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GEOGRAPHICGEOGRAPHIC

LOCATIONLOCATION

HISTORICHISTORICBACKGROUNDBACKGROUND

FISHERMEN’SFISHERMEN’S

LIFESTYLELIFESTYLE

CONTEXTCONTEXT

ARCHITECTONICARCHITECTONIC BACKGROUND BACKGROUND

SITESITE

CONCEPTCONCEPTCONCEPTCONCEPT

PROGRAMPROGRAM

STRUCTURESTRUCTURE

THE “PLAZA”THE “PLAZA”

THE BRIDGETHE BRIDGE

THE TOWERTHE TOWER

THE KIOSKSTHE KIOSKS

THE ROOFTHE ROOF

ENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL

CONSIDERATIONSCONSIDERATIONS

DRAWINGSDRAWINGS

CONCLUSIONSCONCLUSIONS

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The experience of walking through the streets ofPuerto Real and talking to its residents made me realize thatthis project has to bring back the presence of the coast andthe water to the daily activities of the residents’ life. Thinkingabout the needs of its residents and visitors and the naturalresources that this town enjoys I imagined a project thatworks as a window that opens the streets of the town and thelife of its people to the neighboring coast and water. Beingthe water the main source of food, work, and entertainment ina fishing village this project has to be built into the water andexclaim all the properties of this natural resource. Iconsidered all characteristics and possibilities of the site Ichose that could help me achieve all my expectations andgoals as a designer while fulfilling the needs of the town.

I decided to bring the coast backfrom its present unnatural shape to itsoriginal contour by removing the entirefill from the site, thus respecting thenatural contour of the bay. In order tomake this idea possible I removed theexisting buildings and disconnected thepiers from the land. I then proposed alocation for the Fish Market right in thewater to create a direct contact with thefishermen and the natural resources.The location of the buildings, separatedfrom land, gives better access to theboats and fishermen when using thepiers while creating a close and intimatespace in the water between the landand the building. At the same time theprovoked separation provides anattraction for the tourists to enjoy theastonishing views provided by the baywhile getting pleasure from the buildingand boardwalk in the water. Eventhough I removed the existing buildingsand part of the piers, I used their originalorientation, the form of the spaces andthe contour of the fill, to orient thespaces and the structure of the newproject. In this way I believe I am bothrespecting the original naturalsurrounding of the site while showingconsideration for the years of humanpresence on this piece of land.


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WATER

C O M E R C I A L S P A C E S

TOWER

S E R V I C E S P A C E

piers

ISLAND

BRIDGE

PLAZA

The project was designed to contain all the spaces neededto fulfill the needs of a building that is going to work as a publicFish Market; but at the same time a building that is expected towork as the economic, cultural and social center of the village ofPuerto Real. To complete all its expectation the program of theproject is as follows:

• Plaza – 1430 square feet

• Bridge – 125 feet long

• Tower – 80 feet height

• Fish Market

§ 7 spaces for storage, freezers, and bathrooms

– 121 square feet each

§ 10 kiosks for fresh fish sale – 144 square feet

each

§ Kitchen – 540 square feet

§ Open terrace for restaurant – 1680 square feet

§ 1 internal stair

§ 1 external ramp – 122 feet long

§ 4 wood docks for the fishermen’s use – 300

feet long each

piers pierspiers

WATER

10

STRUCTURAL FLOOR PLAN

STRUCTURALELEMENTS

DETAIL OF WOOD, FIXED PIER CONSTRUCTION USING SPLIT, PILE CAP.

Photograph from book: Marinas and Small craft harbors

The structure of the Fish Market’s building was designed withvarious materials that single out the different use of each structuralmember and represent the architectural elements existing in thebuildings of the Puerto Real community. The structure of the buildingwas a dual representation of the town being designed in concrete andwood as the representative materials of the village’s vernaculararchitecture while steel and fabric were introduced as modernmaterials and techniques in construction. The foundation of thebuilding along with the system of underwater columns and beams areto be built in concrete thus fulfilling the requirement of a strong andlong lasting structure. The solidity of the concrete in the main columnscontrast and disseminate in a metal structure consisting of columnsand beams that concludes in a translucent and light fabric roofstructure. The transparent and ephemeral condition of the building’sstructure avoid the possibility of being a visual obstacle to the bay’sviews and permits a visual fusion among the market, coast, and thepeople. The market and the commercial kiosks floor were designed inwood, a more natural and human scale material that embraces theconstruction that characterizes the housing of Puerto Real. The fourexisting docks for the fishermen’s boats will be built using wood pilesand beams with a wood deck on top. The scope of this projectencompasses the renovation of the docks’ structure to maintain a safeand useful condition.

The diversity in scale, form and appearance of the variousmaterials used throughout the circulation path of the project will helpits users to orient themselves in its surroundings and relate with thedifferent uses of the spaces and its presence in the town.


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FLOOR PLAN

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The project was designed with the idea ofproviding a public urban space to the residents ofthis small town. The circulation of the buildingbegins with an open urban space at the shorelineof the bay. This space was designed with theidea of a plaza, ”a city public meeting space,where collective affairs, rallies, concerts, andcommemorative events took place” 3. In thisproject the plaza works as a foyer to the market,or main building. A diagonal wall crosses thespace of the plaza addressing the user to a stairthat ends in the water on one side and connectsthe town to the bridge that brings the people tothe market on the other side. The concrete wallworks as a public clipboard to announce the dailyactivities in the market and town. This plaza thenbecomes the only public space in the coast whereone can enjoy the presence of the water and thefusion of the new building with its context andenvironment.

PERSPECTIVE

3. Rigau, Puerto Rico 1900: Turn-of-the-Century Architecture inHispanic Caribbean 1890-1930, 138.


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THE “PLAZA”THE “PLAZA”THE “PLAZA”THE “PLAZA”


THE TOWERTHE TOWER


THE ROOFTHE ROOF



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THE BRIDGETHE BRIDGETHE BRIDGETHE BRIDGE

THE TOWERTHE TOWER


THE ROOFTHE ROOF

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4. National Research Council, Bridge aesthetics around the word (Washington, D.C.:Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, 1991), 32.

The pedestrian bridge functions as the connectingelement between the town and the fish market. The bridgestarts out in the plaza located in the coast connecting it to theconcrete base of the tower. It crosses the space between thecoast and the market leaving a definitive area under thestructure for the path of the small fishing boats creating achannel for the fishermen daily circulation.

The design of the bridge is as complex as the design ofa building itself; it demands “proportion, symmetry, rhythm,repetition, contrast, and similar factors” 4. The bridge wasdesigned with techniques of both a truss bridge and asuspension bridge. The structure of the bridge develops intwo fragments that come together in a structural joint. Thetwo fragments are to be built with the use of two steel trussbeams running parallel and serving as support for the woodfloor decking. The first fragment starts out in the shorelineplaza with dimensions of 5 feet tall, 80 feet long and 9 feetwide. This section is the longer of the two and is supported inthe border of the plaza. The second piece continues unto thetower’s base with dimensions of 8 feet tall, 48 feet long and 9feet wide. The two sections are then supported in a structuraljoint at their merger point. The two bridge sections are alsointerconnected amongst themselves and its supporting areasby a series of tension cables that provide additional carryingcapabilities to the continuous loads caused by its users. Thecable located on the section of the bridge departing from thetower runs atop the bridge and connects to the structural jointwhile the cable on the section of the bridge departing from theplaza runs below the bridge also connecting to the structuraljoint. Thus, the cables not only provide additional loadcarrying support but also provide a distinctive appearance toeach of the sections.

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THE TOWERTHE TOWERTHE TOWERTHE TOWER


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The fish market’s tower was designed as alandmark, as the dominant element in the urbanplanning of the town of Puerto Real. The design ofthis architectural element was intended to “contributeas well to the beauty of the town, to the enrichment ofthe landscape, and hence to the joy of the people” 5.

The intention of the tower is to function as theanchor of the project. This anchor feature has a dualfunction: as a visual connector between the projectand the town’s people and as the main structuralelement supporting the market and the bridge. Thevisual connection attribute allows the tower to beseen from the town and the town to be seen from thetower. Surpassing in height all existing structures inthe area, the tower will serve as a guide or landmarkfor visitors and residents alike to orient regarding theproject, the shoreline and the water. Being the mainstructural element the tower is designed with aconcrete cone base (40 feet high, 20 feet in diameter)and a structural steel structure body (50 feet tall, 10feet long and 10 feet wide). The cone concrete baseis the structural element that supports the tower’sbody, the bridge and market’s steel roof structure.Wood louver walls allow visitors to see through thewalls of the tower providing a bird’s eye view of thetown. The tower also becomes the project’s space thatdistributes the circulation through the building. Fromthis space you can choose between going to one ofthe two levels of the market through the stairs or theramp, going to the plaza through the bridge or goingup to the balcony at the top of the tower to admire theview of the bay.

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5. Erwin Heinle and Fritz Leonhardt, Towers: a historical survey (NewYork: Rizzoli, 1989), 7.


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THE TOWERTHE TOWER

THE KIOSKSTHE KIOSKSTHE KIOSKSTHE KIOSKS

THE ROOFTHE ROOF

ENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTALCONSIDERATIONSCONSIDERATIONS

DRAWINGSDRAWINGS


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The kiosks or retail spaceswere designed in concept as largecolumns that interpolate rhythmicallythroughout the open space providedby the wooden deck of the structure.Each kiosk is composed of fourslender steel columns that areconnected at the top to the roof steelstructure by a joint and at the bottomto the concrete pile foundation. Theservice area consists of a woodenbase which works both as displayarea for the fishermen as well as aworking surface. Wood louver doorsenclose the kiosk space whilemaintaining the idea of transparencyand providing ventilation and shadeto the interior of the kiosks.

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03 PAGES 8-14