Blas C. Silva Boucher (2 February 1869 - 27 January 1949) was a twentieth-century Puerto Rican

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

from

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 16 ...

. He is credited with the creation of the

Ponce Creole Ponce Creole is an architectural style created in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the late 19th and early 20th century. This style of Puerto Rican buildings is found predominantly in residential homes in Ponce that developed between 1895 and 1920. Po ...

architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

, even though he was trained as an engineer, not a designer.

Early years

Blas Cornelio Silva Boucher was born in

Hormigueros Hormigueros (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the western region of the island, northeast of Cabo Rojo; northwest of San Germán; and south of Mayagüez. Hormigueros is spread over 5 barrios and Hormigueros Pueblo (th ...

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 ...

on 2 February 1869.

Schooling

Silva received his high school diploma from the Liceo de Mayaguez (''Mayaguez Liceum'') and then studied engineering in Spain through a scholarship from the ''Sociedad Protectora de la Inteligencia'' (Intelligence Protection Society). In

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

, Silva did freelance school work in road, drainage, and ports engineering. He then entered the prestigious Spanish National Engineering School where he studied for eight years. He did his

practicum A practicum (also called work placement, especially in the UK) is an undergraduate or graduate-level course, often in a specialized field of study, that is designed to give students supervised practical application of a previously or concurrent ...

s in Aragon,

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

and Valencia, Spain.

Professional life

He returned to the Island where he took an engineering position in the Puerto Rico Public Works Bureau. Three years later, he resigned to establish his own private engineering practice. When the post of City Engineer became vacant in the city of Ponce, Silva was unanimously selected, from among various applicants, as the candidate to fill the position.

Death and legacy

Silva died in San Juan on 27 January 1949. Among Silva's most distinguished works are the

Font-Ubides House Casa Font-Ubides (English: Font-Ubides House), also known as the Residencia Monsanto (English: Monsanto Residence) is a historic building located on the north side of Castillo Street in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the city's historic district. The bu ...

(1913) and the Subira Residence (1910), both listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

. He also designed and built the

Salazar-Candal House Casa Salazar-Candal ( en, Salazar–Candal House) is a historic building located on the southeast corner of Isabel and Mayor Cantera streets in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the city's historic district. The building dates from 1911. It was designed b ...

(1919).

Honors

He is honored at Ponce's Park of the Illustrious Ponce Citizens. Ponce's best-known bridge, '' Puente de los Leones'', located over Río Portugués on

PR-1 Puerto Rico Highway 1 (PR-1) is a highway in Puerto Rico that connects the city of Ponce to San Juan. Leaving Ponce, the road heads east and follows a somewhat parallel route along the southern coast of the island heading towards Salinas. At ...

/Bulevar

Miguel Pou Miguel Pou Becerra (24 August 1880 – 6 May 1968) was a Puerto Rican oil canvas painter, draftsman, and art professor. Together with José Campeche and Francisco Oller, he has been called "one of Puerto Rico's greatest masters." He was ...

at Calle Lolita Tizol, was named "Puente Blas Silva" before it was renamed Puente de Los Leones.

Contemporary recognition

The Puerto Rico Historical Preservation Office recently said of him, "Blas Silva was probably the most established of the 'wedding-cake architects' and was thus sought after mostly by the 'nouveau riche' of the period. Silva's houses are among the richest in Ponce, among which the ont-Ubidesstands out for its circular porches." It added that "Silva, as had other foreign-trained architects, succeeded in integrating classical education with the traditional elements of the Spanish Caribbean."Mariano G. Coronas Castro, Certifying Official; Felix Julian del Campo, State Historian; and Hector F. Santiago, State Architectural Historian, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) August, 1987. In ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form (Residencia Subira)''. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 3. Listing Reference Number 87001826. 28 October 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Blas C. 1869 births 1949 deaths People from Hormigueros, Puerto Rico Architects from Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce Creole architects 20th-century Puerto Rican engineers