About David:

David Soto Padín holds a Masters of Science in Transportation Engineering from Portland State University and a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus where he led the creation and implementation of a Campus Bicycle Master Plan, as well as other active transportation initiatives. He is the founder of the Puerto Rico Art Deco Society (also known as SPAH) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rico Historic Building Drawings Society (PRHBDS). As part of his endeavors documenting and promoting Art Deco heritage, David has developed an accessible database of Art Deco buildings, served as keynote speaker at the 2013 World Congress on Art Deco in Havana, and has secured publications promoting local Art Deco heritage and participation in ICADS events in Puerto Rico’s major newspaper. This year, he led PRHBDS’s first Art Deco walking tour through Old San Juan.

Caribbean Crush of Cultures and Deco Varieties

A sequence of events starting with the invasion of Spaniards in 1492 would eventually trigger a diverse amalgamation of Art Deco style variants. To illustrate, Moorish revival and Spanish revival architecture styles, for example, were frequently combined with Art Deco designs together with motifs of Native Caribbeans. In some cases these hybridizations are clearly observable from the exterior façade while in other cases Art Deco interiors inside Spanish Revival buildings reflect the embracement of Art Deco with affluence and technological progress. Finally, another form of hybridization can be observed where Art Deco façades replace exteriors of colonial buildings, combining historic building geometries with novel building elements. These works are the product of notable architects such as Francisco Roldán, known for his Moorish Revival buildings, and Francisco Porrata Doria, known for his eclectic buildings which often combined three or more architecture styles for a truly unique architecture style. While these architects were inspired by the clash of cultures in Puerto Rico, none is quite as romantic as the case of engineer Jaime Benítez who built the Hotel Normandie inspired by the first meeting the love of his life on the famed ocean liner of the same name. Without a doubt these are what make Puerto Rico’s Art Deco truly unique across the world; the combination of cultures and experiences that took root and flourished in our enclosed Island context.