Restoration of the Old Entrance Steps and Portico of the Old Cemetery
in the City of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
€
Restoration of the Old Entrance Steps and Portico of the Old Cemetery
in the City of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
€
Mayagüez Old Cemetery
University of Rio Piedras
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. 1995
Rigau + Penabad Arquitectos
Jorge Rigau AIA and
Juan Penabad
.
The Spanish Colonial Cemetery of the city of Mayagüez, has been restored to its
original
urban relevance. The architects, Rigau +Penabad, from San Juan, aimed at rescuing it
as a public
space.
The intervention increased the scale and monumentally of the site by completing its original (weak) formal and axial composition, enhancing its presence in the city by creating a green park. A new service building now balances the existing assymetry, its steel facade being an interpretation of an existing similar volume.
Surrounded by lush greenery, the stepped entrance to this cemetery - built in the late 19th century in masonry - was highly deteriorated to the point of becoming a public nuisance. Failing to comply with any contemporary building codes, the stairs had lost many of its steps, and several accidents had been reported on the premises.
Making the steps functional again would have required their demolition and total reconstruction. As a consequence, the aging quality of the structure - one of its main attractives - would have been lost. The adopted solution preserved the historical appearance of the existing steps, building a new pair of steel steps which - light in appearance - seem to "flow" like a rug, detached from the original brick steps. The look and material of the new steps are contrasted against the age of the existing stairs. The latter now remain, on purpose, as a ruin, a la Ruskin. Aging by creating mold on the steps was accelerated by repeatedly pouring beer (because of the yeast) over them.
Service Building façade and cemetery steps
The steel stairs leave from a wide sidewalk along one of the city's main streets, climbing up above the original steps, penetrating two existing retaining walls and following their ascent to a gravel area with benches, a larger paved section and, eventually, the main portico.
The original steps include two equally old retaining walls which were literally falling apart, lacking the appropiate foundation, their integrity challenged by the surrounding trees and their roots. These walls were restored to their original shape and construction material. Behind these, two new retaining walls were built with a dual purpose in mind. First, to diminish the load exerted by the ground against the old walls. Second, to enhance the presence of the steps in the city in a scenographic way. It should be noted, that in the 19th century, the steps used to signal one of the entrances to the city. The street in which they sit still acts as a main access, but the city has grown several times by now. Given so, the enlarged "shoulders" that the new retaining walls represent reflect that enlarged scale which the city now enjoys. In that sense, we have not restored this locus in just physical terms, but also, in perceptual ones.
Caribbean and Global
Links /
Architecture
/
Urban /
History /
Publications
/
Organizations
/
Contacts
