FROM BATEY TO MARQUESINA: THE HISTORY, FORM, AND USE OF THE CARPORT IN PUERTO RICO

Abstract

This project examines the cultural practices enacted within carports in Puerto Rico, specifically how these have been transferred from the packed earth batey in front of the house, to the modernist space associated with car storage. The research interweaves material culture, geography, and folkloristic ethnography to gain a more complete concept of how vernacular architecture continues to develop in Puerto Rico. This work takes into account the Puerto Rico’s historic relationship to the United States and the contemporary economic, social, and political realities. I traveled to Puerto Rico during the summers and fall over various years, performing a building survey of single-family houses throughout the municipality of Arecibo, archival research, interviews, an online survey, ethnographic observations, and autoethnographic reflections. The introductory chapter presents the research context, theoretical framing, and methodology along with a chapter breakdown. The rest of the dissertation is dedicated to presenting (1) the historical context of how the carport became endemic in Puerto Rico as part of overarching changes throughout Puerto Rico, with the socio-cultural impact; (2) taking a closer look at the carport as a space within the Puerto Rican house, its different materials and components, the relationship of each part to the other, and what these say about contemporary Puerto Rican houses; (3) an analysis of the social and cultural engagements within carports, ranging from daily interactions to life major life events, and how people’s relationship to the carport is changing due to climate, political, and economic changes occurring in Puerto Rico. This project contributes to folklore studies by researching uses of space that have not been previously studied, and within these spaces, seeking the contemporary adaptations of traditional interactions in modernist spaces, in such a way that can be compared to other case studies throughout the world.