Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña facts for kids
Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña
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| Established | 1996 |
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| Location | Calle Reina #106, NW corner of Calle Reina and Calle Mendez Vigo, Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Type | Museum |
| Owner | State (ICP) |
The Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña (which means Museum of Ponce Architecture) is a special museum in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It's located inside a beautiful old house called the Casa Wiechers-Villaronga. This museum helps us learn about the amazing history of buildings and designs in Ponce and all of Puerto Rico. The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture bought and fixed up this house to create the museum. It's right in the middle of the historic part of Ponce. The house itself is a great example of the city's rich architectural past. It was designed and built in 1912 by a famous architect named Alfredo B. Wiechers.
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History of the Museum Building
In 1912, a talented architect named Alfredo B. Wiechers built the Wiechers-Villaronga Residence. This house was meant to be his own home and also his work studio.
From 1911 to 1918, Wiechers designed many important buildings in Ponce. These included the Logia Aurora and the Club Deportivo de Damas. He also designed the Teatro Habana, the Banco of Ponce building, and the Santo Asilo de Damas Hospital. In these buildings, he showed off the European Neo-Classical style he learned during his training in Europe.
In 1919, Mr. Wiechers decided to sell his house to Mr. Gabriel Villaronga. He then moved to his home country of France. Many generations of the Villaronga family lived in the house throughout the 1900s.
In the early 1990s, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP) bought the house. They wanted to create the Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña. The ICP carefully restored the house to its original beauty. In 1996, the museum officially opened its doors. It was named the Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña y Planeacion Urbana. Its main goal was to show off Ponce's amazing history of building design.
Where to Find the Museum
The museum building has a U-shape and is one story tall. It measures about 68 feet wide and 95 feet long. You can find it at the corner of Calle Reina and Calle Mendez Vigo. It's just one block west of Plaza Las Delicias. This plaza is the very center of the Ponce Historic Zone. Calle Reina is a street with several other old and important houses. These include the Residencia Subirá and the Casa Miguel C. Godreau.
The Museum's Special Architecture
The building that houses the museum is truly a "treasure trove of culture." It's like a jewel among the many old mansions in Ponce. Many of these mansions have been saved and turned into museums. The museum building has fancy neoclassical details. It also features a grand gazebo on its roof. Inside, you'll find a full set of original furniture. This furniture was custom-made in the Catalan modernist style. Even the shower and bathroom fixtures are well-preserved and original.
The building shows a mix of styles. It has lots of fancy decorations with European Baroque influences. But at its heart, the building is neo-classic in style. This creates a unique and elegant combination of both styles. The museum sits on a stone base called a podium. Its main walls are made of brick masonry. Some inside walls, like those in the gallery and kitchen, are made of wood. Wooden beams hold up a galvanized zinc roof.
The windows and doors are made of wood. They have movable louvers and colorful glass designs. Different types of flooring are used throughout the house. You'll see native cement tiles in the dining area and entrance hall. The living area and bedrooms have wood floors. The bathrooms have ceramic tiles, and the entry-way has marble tiles.
The Baroque style shows up in the museum's rounded corners. These rounded corners are common in old Ponce homes. The corner has two rough-looking pilasters (flat columns) and is divided into three sections. Each section has a wooden window with glass at the top. Above the windows, there are floral designs. The rest of the wall is decorated with floral garlands. The corner also has a round sitting area called a "glorieta." This area has Ionic columns.
Another interesting part of the house is its balconies. They are divided into three parts with Ionic columns. They are framed with Baroque moldings and carved faces at the top center. The iron railings on the balconies are designed in the Art Nouveau style. The outside walls are topped with a continuous stone cornice. Above this cornice, a battlement-style parapet decorates the roof line. It has carved lion faces and "candelabra" decorations.
Some of the amazing architectural details in this museum include the fancy pilasters and the stone podium. There are also cornices, "candelabra" decorations, and detailed reliefs and motifs. The Ionic column tops are also very notable. These details clearly show the Neo-Classical style popular at that time. The Villaronga Residence is a fantastic example of this style. It is one of only two houses still standing that Wiechers designed in this way. This makes it very important to Ponce's architectural and cultural history. It's also special because all the furniture is original. This includes the bathroom appliances. Most of the furniture is in the Modernisme style (Catalan Art Nouveau). It was brought all the way from Barcelona, Spain. The hanging tapestries were painted by Librado Net, a famous local artist.
The main entrance is not in the center and is on Reina Street. The entrance hall has decorated tiles. The door is at the end of a marble stairway. The inside of the house is very well kept and looks just as it did originally. The rooms are painted in different colors. The walls have decorative plastered Art-Nouveau friezes. Most ceilings are decorated with embossed tin and continuous decorative molding. The gallery and part of the kitchen walls are wooden. They have fixed wooden louvered windows for good air flow and light. Other cool details include the bathroom fixtures, like the shower stall and ceramic wall tiles. These were imported from Barcelona, Spain. The light fixtures in the dining room, master bedroom, and living room were also from Spain. There's also a "medio punto" in the dining area. This is a special architectural feature common in Southern Puerto Rico.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum has many interesting displays and photos. You can see master works from the most important architects of early 20th century Ponce. These include Blas Silva Boucher, Francisco Porrata Doria, and Alfredo Wiechers Pieretti. The city of Ponce is sometimes called the "guardian of Puerto Rican criollismo." It was chosen to be part of the special Art Nouveau Route of the European Union. This was because of its "world preservation of modernist heritage."
See also
In Spanish: Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña para niños
- Casa Wiechers-Villaronga
- Ponce Creole
