CENTRO DE LA FACULTAD, UPR
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Design
Honor Award, VII Bienal de Arquitectura de Puerto Rico
Certificate of Honor, AIA-Puerto Rico Honor Awards
The father of tropical modernism in Puerto Rico, Henry Klumb, was the architect of a number of signal buildings on the University of Puerto Rico campus, including the Faculty Center. Designed in 1949, this building, with its Wrightian influences, is an important part of the post-war modernization of the university.
Working over the course of two summers with a team of graduate students from the School of Architecture, we developed three alternative proposals to rescue this building, both architecturally and programmatically, and revitalize it to serve again as the faculty center. These proposals were presented to the University Senate, which, with a standing ovation, endorsed the most radical proposal, to demolish all the bad interventions done over five decades, even though it implied a loss of almost half of the building space.
With the approval of the Senate, and supported by the Chancellor, the Board of Regents approved $2.3 million towards the completion of the project.