School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation

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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Puerto Rico

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    The Resilient Island - Revitalizing a Broken Home
    (2022) Peña, Alexander Bradley; Hu, Ming; Tilghman, James; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Disaster struck Puerto Rico on September 6th, 2017, when Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, breached the islands. Communities had no time to recover as Hurricane Maria, an even bigger threat, reached land not more than two weeks later. These two disasters happening in quick succession led to a devastating death toll of 2,975 people and caused a total of $90 billion in damages. This had been the most devastating disaster to hit in over 100 years. The people of Puerto Rico are still recovering to this day and are trying to find solutions to creating community resiliency. This thesis will focus primarily on what makes a community resilient and how to apply this to other Caribbean nations. Not all Caribbean islands face the same challenges and each one has its own identity. To assume that all islands are the same would be irrational. Additionally, this thesis will look at how a community can shift from being unconventional to very functional. Throughout the recent years, there has been a shift in design and function toward creating communities that are more sustainable, durable, and resilient. While this shift can occur easily in more modern societies, those that lack the resources to do so will continue to struggle unless proper support can be given.
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    The Resilient Island - Revitalizing a Broken Home
    (2022-05) Pena, Alexander; Hu, Ming; Tilghman, James
    Disaster struck Puerto Rico on September 6th, 2017, when Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, breached the islands. Communities had no time to recover as Hurricane Maria, an even bigger threat, reached land not more than two weeks later. These two disasters happening in quick succession led to a devastating death toll of 2,975 people and caused a total of $90 billion in damages. This had been the most devastating disaster to hit in over 100 years. The people of Puerto Rico are still recovering to this day and are trying to find solutions to creating community resiliency. This thesis will focus primarily on what makes a community resilient and how to apply this to other Caribbean nations. Not all Caribbean islands face the same challenges and each one has its own identity. To assume that all islands are the same would be irrational. Additionally, this thesis will look at how a community can shift from being unconventional to very functional. Throughout the recent years, there has been a shift in design and function toward creating communities that are more sustainable, durable, and resilient. While this shift can occur easily in more modern societies, those that lack the resources to do so will continue to struggle unless proper support can be given.
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    Cinema and Architecture: Designing for the Puerto Rico International Film Festival
    (2011) Fuentes-Figueroa, Merian Lorie; Quiros, Luis D; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Reality and Fiction collide, opposites interact and the local film culture is enhanced with the design of a home for the Puerto Rico International Film Festival. PRIFF is an opportunity to create a formal destination for individuals passionate about film and to establish the basis for a Puerto Rican film culture in a setting where users will interact and exchange ideas while they experience the shift between reality and fiction expressed in the architecture. The project is a hybrid idea that combines Cinemas, Cultural Center and Production Studios. It is a cultural hub that seats at the heart of a new master plan for an undeveloped site at the shore of the San Juan Bay.
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    RETHINKING THE SCHOOL: A NEW MODEL FOR SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
    (2010) Sanchez, Ramon Eduardo; Williams, Isaac S; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    More than a century ago school buildings started to change from a home-like building to a more industrial type. In order to standardize the learning process, a classroom layout that promotes only one type of learning activity while ignoring the compound nature of learning has been created. This layout has promoted a school model that not only repeatedly disregards the building, the site, and the community but also resembles a prison. For decades, research has discouraged use of the "traditional" classroom as the only space for learning yet most school buildings have not responded to that change. In different countries, experimentation with the school building and classroom architecture responds to the necessities of the students. What should be the next step in designing pedagogical environments? In the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the public school system has reasonable numbers of students in the classrooms. Although the Department of Education philosophy has started to define some progressive pedagogical ideas, there is no strong articulation of the role of the school building to achieve these. This means that the problem might lie in the architecture of the building rather than overcrowded schools. The goal of this thesis is to produce a model that creates a learning environment that responds to the different natures of the students so that they can become active participants in their education and, eventually, a generation of critical thinkers for the country.
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    An Artisans' Marketplace in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
    (2005-06-27) Ferrer-Rodriguez, Roberto; Du Puy, Karl F.G.; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In San Juan, Puerto Rico, artisans work and sometimes live as nomads. The lack of permanent places to exhibit and sometimes produce their work makes them highly dependent on tourism agencies and private companies to provide them with places and opportunities to sell their work. The existing site is located on the south border of Plaza Mayor in Old San Juan and occupied by a department store at ground level with office and retail spaces in the upper floors. The objective of this thesis is to design a permanent artisans' marketplace with residences on this site. It proposes to bring the production and sale of this art into the heart of this historic and culturally important city. It aims to explore the insertion of a contemporary building in a historic context without copying the forms of the past while preserving the character and scale of the space.