RECENT CIVIC ARCHITECTURE IN PORTO RICO Adrian C Finlayson, Architect for the Insular Department of the Interior BY SYLVESTER BAXTER.
VISITORS to Porto Rico aRe in-
variably impressed by the ad-
mirable quality of the modern
civic architecture that abounds in all sections of the beautiful island. There are few towns that do not possess at least one fine schoolhouse, and not infre- quently in such a town may be seen two or three other notable public buildings. In particular the citizens are justly proud of their handsome schoolhouses, usually the most monumental building in the place, even outranking the parish church. The impress thus made upon the island’s aspect, imparting a distinctively new note to its architectural quality that keeps well in accord with its Spanish traditions, speaks highly for what has been achieved by American influence in the little more than two decades since Porto Rico be- came United States territory.
It is doubtful if any State of the Union has exerted from a central source so gen- eral an activity in the construction of civic edifices as has the insular govern- ment of Porto Rico since its reorganiza- tion under the Stars and Stripes. The Interior Department of the territory has extensive constructional functions, such as building highways, bridges and other public works throughout the island, to- gether with the designing and erection of such public buildings as may be au- thorized and entrusted to it by insular or municipal authorities. The local authori- ties, to be sure, have the right to erect their own civic buildings. But the In- terior Department is so well equipped for this work, and has such a name for excellence in design, that very sensibly they prefer to delegate the designing and execution to the central authority. Moreover, the public school system of Porto Rico is highly centralized under
the control of the Insular Department of Education, being organized with uniform standards for the entire island under the direction of the Commis- sioner of Education appointed by the President of the United States. The post, which for a long time has been admirably filled by Dr. Paul H. Miller, is thus re- moved from interference by local poli- ticians. This circumstance naturally tends towards the designing of school buildings by a competent central author- ity familiar both with the best standards of construction and with the peculiar re- quirements of a tropical environment, since all plans for school buildings have to be approved by the Department of Education.
The architect of the Interior Depart- ment has for some years been Mr. Adrian
Finlayson, a native of the States and a graduate of the department of archi- tecture at Syracuse University, New York. The department’s architectural division, occupying a large part of the second floor of the interesting old Gov- ernment Building on the east side of the Plaza de Baldorioty, in San Juan, has a large and well organized office-force, con- sisting for the greater part of native Porto Ricans, but including a few young men from the States attracted by the charms of a tropical climate and the op- portunity to familiarize themselves with the requirements of construction under tropical conditions, so different in various important respects from those imposed by a northern climate. The work turned out by these young Porto Rican drafts- men attests the existence of much local artistic talent. No greater competence could be desired than that shown by the talented chief draftsman of the office, Mr. Francisco Roldan, who in a course
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