perfection. Since ancient Greece, architecture followed this use of proportions as a relationship to nature, nature being a part of the Creator. The Golden Section was used to create an organization of elements that create a relationship of the size of the programming.
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Figure 4.13 Golden Section
the cross section of the capitol building
cross dimension is used in order to create geometry
create the golden section and subdivision of spaces
subdivision is used to emphasize three distinct dimensions
the three elements are again extracted from the orginal square in order to crete thre distinct dimensions that make up a whole.
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Figure 4.14 Program Organization Development
Three Elements
The three main geometries take form into characteristics or elements that describe a life of faith.
Path or the approach is described as being the pilgrimage or the way to get to. It is essentially brought up as the trials and tribulations life may present.
Congregation is that aspect of culmination of understanding the collective thought of community. Recognize oneself within society as part of a greater whole.
Reflection could be thought as a way of thinking, it is the realization of not just the past but the present and the future. It is how we think of place as the essence of our existence.
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Figure 4.15 Program Organization
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PART 91
Quantitative Program Development
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5
Square Footage
Subdivision of spaces of the sacred space in accordance to square footages.
= 23,104 sq ft
PATH
CONGREGATION
REFLECTION
93
= 8,824 sq ft
= 8,824 sq ft
= 5,454 sq ft
Figure 5.1 Quantitative Program Organization of Sacred Institution
gate
5,829 sq ft
plaza 11,658 sq ft
sacred institution path congregation reflection 23,104 sq ft
total
40,591sq ft
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Figure 5.2 Quantitative Program Organization of Proposed Axis
PART 95
Schematic Design
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6
Exquisite Diagram
Perhaps at its most basic understanding, to diagram is to delineate.
It is a symbolic representation of information.
However, the architect must not merely be capable of diagramming information on several levels from the basic quantitative and qualitative to the complex computative resolutions typical of a large project, the architect must also be adept at conveying and developing idea, the conceptual, through and with the diagram. (The representational and the communicative.) Algar Thagne These two institutions, religious and politics, are shown to have a certain dialogue in within what is believed to be the “ideal “place for this sacred place. This diagram proves this relationship by how we then try to depict the way we experience this dialogue based on our own interpretations, on our own judgments.
Figure 6.1 Design Proposal Sketch 97
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Figure 6.2 Exquisite Diagram Model
Spectre Site Spectral Building
From Reading the chapter titled Beyond Drawing- Beyond Reality, there is a part within the text that talks about the value of a section drawing. It is somewhat interesting to really analysis the nature of the section in which I would consider it as an emotive drawing. A section then starts to show the clarity of the dialogue of spaces that enhances the viewer’s interpretation of the spaces that as mentioned it isn’t a biased view. Within the architectural process the section although its importance is only but a piece that isn’t independent but completely reliable to the other drawings of course. So the drawings begin to have a certain “dialogue”, a manner of narrating the idea of the design. Although being located in another chapter of the book, Christine Hawley’s drawing titled Peckham House, in my opinion describes the values and qualities a section portrays. It is a narration of spaces that in some manner invite the imagination to be described by showing these layers of information: the bright color elements, the burned down materiality, the expressive line work that demonstrates the character of her intent.
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Figure 6.3 Christine Hawley, Peckham House, London, UK, 1982
“Sections are out of fashion at the moment, but due for revival. That most delightful of drawing types, they are able to offer both ‘picture’ and ‘organization’. After all, a plan serves to deal with organization and an elevation gives a picture. Both of these can be total as far as they go. Various types of threedimensional drawing can give a picture, but however evocative, it is biased- a directional-view. The section is the aficionado’s choice. Buildings can be infinitely debated through the forensic analysis of a section. The virtuoso manipulator will recognize in another’s section his wit and her architectural literacy.” Peter Cook Drawing the Motive Force of Architecture
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Figure 6.4 Spectral Building Models
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Figure 6.5 Series of Details of Spectral Building Models
Figure 6.6 The Sacred
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Figure 6.7 The Plaza
Figure 6.8 The Gateway
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Program Prospect, Inhabitation
“In this sense, Prospect, Procession, and Threshold become another essential set of constructs in the design of a building. There is the greater sense from the scale of the city or even larger, to the ever smaller cycle: literally passing through the entry door... The Threshold is often blurry and subjective; once crossed, another cycle of Prospect, Procession and Threshold emerge. These repeat again and again in great architecture to resolve at some designated moment of use. The architect as conductor of experience.� Algar Thagne
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Figure 6.9 Prospect
Figure 6.10 Procession
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Figure 6.11 Threshold
Three Elements
Being this, three elements were developt to define the south and north axis to create a civic gateway. The three elements that would define this axis as a civic gateway being that this axis is the abstraction of a church leading towards a sacred structure located within the south in the waterfront. Each element would provoke tresholds into moments of silence and reflection making the viewer aware of the procession of spaces.
Figure 6.12 The Sacred Structure Plan
the sacred
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Figure 6.13 The Plaza Plan
the plaza
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Figure 6.14 The Gateway Plan
the gateway
Figure 6.15 Longitudinal Section
Three thematic elements are used within the the church in order to have an understanding of what is the essential nature of this sacred institution. Path, congregation, and reflection are chosen to describe these spaces within a spatial dialogue that makes use of the immediate context as the reinterpretation of what is considered a sacred symbol.
Figure 6.16 Program Diagram 109
Figure 6.17 Program Diagram II
Figure 6.18 Schematic Model 110
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Figure 6.19 Schematic Model II
PART 113
Design Development
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7
Within the design development there was a reconsideration of the placement of this sacred structure which led into being mirrored and moved onto the north of the axis created by the capitol. This change provided that the path of the sacred space comes out of the harsh north shoreline emphasizes that adaptation, that dialogue of these two institutions; dialogue in a sense that it is not bringing a nostalgic past but using the religious imagination as tool for awareness of place. The sacredness and drama that could be potentially introduced with this structure can bring an emotional value to the place thus defining the true value of the place.
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Figure 7.1 Past Location of the Sacred Institution
The new location is north of the capitol building which is the formal entrance to it. Having then the sacred structure brings an opportunity of a more direct relationship between these two insitutions.
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Figure 7.2 New Location of the Sacred Institution
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Figure 7.3 Panorama of the New Site
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PART 119
Final Design
120
8
san cristobal fort
plaza
capitol
memorial landscape
commercial lots
parking garage
apartment complex
Figure 8.1 Proposed Axial Design 121
san cristobal fort
plaza
capitol
memorial landscape
commercial lots
parking garage
apartment complex
Figure 8.2 Proposed Site Plan Design 122
123
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Figure 8.3 Bird’s Eye View
sacred
secular
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Figure 8.4 The Two Institutions
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Figure 8.5 Site Plan
In order to keep a relationship to the form of the sacred structure to the specifics of the place, the connecting path has the same distance from the capitol to the port on the south end of the axis.
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Figure 8.6 Distance
the main mass acting as a stone base of the sacred
the two main walls that cut through the base
structure has similar proportions to the main core
have represents the angles of the porth that was
of the capitol building
formally on the south of the axis.
0
10 30
0
1.97
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Figure 8.7 Main Mass
Figure 8.8 Two Main Walls
plaza
this is the point of transition from the secular to the sacred, in which the steps within the landscape are a treshold to another realm. The plaza acts as the connecting element that relates to this dialogue between these two institutions.
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Figure 8.9 Diagram of Plaza
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Figure 8.10 Axonometric of Plaza
foundation
5’x8’ concrete piles will sustain the path, meanwhile the main mass will be placed within an artificial mound ot terrain along with the rumble of what was port along the south of the axis
131
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Figure 8.11 Foundation Section Perspective
tower
Figure 8.12 Tower Section Perspective 133
A culminating point which is aligned with one of the angled walls that cuts through the main foundation mass. The tower provides a transition from a dim lighted space at the first level to an overview of the city at the top representing that threshold of the reality of the place.
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Figure 8.13 Diagram of Tower
Figure 8.14 Stairs Leading to the Viewing Deck
135
136
Figure 8.16 Cobble Stone
Figure 8.17 Concrete Texture
Figure 8.15 View From the Capitol Stairs Figure 8.18 Wood Texture
materiality
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Figure 8.16 Cobble Stone
blue stone
is used a strong relationship to the coble stone city streets, this gives a reminder by the texture and color of how the this is the foundation of which the city is experienced on.
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Figure 8.17 Concrete Texture
concrete
is used as the new “stone� of the sacred structure in which it would be exposed to the harsh weather conditions. Having this weathered aesthetics is a visual connection of time. Its monumentality and heaviness are qualities that may bring a sublime quality to the structure extended out the water.
Figure 8.18 Wood Texture
wood
is used such as Caoba within the path and the beams laterally stabalizing the walls within the path. Wood used within the structure brings out the humane quality within the sacred place, keeping in mind the balance needed to create such a place of significance.
the procession of spaces would embody this idea of how architecture embodied understanding can bring an awareness of place, being this the center of the city. Through the essence of a sacred space, the people of Puerto Rico can have the opportunity to grasp an understanding of the relationship of these two institutions, the sacred and the secular that once and still defines a center of a city.
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Figure 8.19 Path Entrance
path
A beginning of a journey that we as a society must face as way to learn about the actuality of the landscape. A landscape that is engraved with the history of the place being that its proximity to the water gives emphasis to this relationship.
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Figure 8.20 Path Procession
congregation A view towards the san cristobal castle reminds the people not only about our past that is being eroded but the crucial need to accept leaving among others no matter the circumstances.
Figure 8.21 Congregation Space
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Figure 8.22 Stairs leading to Tower
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Figure 8.23 Congregation Space
lat i on iso congregation
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path
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
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Figure 8.24 Plan of Sacred Structure
isolation
145
A threshold of realization in which the totality of the place can be comprehended from a view the journey has led to.
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Figure 8.25 View from Tower
The path, the congregation and the isolation, being the essence of a sacred space are presented here as three elements that emphasize the idea of this axis as a civic gateway to the old city of San Juan.
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Figure 8.26 Longitudinal Section
Conclusion
Place is considered an idea that has an overall understanding. It isn’t just a physical state or an area but much more expressed through character. From the explorations made within this thesis about place, identity, character, and such, only architecture can do so much. Providing this idea of using the missing piece, the other institution that represented the center of town adjacent to the plaza, brings into question the reality of the current condition of losing the essence. The purpose of this thesis was not to impose that religion is the answer, but the use the architecture as the vehicle for an understanding of where one is. This relies on a profound intention that underlies within the construction, the physical and relies more on the imaginary. It is something that distinguishes a certain emotional value which we as a society prefer a superficial meaningless construction. It is within these two institutions that there should be a reminder not only to the people of Puerto Rico but to society of how the value of certain places being such one that we carry and move on throughout our daily lives. The idea of this sacred institution brings together a place of contemplation, of thought and self-discovery in which the people would have the opportunity to appreciate the place for what it is rather than to change its identity.
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Figure 8.27 View Towards the Horizon of the Atlantic
Final Boards CONSTRUCT of PLACE exploration of meaning in San Juan In our current society we have given too much priority to the intellectual agendas that are essentially accepted in common conditions. One of the most essential task of architecture is to have an understanding of being and to experiense a sense of place. Could this be due to the rationalization of ideas in architecture or is it due to the lack of the architecture not provoking the individual to perceive an understanding of place? We have ignored the value of making authentic architecture, an architecture that expresses civic value and cultural understanding of a place. There has been a neglection in the way society classifies itself as a whole in Puerto Rico. A lack of character within the public realm raises certain questions about meaning and place. By examining these elements and the origin of Old San Juan, a placement of a church would be provided in order to provide a sense of place in the capitol district where there is none. Providing a re-interpretation of a sacred element adjacent to the existing capitol plaza would be a vehicle of self-discovery in which it provides a means of understanding man and its environment.
Thus an emotional and subjective force is required to captivate this through civic design. Yet, forced meaning in a space isn’t the matter; meaning should be open for interpretation and for the imagination of the human spirit.
“the primary task of architecture is to create the experience of placeness, that is, to define man’s location in the homogenous, placeless and meaningless ‘natural’ space that extends to infinity.” Juhani Pallasmaa “The Aura of the Sacred”
san juan, puerto rico
islet of old san juan
capitol district
site panorama
These two institutions, religious and politics, are shown to have a certain dialogue in within what is believed to be the “ideal “place for center of the city. The series of diagrams explores this relationship by how we then try to depict the way we experience this dialogue based on our own interpretations, on our own judgments.
series of objects within a field
The existing south port is removed and replaced by the same isle of rubble from the port itself. This mound would emphasize the contrast of the scale what was there before and remind people of the abandoned structure.
a re-interpretation of a sacred place will emerge from the coast extended by a long walkway
site plan 1:100
Jorge Concepcion - ARCH 799 Thesis II - Professor Reno - Spring 2013 - Board 1 of 4
site section 1/64 = 1’
151
sacred
0
10
30
0
secular
blue stone In order to keep a relationship to the form of the sacred structure to the specifics of the place, the connecting path has the same distance from the capitol to the port on the south end of the axis.
the main mass acting as a stone base of the sacred structure has similar proportions to the main core of the capitol building 1.97
concrete
the two main walls that cut through the base have represents the angles of the porth that was formally on the south of the axis.
is used a strong relationship to the coble stone city streets, this gives a reminder by the texture and color of how the this is the foundation of which the city is experienced on.
the stairs leading up towards the congregational space are attached to one of the main walls.
embodied understanding
0
iso lat
ion
Architectural theorist, such as Christopher Norberg-Schulz, stress in their works clearly not to disregard this idea about place and its significance, “A concrete term for environment is place. It is a common usage to say that acts and occurrences take place; In fact it is meaningless to imagine any happening without reference to a locality. Place is evidently and integral part of existence.” Architecture expressing a sense of locality gives certain significance not just to the design itself but to the people. The spirit of a place or as it is described as representing a certain sense of locality is an idea that should be explored in order to have a certain dialogue of what the design is intended to be. This image above demonstrates the current state of the place beign subject to change for a superficial agenda of a waterfront redevelopment that is thought to be needed within the capitol district.
1.64
E
2.64
E
is used as the new “stone” of the sacred structure in which it would be exposed to the harsh weather conditions. Having this weathered aesthetics is a visual connection of time. Its monumentality and heaviness are qualities that may bring a sublime quality to the structure extended out the water.
local wood
is used such as Caoba within the path and the beams laterally stabalizing the walls within the path. Wood used within the structure brings out the humane quality within the sacred place, keeping in mind the balance needed to create such a place of significance.
view from the capitol steps
the procession of spaces would embody this idea of how architecture can bring an awareness of place, being this the center of the city. Through the essence of a sacred space, the people of Puerto Rico can have the opportunity to grasp an understanding of the relationship of these two institutions, the sacred and the secular that once and still defines a center of a city.
path
A beginning of a journey that we as a society must face as way to learn about the actuality of the landscape
congregation
congregation
A view towards the san cristobal castle reminds the people not only about our past that is being eroded but the crucial need to accept leaving among others no matter the circumstances.
tower
A culminating point which is aligned with one of the angled walls that cuts through the main foundation mass. The tower provides a transition from a dim lighted space at the first level to an overview of the city at the top representing that threshold of the reality of the place.
isolation
A threshold of realization in which the totality of the place can be comprehended from a view the journey has led to.
The path, the congregation and the isolation, being the essence of a sacred space are presented here as three elements that emphasize the idea of this axis as a civic gateway to the old city of San Juan.
foundation
5’x8’ concrete piles will sustain the path, meanwhile the main mass will be placed within an artificial mound ot terrain along with the rumble of what was port along the south of the axis
path
this is the point of transition from the secular to the sacred, in which the steps within the landscape are a treshold to another realm. The plaza acts as the connecting element that relates to this dialogue between these two institutions.
site plan 1/32” = 1’
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
plaza
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Jorge Concepcion - ARCH 799 Thesis II - Professor Reno - Spring 2013 - Board 2 of 4
Jorge Concepcion - ARCH 799 Thesis II - Professor Reno - Spring 2013 - Board 3 of 4
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
the axis reminds us of the importance of these two institutions and emphasizes the civic value of the place of what is considered not only the center of the city but the voice of the people.
Jorge Concepcion - ARCH 799 Thesis II - Professor Reno - Spring 2013 - Board 4 of 4
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Figure 8.28 Final Boards
Final Exhibition
Figure 8.29 Final Exhibition I
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Figure 8.30 Final Exhibition II
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Figure 8.31 Final Exhibition III
Sources
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Rigau, Jorge. Puerto Rico 1900: Turn-of-the-Century Architecture in the Hispanic Caribbean 1890-1930. Rizzoli International Publication, Inc. NewYork, NY, 1992.
Rodriguez Casellas, Miguel. Puertorricanism or Living at Ease in the Surface, Harvard Design Magazine 34: Architecture of Latin America, 2011. Urwin, Simon. Analyzing Architecture. Routledge, London, 2003
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