Construction at the Caribe Hilton Hotel - PRAHA

Construction at the Caribe Hilton Hotel

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Description

A view of the construction of the guest room tower at the Caribe Hilton Hotel with scaffolding at both sides and a vertical wall in the middle. Various workers can be seen in the building, while in the surroundings, there are piles of blocks, wood boards, pipes, sheds, a concrete mixer truck, and a dump truck.
Origin Name
CSAST - 2008 (360)
Relation
Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín > Colección Samuel Santiago > Carpeta 7 (Caribe Hilton I)
Geographical Coverage
San Juan
Date
[aproximadamente 1948]
Descriptive Notes
Title assigned by the cataloging team. The note on the front of the image reads: "Caribe-Hilton Hotel San Juan P.R Puerto Rico Ind. Dev. Co., Owner Toro, Ferrer & Torregrosa, Archt. Geo. A. Fuller Co. of P.R., Builders Photo No. Date."
Descripción decolonial
The Caribe Hilton Hotel's construction captures the rhetoric of progress and environmental transformation. The modernist, tropicalist design, rejecting historical styles, symbolizes Puerto Rico's push toward a progressive and forward-looking identity. The bustling construction scene underscores the government's commitment to modernism as a tool for shaping cultural identity. However, the juxtaposition of workers, scaffolding, and building materials woven between a strand of palm trees highlights the environmental impact and the challenges of the government’s plan for development. The tension between progress, tropicality, and environmental consequences encapsulates the nuanced narrative of Puerto Rico's pursuit of modernity in this transformative period.
Historical Background
Architectural Subject
  • Hotels (built public accommodations)
  • Frontages
  • Brise-soleils
  • Scaffolds
  • Concrete mixers
  • Dump trucks
  • Blocks (shaped masses)
  • Lampposts
  • Tubes (object forms)
  • Waterfronts
  • Construction workers
  • International Style (modern European architecture style)
Decolonial Subject
Rights
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Editor
Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín
Resource Format
JPEG
Resource Type
Image
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