You always feel under the microscope. The project was a chance to address the original streamline design with new influences. We make spaces that let you enjoy the incredible light and breezes. You can wrestle with complex issues like the Puerto Rican identity as a people. Although Puerto Rico is technically a freely associated commonwealth of the U.S., we consider it a nation.
Architecture is ultimately a cultural statement, a way to express a community's identity.
A visit to the island, where the pro-statehood party is vociferous despite recurring defeats of statehood referendums, reveals a complex political and physical landscape. Old San Juan is an almost perfectly preserved enclave of 16th-century architecture. You could call it a mulatto architecture or an architecture of mixing. Indeed, his approach is celebrated in a beachfront house he and Mr. Davis designed in Ocean Park. The house, with separate guest wing and large outdoor living area around a pool, and a tangle of garden at the beach's edge, is an imprecise mix of colors, textures and styles.