The Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña (Museum of Ponce Architecture) is an architecture museum housed at the

Casa Wiechers-Villaronga Casa Wiechers-Villaronga is a Classical Revival style mansion in Ponce, Puerto Rico designed and built in the early twentieth century. The house was acquired and restored by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and now operates as the Museo de ...

, in Ponce,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. It is preserves the history of the architectural styles of Ponce and Puerto Rico. The Casa Wiechers-Villaronga was acquired and restored by the

Institute of Puerto Rican Culture The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ( es, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preser ...

. The museum is located in the

Ponce Historic Zone The Ponce Historic Zone (''La Zona Histórica de Ponce'') is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings and structures with architecture that date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone go ...

. The historic house was designed and built in 1912 by Alfredo B. Wiechers. and The house that is home to this architecture museum is itself an example of the architectural history of the city. The museum is housed at the historic

History

In 1912, architect Alfredo B. Wiechers built the

Wiechers-Villaronga Residence Casa Wiechers-Villaronga is a Classical Revival style mansion in Ponce, Puerto Rico designed and built in the early twentieth century. The house was acquired and restored by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and now operates as the Museo d ...

for his own residence and studio. From 1911 to 1918, Wiechers was commissioned with various important buildings in Ponce, such as the Logia Aurora, Club Deportivo de Damas, the Teatro Habana, Banco of Ponce building, and Santo Asilo de Damas Hospital among others, where he fully expressed the European Neo-Classical style which he had learned from European training. In 1919, feeling political persecution from the American invaders, Mr. Wiechers sold the house to Mr. Gabriel Villaronga and moved to his native France. Many generations of Villarongas lived the house through the twentieth century. In the early 1990s, and in order to establish the Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña, the house was acquired and restored by the

(ICP). In 1996, the museum opened as the home of the ''Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña y Planeacion Urbana'' (Ponce Architecture and Urban Planning Museum). The goal was to showcase Ponce's rich architectural heritage.

Location

The museum is a "U" shaped, one-storied structure, measuring 68'-10" in width by 95'-2" in length, located at the northeast corner of Calle Reina and Calle Mendez Vigo. It is one block west of

Plaza Las Delicias Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within the plaza ...

, the center of the

. Calle Reina has several other historic houses on it, including

Residencia Subirá The Residencia Subirá (Subirá Residence), also known as Residencia Frau (Frau Residence), is a historic building located on Reina Street in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the city's historic district. The building dates from 1910. It was designed by ...

and Casa Miguel C. Godreau.

Architecture

The structure that is home to the museum is considered a "treasure trove of culture", a jewel amongst the many antique Ponce mansions that have been preserved and converted into museums. The museum possesses elaborate neoclassical details, a majestic roof-top

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th c ...

, and a full set of original and custom-made Catalan modernist furniture. There are also well-preserved shower and bathroom fixtures. Behind all its highly elaborated decoration, with European Baroque influence, essentially the structure is neo-classic in style, making a unique and yet elegant combination of both styles. The museum rests on a rusticated stone

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

; its facades and main walls are of brick

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

with some interior partitions and walls of the gallery and kitchen in wood. Wooden beams supports a

galvanized Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged ...

zinc roof. The windows and doors of the museum are wooden with movable

louver A louver (American English) or louvre (British English; see spelling differences) is a window blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain and direct sunshine. The angle of the sla ...

s and fixed colored glass inlets. A variety of flooring material is used throughout the house: from native cement-colored tiles in the dining area and vestibule, 1" by 6"

tongue-and-groove Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. Tongue and groove joints allow two flat pieces to be joined strongly together t ...

wood slats in the living area and bedrooms, and ceramic tiles in the bathroom, to marble tiles at the entry-way. The Baroque's influence is manifested immediately on the museum's rounded corners, typical of these residence types in Ponce. The corner is framed by two rusticated

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s and divided into three bays, by two pilaster strips or

lesene A lesene, also called a pilaster strip, is an architectural term for a narrow, low-relief vertical pillar on a wall. It resembles a pilaster, but does not have a base or capital. It is typical in Lombardic and Rijnlandish architectural building ...

s. Each bay contains a wooden movable louvreed window with glass inlets at its top, and a floral relief motif over the

fenestration Fenestration may refer to: * Fenestration (architecture), the design, construction, or presence of openings in a building * Used in relation to fenestra in anatomy, medicine and biology * Fenestration, holes in the rudder A rudder is a primar ...

. The rest of the wall is decorated with floral

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

s. The corner is accentuated with a round sitting nook or "glorieta", that is detailed with Ionic columns. Another interesting feature of the house are the

balconies A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

which are divided into three sections with Ionic columns and framed with Baroque moldings and sculptured faces on the central top part of the openings. The forged-iron railings of the balconies are elaborated after the Art Nouveau style. The facades are crowned with a continuous masonry cornice. On top of this cornice, a

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

-type

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

with sculptured lion faces and " candelabra" decorates the roof line of the structure. Some of the outstanding architectural features present in this museum are highly decorative and detailed

s, rusticated

, cornices, " candelabra",

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

and motifs, Ionic capitols, etc. They readily depict the Neo-Classical trend of the epoch. The Villaronga Residence is an outstanding example of this style and is one of two residences still standing of a series of houses designed and built by Wiechers, so important to the architectural and cultural heritage of the city of Ponce. Of special architectural importance is the fact that all the furniture is original, including the bathroom appliances. Most of the furniture belongs to the

Modernisme ''Modernisme'' (, Catalan for "modernism"), also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan cultu ...

style (Catalan Art Nouveau) and were imported from Barcelona, Spain. The hanging tapestry were painted by Librado Net, a famed local artist. The main entrance is off-centered and located on Reina Street. The entrance hall is decorated with sculptured tiles and the door is located at the end of a marbled stairway. The interior is well kept and unaltered. The interior areas are painted in different colors and the walls have a decorative plastered Art-Nouveau

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

. The ceiling in most of the areas is decorated embossed

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

with a continuous decorative molding at its corners. The

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

and part of the kitchen walls are wooden with fixed wood louvered windows used for better ventilation and light. Other interesting details on the house are: the bathroom fixtures, such as the shower stall and the ceramic wall tiles which were imported from Barcelona, Spain, the light fixtures—such as the ones at the dining-room, the master bedroom and living room—which were also imported from Spain, and a "medio punto" at the dining area, typical of the architecture of this Southern area of Puerto Rico.

Displays

The museum has an extensive collection of displays and photos of master works from the most prominent architects of early 20th century Ponce: Blas Silva Boucher,

Francisco Porrata Doria Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

Alfredo Wiechers Pieretti Alfredo Wiechers Pieretti was a Puerto Rican architect from Ponce, Puerto Rico. He was an expositor of the Neoclassicism and Art Nouveau architectural styles, doing most of his work in his hometown of Ponce. Today, Alfredo Wiechers' city reside ...

. The city of Ponce, considered by some as the "irrefutable guardian of Puerto Rican ''

criollismo ''Criollismo'' () is a literary movement that was active from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century throughout Hispanic America. It is considered the Hispanic counterpart to American literary regionalism. Using a realist ...

''", was selected as a member of the prestigious Art Nouveau Route of the European Union for its "world preservation of modernist heritage".Art Nouveau Route
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References

External links