Crop Inspection at Clemente Otero's Farm in Vega Baja

PRA 0094 F0001

Archivo de Arquitectura y Construcción de la Universidad de Puerto Rico > Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration > Cartapacio 18

Vega Baja

1938

Title assigned by the cataloguing team. Right at the bottom of the image it says: "2080 clemente otero's farm + house Bo. Pugnado Afuera Vega Baja Morovis Rd. Oct, 1938". The general description contains information provided by the Architectural and Construction Archive of the University of Puerto Rico (AACUPR).

Experimental houses, spearheaded by the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) and pictured here on the farmstead of Clemente Otero, represented an ambitious and complex effort to modernize rural living while addressing economic challenges. The transition from traditional yagua huts to “hurricane-proof” concrete structures was meant to symbolize a shift towards progress and resilience in the face of natural disasters. Yet, the concrete home, set against the backdrop of Puerto Rican flora, also recalls dichotomies of nature and culture that have traditionally reinforced the colonial ethos. The new concrete home, while perhaps more resilient, likewise symbolizes the loss of traditional architectures (including Indigenous techniques of woodworking). So too, such an image of agro-economic interventions (here, embodied by a banana field overseen by men in suits with modern vehicles in the distance), would reflect real efforts to enhance food security and local autonomy even as it recalls colonial histories of extractive economy.

English Rights. (hyperlink)

Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín

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