“Encounters”

Spring 2022

Through an ephemeral architecture and a collection of light, loose objects that emerges from the local context of San Juan, this project expands and makes visible the potential of informal, everyday spaces as a form of political resistance to colonialism and existing institutional models. The goals of this project are to provide visibility to local and indigenous populations and to expand the limits of conventional expectations of public institutions as static, solid and isolated. As waves of gentrification continue to reproduce and exacerbate inequalities left in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017, the design disentangles a network of public spaces and informal activities across the island and reappropriates them onto a socially contested site in San Juan. The existing building on the site acts as a storage container for artifacts and informal histories that, through a lightweight application of architecture and programming, opens up and spills out into the streets of San Juan. The artifacts become catalysts for activating available energy and resources on the island while revealing neglected public spaces, rendering existing narratives more visibly and creating new dialogues with the surrounding urban context.

San Juan, Puerto Rico