Pedro Adolfo de Castro

Pedro Adolfo de Castro was a twentieth-century architect from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Pedro Adolfo de Castro Besosa
Born5 January 1895[1][2]
New York City, United States
Died18 October 1936[3]
San Juan, Puerto Rico[3]
NationalityPuerto Rican
EducationUniversity of Syracuse
Known forArchitect
Notable work
Puerto Rico Capitol, Castillo Serrallés, Casa de España, Residencia Jacobo Cabassa (Ponce), Escuela Central de Santurce, Centro de Recreo en Santiago de los Caballeros (D.R.)
Spouse(s)Altagracia Gayá Ballesteros[3]
ChildrenPedro A. de Castro Gayá
Patron(s)Government of Puerto Rico

Early years

He was born Pedro Adolfo de Castro Besosa[note 1] in January 1895, in Brooklyn, New York,[3] to Pedro De Castro (1867 - 1928; from Ceiba, Puerto Rico)[4] and Manuela Mima Besosa (1872 - 1963; from Ponce, Puerto Rico).[5] His family moved back to Puerto Rico when he was five years old.[6]

Schooling

At the age of 19, in 1914, he traveled to New York where he attended school at the Syracuse University, graduating in 1918 with a degree in architecture. He was the first Puerto Rican to graduate from a U.S. school of architecture.[6][7]

Career

Returning to Puerto Rico in 1918, De Castro Besosa started working at the Puerto Rico Department of the Interior in San Juan, under the direction of Puerto Rico's state architect Adrian Finlayson. During his two-year stay with the government of Puerto Rico (1919-1921), he designed the Puerto Rico Capitol building and the Escuela Central de Santurce building.[2] From his insular government job, Besosa moved to the private sector working for Antonín Nechodoma. There, he designed not only buildings but also lamps, mosaics, furniture, and other products. His private practice was marked by his own interpretation of Spanish architecture to define a purely local Puerto Rican architecture.[6]

Works

De Castro Besosa was the architect most involved in the development of the architecture of the Condado section of San Juan, and his works can be seen throughout the Condado area.[6] He also designed residential estates such as Castillo Serrallés (1926) and Residencia Jacobo Cabassa (1934), both in Ponce.[6][8] During the years between 1918 and 1936, De Castro Besosa designed over 160 residential projects, 35 apartment buildings, 16 theaters, plus several commercial buildings and civic clubs.[6][9] He also worked extensively in the Dominican Republic,[6] where he designed and built residential projects as well as the Centro de Recreo en Santiago de los Caballeros (the Santiago de los Caballeros Recreational Center).[10]

Several of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[11]

Works include:

Death

De Castro Besosa died when his small airplane crashed on 18 October 1936.[2][12] He was 41 years old.[10]

Legacy

Castillo Serrallés, designed by De Castro y Besosa, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[13] One of De Castro Besosa's four children, Pedro A. de Castro Gayá (b. 1919), also became a notable architect in Puerto Rico,[3][6] designing, among others, the Ponce YMCA Building.[14]

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See also

Notes
  1. This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is de Castro and the second or maternal family name is Besosa.

References
  1. Enrique Vivori Farage. Alarife de Sueños/Architect of Dreams: Pedro Adolfo de Castro y Besosa. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Archivo de Arquitectura y Construccion de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (AACUPR). 1999. Page 9. ISBN 0-9650094-0-8.
  2. PdC: Colección Pedro A. de Castro. University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. School of Architecture Archives. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. Pedro Adolfo De Castro (1894 - 1936). Ancestry.com: Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  4. Pedro De Castro (1867 - 1928). Ancestry.com: Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  5. Manuela Mima Besosa (1872 - 1963). Ancestry.com: Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  6. Algunos Arquitectos en Miramar. Archived 10 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Sociedad Historica de Miramar. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  7. Artes / Arquitectura en Puerto Rico: hacer y quehacer de nuestras identidades. Archived 14 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  8. La Permanencia de lo Efimero: Actualidad Patrimonial en la Arquitectura de Siglo XX. El Caribe y Andalucia: Los casos de Puerto Rico y Malaga. Arquitectura del Siglo XX en la Isla del Encanto. (Sevilla, Spain. March 2009). Archivo de Arquitectura y Construccion de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. (AACUPR) 25 August 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  9. Archivo de Arquitectura y Construccion de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. Yadira Tirado. Archivo y Centro de Investigacion: Institucion Academica. Universidad de Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. Escuela de Arquitectura y Construcción. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  10. "Paisajes urbanos". Carmen Dolores Hernández. In, "1986-2006: Vigesimo Aniversario. Archivo de Arquitectura y Construcción de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (AACUPR)." Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad de Puerto Rico. 2006. (Her review of the book: "Alarife de sueños / Architect of dreams: Pedro Adolfo de Castro y Besosa" by Enrique Vivoni Farage. San Juan: Archivo de Arquitectura y Construcción de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1999, 224pp.) Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  11. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 9 July 2010.
  12. Enrique Vivori Farage. Alarife de Sueños/Architect of Dreams: Pedro Adolfo de Castro y Besosa. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Archivo de Arquitectura y Construccion de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (AACUPR). 1999. Page 103. ISBN 0-9650094-0-8.
  13. Luis Muñoz Polanco. 1980. 7 July 1980. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form - Castillo de Serrallés. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8, Page 3. Listing Reference Number 80004494. 3 November 1980.
  14. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Ponce Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Building. Juan Llanes Santos. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Oficina Estatal de Conservación Histórica de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 17 April 2012. Accessed 17 March 2016.
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