Architecture in Puerto Rico demonstrates a broad variety of styles, trends and forms over the history of the archipelago over four centuries of Spanish rule, and over a century of American rule. Puerto Rican architecture is as diverse as its multicultural society, and has been shaped by many internal and external factors and regional distinctions. Beginning with the early encounter between the indigenous Taino and Spanish colonizers in the last decade of the 15th century, throughout its history Puerto Rico has witnessed both the applications of European and American styles of architecture and the development of local vernacular styles that today form a part of the Puerto Rican society and identity.
Pre-Columbian
When the Spanish first arrived in Puerto Rico in 1493, they noted that the native Taino architectural structures, made primarily of wood and straw, were susceptible to decay. Subsequently, among other aspects of their society, the Taino were viewed as naive and inferior. Taino villages (yucayeques) were arranged in a circular fashion around a courtyard (batey) with huts (bohíos) and larger family longhouses (caneyes) built around it. Although the Spanish used stone building and functional room division within their structures, in the early days of the Spanish settlement of Puerto Rico they also mimicked Taino techniques and styles using wooden posts, walls and roofs for their cottages.
Spanish colonization (16th–18th centuries) The Spanish conquest and colonization of Puerto Rico naturally imported the engineering practices and architectural styles that became the building blocks of the development of a Puerto Rican architecture. The island climate as well as the geographical military strategy were both taken heavily into account when building structures during the early periods of the Spanish settlement of Puerto Rico. In order to keep buildings safe, they were often built within the confines of strong outer stone walls. Inn order to fit all these buildings of various religious, military, and administrative functions, colonial buildings tended to be narrowly built at the time. These buildings were often constructed with a central courtyard in order to allow for natural lightning and ventilation. Colonial architecture in Puerto Rico, particularly the earliest iterations of vernacular styles, takes substantial inspiration from the architecture of Andalusia as many early settlers of the island came from that Spanish region.
Military architecture
The city of San Juan, officially founded in 1521 as Puerto Rico de San Juan Bautista, quickly grew in military importance due to its large and safe natural harbor and for its strategic location in the north coast of the island. San Juan during this time grew to become an important stopover between Europe and the Americas and, for this reason, was often the target of maritime attacks from both pirate and rival European powers. For this purpose, the entirety of the colonial city was fortified with a citywide wall and numerous fortresses, bastions and batteries, virtually turning the city into one of the largest and most impenetrable Spanish military complexes in the world at the time, incorporating both utilitarian and decorative styles informed by previous Gothic and Renaissance trends, and burgeoning Baroque and Neoclassical styles often used in military construction at the time.
A notable example is Fort San Felipe del Morro, designed by Battista Antonelli and Giovanni Battista Antonelli, and built in 1539, at first utilizing Medieval fortification trends but later expanded into its current Renaissance and Baroque presentation. This fortress was built at the northwesternmost tip of the San Juan Islet in order to provide protection to the entrance of the San Juan Bay. Another notable feature of the fortification system, Fort San Cristóbal is a bastion fortress with heavy Vauban influence. This fortification was built in 1634 near the highest natural point of the islet in order fortify its northeastern defense lines and to provide wide projectile commanding view of the bay. La Fortaleza, first built as a rudimentary fortification in 1533 to protect the city from Carib and pirate attacks, was later expanded in the 17th century before being transformed into a Baroque and Neoclassical palatial residence for the governor of Puerto Rico.Spanish fortifications of Puerto Rico erected later in the 19th century were smaller and more utilitarian. These military structures were often multipurpose in function, serving as fortress, barrack and warehouses for the Spanish army in order to defend other coastal cities around the island. These structures were often laid out around a main courtyard and, beginning in the 18th century, incorporated heavy use of Neoclassical styles that were often also utilized in Spanish civic and government buildings across the Caribbean. Examples of these fortresses include Fort San José (1758) in Ponce, the Conde de Mirasol Fortress (1845) in Vieques, Fort of La Concepción (1880) in Aguadilla, and El Castillo (1894) in Ponce. An exception to this trend, in San Juan, the Ballajá Barracks were a larger iteration of this type of structure. Built in 1864, it was the last large military construction project to be erected by the Spanish government before the Spanish–American War, and the last Spanish colonial structure to be built in the Americas.
Religious architecture
The San Juan Cathedral and San José Church are the two primary examples of Gothic architecture in Puerto Rico. With high ceilings and vaulted arches being the interior's primary motif, San José Church is one of the few true Gothic structures in Puerto Rico and the Western Hemisphere. The San Juan Cathedral, built in 1540, was one of the largest Gothic churches built in the Americas at the time. Similar to the Cathedral of Santo Domingo (1550) in the Dominican Republic, it possessed a large central nave flanked by vaulted chapels and arcades. The original cathedral was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1787, prompting its reconstruction in a Baroque style. Although the complete original Gothic structure no longer exists, the present building still preserves several Gothic vaulted chapels. Another example of Gothic religious building in Puerto Rico that no longer exists in its original Gothic style structure include the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo de Porta Coeli in San Germán from 1609.With the enactment of the Law of the Indies in 1573, Roman Catholic churches and other religious buildings became an integral part of the urban development of Puerto Rico and the rest of the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia."Indies, Laws of the" . (2006). In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 22, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online The founding of towns would now be marked by the establishment of a main central square (plaza) flanked by a town hall (alcaldía or cabildo) and the main Roman Catholic church building of the town, either a parish church (parroquia) or cathedral (catedral). Although not as grandiose as those in Mexico, notable Baroque influences in religious structures began to appear in Puerto Rico during the late 17th century. The style was most evident in the curved pediments, Solomonic columns, elaborate retablos, bell-gables (espadañas) and other subtle yet distinctive façade ornamentations. Capilla del Cristo in San Juan, and the Church of San Blas de Illescas, the main parish church of Coamo built in 1661, are notable examples of this trend.Church of San Blas de Illescas of Coamo Other previously existing churches such as the San Germán de Auxerre Church in San Germán, the Invención de la Santa Cruz Church in Bayamón and the Cathedral of San Juan were also rebuilt following Baroque trends of the previous century. The latter was rebuilt in stages during the last decade of the 18th-century and the first of the 19th-century, and it represents a notable application of some Late Baroque hallmarks (such its trompe-l'œil ornamentations) applied to the now-emerging Spanish Neoclassical styles that would later characterize the Puerto Rican churches of the 19th century.
Civic architecture
As with the Roman Catholic churches that were built at the main town squares of Puerto Rico, the Law of the Indies also called for the construction of cabildos, municipal colonial administrative council halls that would later be known as city or town halls (alcaldías or casas consistoriales). The oldest existing one in Puerto Rico is the San Juan City Hall, first established as the cabildo of San Juan in 1604 (the façade however dates to 1840). Another example is the former city hall of San Germán (today the municipal tourism office) built in the 18th century. The central courtyard of the Ponce City Hall, the first purpose-built in Puerto Rico also dates to the 18th century although the wider building dates to the 19th century. Other administrative structures, such as casas del rey (Spanish for "king's houses"), regional and municipal civic buildings that would also house the local militias, jails and other administrative infrastructure, also date to this era.Meléndez Badillo, Jorell A. El cabildo secular en Puerto Rico: Siglos XVI–XVIII. Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Recinto Metropolitano. Available at: https://es.scribd.com/document/355261268/cabildo-puerto-rico-pdf Other than the San Juan, San Germán and Ponce city halls, no cabildos or casas del rey dating to before the 19th-century exist today, as these were usually destroyed or damaged by hurricanes or earthquakes, and torn down to make way for bigger and more modern civic buildings during the 19th and 20th centuries.Arleen Pabón-Charneco. “La Arquitectura Patrimonial Puertorriqueña y sus Estilos.” (2010) Oficina Estatal de Conservación Histórica, Puerto Rico.
Early vernacular styles
The earliest development of vernacular styles in the island were heavily linked to the Taino building practices. These types of structures, although not built to last, were ideal for the tropical climate and the early lack of sturdy building resources during the beginning of the Spanish conquest. The first farmer settlers to the island would also usually live in palm-thatched roofed (yaguas) structures (casas de yagua) very similar to the Taino huts (bohio) and longhouses (caney). These structures could be easily rebuilt in the aftermath of natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. The word "bohio" would soon be incorporated into Puerto Rican Spanish, where to this day it is still used to refer to any rudimental wooden hut, which would become the quintessential home of the Puerto Rican jíbaro later in the 18th and 19th centuries.Delbrey-Ortiz & Dávila. (2020). Pop Vernacular: The Banal in Puerto Rican Domestic Architecture. INFORMA, Vol. 12, Issue EV2. Universidad de Puerto Rico. Available at: https://revistas.upr.edu/images/informa/2020/v12/ev2.pdf