Casa Fullana: a model for modern living in the tropics

Authors

  • Andrés Mignucci Association of Collegiate School of Architecture (ACSA)

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52200/64.A.ZEBGXTY3

Keywords:

Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern housing

Abstract

Casa Fullana [Fullana House], built in 1955 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an exemplary model of Henry Klumb’s (1905-1984) design principles for modern living in the tropics. German architect Henry Klumb conducted a prolific architectural practice in Puerto Rico, producing some of the most iconic examples of tropical modernism in the Caribbean. His work, most notably at the University of Puerto Rico (1946-1966) (UPR) and in landmark projects like the San Martin de Porres Church (1948) in Cataño, constituted a breakthrough in Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latin American architecture. Anchored in the principles of modern architecture, specifically of an organic architecture put forward by his mentor Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), Klumb’s work is deeply rooted in the specificities of the landscape, topography, and climate of Puerto Rico as a tropical island.

How to Cite

Mignucci, A. (2021). Casa Fullana: a model for modern living in the tropics. Docomomo Journal, (64), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.52200/64.A.ZEBGXTY3

Published

2021-04-01

Issue

No. 64 (2021): Modern Houses

Section

Essays

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Andrés Mignucci

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Plaudit

Author Biography

Andrés Mignucci, Association of Collegiate School of Architecture (ACSA)

(Puerto Rico, 1957) Puerto Rican architect, urbanist, and educator. Andrés Mignucci studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the recipient of the National Architecture Prize in Architecture, a Henry Klumb Award Laureate, and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. In 2019, Andrés Mignucci was selected as Rockefeller Foundation Arts & Literary Arts Scholar-in-Residence at the Bellagio Center. Association of Collegiate School of Architecture (ACSA) Distinguished Professor. He is a founding member of docomomo Puerto Rico.

References

CRU Z, César A., Puerto Rico’s Henry Klumb: A Modern Architect’s Sense of Place, London, Routledge, 2020.

GALLART , Mary Frances, “Entre lo fundamental y el detalle: El rol de las clientas en la obra de Henry Klumb”, Informa, No. 2, San Juan, UPR, 2006, 56-71.

KLUMB, Henry, An Architecture of Social Concern, Vol. 4, 1947-1955, Office of Henry Klumb unpublished manuscript.

MIGNUCCI, Andrés, OLIVER, María Isabel, “El Centro de Estudiantes de Henry Klumb en la Universidad de Puerto Rico. El edificio moderno y la sociedad contemporánea”, in Carolina Carrasco (Ed.), Arquitectura y Modernidad en Contextos Regionales, Valparaiso, USM Editorial, 2017, 20-23.

VIVONI, Enrique (Ed.), Klumb: An Architecture of Social Concern, San Juan, Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2007.