Moved, Touched and Inspired

Architecture // Ernesto Santalla // History // Influences // Travel

I’m often asked what inspired me to be an architect? I think I finally remembered when it happened.

I must have been twelve years old when I visited a friend’s house in Puerto Rico and their home was being remodeled. It was fascinating. Things were gone, others had appeared and a transformation had begun. I was moved and inspired in that moment when a new possibility opened up to me: to effect change in the physical world through design. Years later, I decided to become an architect and many years after that I am still in love with the art of construction.

MC_Escher_Relativity_Stairs_by_ICPJuggalo1988
A drawing by Escher-a master in the art of possibilities

 

Authentic Design?

Architecture // Ernesto Santalla // History // Influences // Travel

Authentic design? Is there such a thing? Is copying the highest form of flattery? Can you improve upon the original?

As a budding architecture student, I was exposed to the best examples in the history of architecture, which became my paradigms of authentic design. During this time, I gave visiting relatives a tour of Old San Juan. Colonized cities follow a plan established by royal edict, therefore many cities established by Spaniards bear a striking resemblance. Both Havana and San Juan have a fortification known as El Morro, which guarded them from attacks by the sea. It so happens the walls of the interior courtyard of El Morro in San Juan are stuccoed and painted, a fact my uncle found offensive. To paraphrase, he declared this masterpiece of colonial naval architecture inauthentic. Had I been visiting Havana, I might have objected to bare stone wall and thus declare San Juan as the authentic design.

Authentic design Inside El Morro