The Architecture of San Juan de Puerto Rico: Five Centuries of Urban and Architectural Experimentation

As San Juan nears the 500th anniversary of its founding, Arleen Pabón-Charneco explores the urban and architectural developments that have taken place over the last five centuries, transforming the site from a small Caribbean enclave to a sprawling modern capital.

As the oldest European settlement in the United States and second oldest in the Western Hemisphere, San Juan is an example of the experimentation that took place in the American ＂borderland＂ from 1519 to 1898, when Spanish sovereignty ended. The author also investigates post-1898 examples to explore how architectural ideas were exported from the mainland United States.

Pabón-Charneco covers the varied architectural periods and styles, aesthetic theories and conservation practices of the region and explains how the development of the architectural and urban artifacts reflect the political, cultural, social and religious aspects that metamorphosed a small military garrison into a urban center of international significance.

Arleen Pabón-Charneco is a sanjuanera by birth and a Floridian by choice. She holds a PhD from Northwestern University and a Master of Architecture (AIA Henry Adams Medal) and Juris Doctor from the University of Puerto Rico. She is currently a professor at the School of Architecture + Engineering Technology at Florida A&M University where she teaches architectural history, philosophy and theory, as well as historic preservation. She twice served as State Historic Preservation Officer and advisor to the Governor of Puerto Rico (Culture, Planning and Urbanism). At present she is an advisor emeritus for the National Trust of Historic Preservation, corresponding academician for the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Saint George, and member of the Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation. She is the author of dozens of articles, presentations and books, and her doctoral dissertation interpreted the architectural collaborative activities within Antoni Gaudí’s atelier.