Sede de Divinas Indulgencias
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Guilligans Island | Guánica, Puerto Rico
Thesis | Cultural | Religious | Installation
2021 - 2022 | M.Arch
Sketching | Sketchup | Lumion | Photoshop | Illustrator | Rhino | AutoCAD
Concept | Design Development | 3D modelling | 2D Drawings | Rendering | Post-editing | Board Layout | Storytelling
Dr. Regner Ramos | Prof. Ernesto Rodriguez
Starting from the study of cultural relationships in Puerto Rico and water, this architectural proposal for "La Sede de Divinas Indulgencias" revolves around the concepts of syncretism, event, and landscape. To achieve this, the syncretic dynamics that occur in the maritime procession of the Virgin of Carmen in Naguabo, Puerto Rico, are studied, and the essay "El encuentro de las vírgenes" by the essayist and novelist Mayra Santos Febres serves as the foundation. During the research, video references, readings, and images were used to illustrate the procession described by Santos Febres, which helped understand the chaotic and syncretic atmosphere created in these natural-constructed spaces.
Through design strategies, a critical analysis was generated that expanded the discourse on syncretism and its range of possibilities by gaining a better understanding of spatiotemporal events and contrasting syncretic ideologies. In this way, "La Sede de Divinas Indulgencias" questions and criticizes the Catholic norms that marginalize "pagan practices" that are not recognized within formal spaces like the church but are, in fact, part of Puerto Rican culture, and are highlighted in public events such as the procession of the Virgin of Carmen in Naguabo.
"La Sede de Divinas Indulgencias" is a temporary religious destination that adopts a leisurely perspective and deconstructs the hegemonic discourse of Catholicism. It brings visibility, recognition, and celebration to the marginalizations or "impurities" that make up our syncretic religious rituals in the Caribbean.