San Juan, Puerto Rico Is a Supremely Underrated Historic Architectural Goldmine

TravelSan Juan, Puerto Rico, Is a Supremely Underrated Historic Architectural Goldmine The first structures in the New World are right smack dab in the capital of this American territoryDecember 13, 2021Image may contain Nature Water Outdoors Ocean Sea River Shoreline Land Cliff Promontory Coast and SceneryCastillo San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan has been standing for more than 500 years.Photo: Discover Puerto Rico

Arguably New York City’s most impressive collection of architectural masterpieces were the Gilded Age mansions that flanked Fifth Avenue. From The Vanderbilt’s grandiose John B. Snook–designed townhouse on 54th Street to The Astor’s French Rococo–style manor 20 blocks south, the extravagant display of wealth has since been demolished in favor of more contemporary structures that, unlike the 19th-century limestone jewels of Midtown, are clad in floor-to-ceiling reflective glass panes and glossy steel. And while some architects prefer to guide their respective cities’ skylines into the future, others prefer to preserve the historic structures that, over many centuries, have become the metropolises’ pièces de résistance. One such architect is San Juan’s,  Andy Rivera, the president and founder of the Puerto Rico Historic Building Drawing Society. 

Image may contain Walkway Path Sidewalk Pavement Door Cobblestone and WindowPresident and founder of the Puerto Rico Historic Building Drawing Society (PRHBDS), Andy Rivera explains, “San Juan's buildings feature preserved and restored traditional balconies, which are the only ones that still follow the Canary Islands style.”Photo: Discover Puerto Rico

One of six children born to Puerto Rican migrants, Rivera spent his first 12 years in the Bronx before moving to the Island, where he lived on his grandfather’s Las Piedras farm in the El Yunque rainforest. And it was among flowering banana trees and animals that Rivera realized his innate talent for drawing and drafting, two highly prized and almost necessary skills for any architect—no matter how established. “My journey to architecture was kind of zigzagged but mostly intuitive,” he notes. “As a kid, I was always captivated by the stately colonial buildings I saw when we visited what we called the ‘Islet of San Juan.’” But like any architect, Rivera humored a curiosity that delved beneath the surface of the colorful 19th-century structures lining the cobblestone roads. He explains, “The old haciendas and balconied wooden houses of my countryside home inspired in me a curiosity. I wanted to know how they were built to endure the sometimes punishing tropical weather, withstanding constant heat and humidity.”

So he enrolled in the Escuela de Arquitectura de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, where he developed a sincere passion for both classical architectural traditions and the merits of tropical design. After all, the 16th-century Spanish forts in the Puerto Rican capital are the oldest European construction in any United States territory and among the oldest in the Americas. The entire city, bathed in sunlight from nearly every angle, is like a beautiful time capsule that displays so many of the last several centuries’ most prevalent architectural styles, including Gothic, Baroque, Art Deco, and even Mid-Century Modern. Rivera notes, “Settlers brought to the Island their own constructive traditions and regional styles, which influenced and shaped Puerto Rico’s colonial architecture. And as the city developed, new structures were built, and others were modified in the styles that were in vogue as different design movements emerged.”

“The colorful palette adorning the San Juan buildings nowadays—pink salmon sky blue apple green lilac and canary...“The colorful palette adorning the San Juan buildings nowadays—pink, salmon, sky blue, apple green, lilac, and canary yellow—dates back to the the mid-20th century as the result of an initiative launched to make the city more attractive to tourists,” Rivera explains. Before painting, though, residents must get color approval from the government.Photo: Discover Puerto Rico

And somehow, the collection of buildings—from the circa-1532 San José Church and its gray marble floors, gold altar, and highly detailed frescoes to Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1949 Henry Klumb House—don’t contribute to a sense of aesthetic randomness. In fact, they work like a timeline that starts during the medieval period, through the Renaissance, and, eventually, to the 21st century. The district’s colorful 74 blocks are like a living map frozen in time that displays how more than 500 years of architectural history have managed to circumvent the constructs of time. “Old San Juan is a little medieval European city that’s almost completely surrounded by azure blue sea; it’s really a jewel,” Rivera admits. “There is nothing like it in the Western Hemisphere.” He’s not wrong: So many of these storied buildings have been expertly restored and transformed into everything from theaters to hotels.

Image may contain Pool Water Swimming Pool Building and HotelPalacio Provincial, a late-19th-century structure that opened as a boutique hotel last January, features a rooftop infinity pool overlooking the San Juan Bay and the Old City below. Photo: Palacio Provincial

One hotel that made some much-deserved noise in San Juan is the 43-room Enrique Berrocal–designed Palacio Provincial, a circa-1872 building that, when it swung open its doors at the beginning of 2021, became the first full-service hotel on the island that has opened in nearly a century. The palatial hotel, swathed in a sunny canary yellow hue, is a glimmering example of an expertly restored space that prioritizes contemporary amenities—a rooftop infinity pool and an open-air dining concept, Consular Restaurant and Bar—without losing its historical bones or integrity.

That treasured sense of respect for the past runs through every nook and cranny—the distinctive blue cobblestones imported from England in the 18th century, the circa-1539 six-story triangular fort dubbed El Morro, and conquistador Juan Ponce de León’s Casa Blanca, which remained in his family for more than three centuries—is what gives San Juan its undeniable charisma.


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Originally posted on: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/san-juan-architecture-tour