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About Klumb

Henry Klumb (1905–1984), one of the pioneers of modernism in Puerto Rico, was a talented German architect and disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright who arrived on the island in 1944 at the invitation of architect Stephen Arneson, with the endorsement of Governor Rexford Guy Tugwell. His mission was to contribute to the modernization of Puerto Rico as a member of the new Public Works Design Committee, where he designed, with sensitivity to the socio-economic realities of the time, prototypical structures such as low-cost housing, rural schools, and public buildings. However, his stay on the committee was brief; in 1945, he founded The Office of Henry Klumb, from which he developed a successful private practice in Puerto Rico for nearly 40 years until his death in 1984.

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​Klumb, considered the father of modernist architecture in Puerto Rico, integrated—philosophically rather than formally—the principles of Wright's organic architecture with European rationalist modernism, creating a distinctive architectural language perfectly suited to its context. His "tropical modernism" has inspired several generations of architects and redefined the relationship between the building and the island's landscape, establishing paradigms of symbiosis between the interior and exterior. 

In his architecture, the building's exterior walls become permeable, enhanced with large windows and screens of wood, aluminum, and reinforced concrete, filtering light and wind, allowing the interior spaces to be nourished by the beauty of the sorrounding lush tropical vegetation. This vegetation, while tropical, is also the result of design—an intentionally curated and domesticated nature that complements and enriches the architecture.

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​Structures such as Casa de los Trabajadores in Cataño, the Dubner House in Floral Park, and the Kogan House in Condado have been repeatedly altered without sensitivity to their architectural integrity, now requiring very close inspection and significant amounts of imagination to find their original beauty. Many other projects were lost, such as Klumb’s own residence, Casa Klumb, or have been demolished “in the name of progress,” such as the Benus House and the beautiful studio of artist Arnaldo Maas in Guaynabo, whose foundations now lie beneath the asphalt of the Lomas Verdes Avenue. This research seeks to reintegrate the stories of these forgotten structures into Puerto Rico’s architectural narrative.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Books & Articles

 

  1. Bertin, Jacques. Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps. USA: ESRI Press, 2010.

  2. Bodenhamer, David J., John D. Corrigan, and Trevor M. Harris (eds.). The Spatial Humanities: GIS and the Future of Humanities Scholarship. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.

  3. Cosgrove, Denis E. Geography and Vision: Seeing, Imagining, and Representing the World. London: Tauris, 2008.

  4. Crespo, Rafael A. and Arlene Pabón. Arquitectura, Historia y Patrimonio. San Juan: State Historic Preservation Office, 1995.

  5. Cruz, César A. Puerto Rico’s Henry Klumb: A Modern Architect’s Sense of Place. New York: Routledge, 2020.

  6. Duncan, James and David Ley (eds.). Place, Culture, Representation. London: Routledge, 1994.

  7. Fernandez, José A. Architecture in Puerto Rico. New York: Architectural Book Publishing Company, 1965.

  8. Gala-Aguilera, Santiago. “SHPO and the Recent Past,” Patrimonio, no. 2, 2011.

  9. Gala-Aguilera, Santiago. “The Committee of Design of Public Works, 1943–1948,” Entorno 7, 2007.

  10. Glendinning, Miles. The Conservation Movement: A History of Architectural Preservation. Antiquity to Modernity. London: Routledge, 2013.

  11. Gregory, Derek. Geographical Imaginations. London: Blackwell, 1994.

  12. Gregory, Ian N. (ed.). Toward Spatial Humanities: Historical GIS and Spatial History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014.

  13. Hillier, Amy, and Anne K. Knowles (eds.). Placing History: How Maps, Spatial Data, and GIS Are Changing Historical Scholarship. ESRI Press, 2008.

  14. Klumb, Henry. “Preservation of Natural Resources: On the Waste of Creative Energy,” Industrial Puerto Rico, March–April 1970.

  15. Krygier, John, and Denis Wood. Making Maps: A Visual Guide to Map Design for GIS. New York: The Guilford Press, 2016.

  16. Lizardi-Pollock, Jorge, and Martin Schwegmann (eds.). Espacios Ambivalentes: Historias y olvidos en la arquitectura social moderna – Ambivalent Spaces: History and Oblivion in Modern Social Housing. San Juan: Escuela de Arquitectura de la UPR y Ediciones Callejón, 2012.

  17. May, John, and Nigel Thrift (eds.). Timespace: Geographies of Temporality. New York: Routledge, 2001.

  18. Muehlenhaus, Ian. Web Cartography: Map Design for Interactive and Mobile Devices. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2014.

  19. Pérez-Chanis, Efraín. Henry Klumb Arquitecto: Vida, pensamiento y obra. San Juan, 1992.

  20. Picó, Rafael. 10 años de Planificación en Puerto Rico. San Juan: Puerto Rico Planning Board, 1952.

  21. Sepúlveda Rivera, Aníbal. Puerto Rico urbano: Atlas histórico de la ciudad puertorriqueña. San Juan: Centro de Investigaciones Carimar, Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas, 2004. 4 vols.

  22. Torres, Jerry. Mayagüez y Klumb: La historia olvidada – Arquitectura del Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez. Mayagüez: Centro de Publicaciones Académicas, 2015.

  23. Vargas, Benjamin. La vereda tropical: Guía de premios de Arquitectura “Test of Time” 1990–2009. San Juan: Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades, 2013.

  24. Vivoni-Farage, Enrique (ed.). Klumb: Una arquitectura de impronta social. San Juan: La Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2006.

  25. Vivoni-Farage, Enrique (ed.). San Juan siempre nuevo: Arquitectura y modernización en el siglo XX. San Juan: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2000.

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Online Resources

 

  1. AACUPR. “Hkl: Colección Henry Klumb.” Retrieved from: http://aacuprinvestigacion.blogspot.com/2009/09/hkl-coleccion-henry-klumb.html

  2. Arévalo, Juan C., et al. “Usabilidad y geolocalización narrativa para el seguimiento del patrimonio artístico español.” Arte Individuo y Sociedad, vol. 33, 2021. Retrieved from: https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ARIS/article/download/70298/4564456558527/4564456622819

  3. Cabañas, Jesús. “La importancia de preservar archivos históricos en formato digital.” MCPRO, April 19, 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.muycomputerpro.com/2019/04/19/la-importancia-de-preservar-archivos-historicos-en-formato-digital?amp=1

  4. Mignucci, Andrés. “Casa Fullana: A model for modern living in the tropics.” Docomomo Journal 64, 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.docomomo.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/DocomomoJournal64_2021_AMignucci.pdf

  5. Rodríguez, Luz Marie. “Klumbumbus descubre el Trópico: Henry Klumb, Puerto Rico y la modernidad en lo existente.” Arquitextos, May 10, 2010. Retrieved from: https://vitruvius.com.br/revistas/read/arquitextos/10.120/3415

  6. Vivoni-Farage, Enrique. “La arquitectura del movimiento moderno en Puerto Rico: La obra de Toro y Ferrer y Henry Klumb” and “Hacia una modernidad tropical: La obra de Henry Klumb, 1928–1984.” Institute of Tropical Architecture, 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.arquitecturatropical.org/EDITORIAL/documents/HENRY%20KLUMB%20Y%20TORO%20Y%20FERRER.pdf


Databases & Tools

 

  1. Henry Klumb Collection, AACUPR, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

  2. Interdisciplinary Center for Coastal Studies (CIEL), University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus: CostaVisPr. https://costavispr.org/

  3. Municipal Revenue Collection Center (CRIM): Portal Catastro Digital y Productos Cartográficos. https://catastro.crimpr.net/cdprpc/

  4. Google Earth Pro Desktop: https://www.google.com/earth/versions/

  5. Department of Transportation and Public Works of Puerto Rico (DTOP): Aerial photos of the metropolitan area from surveys: 1931, 1936, 1950, 1962, 1969.

  6. Puerto Rico Planning Board: Geolocalizador 2. https://gis.jp.pr.gov/geolocalizador2/

  7. USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer: https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/topoexplorer/index.html

  8. United States Geological Survey (USGS): Earth Explorer. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

SITIOS is sponsored by Fondos Institucionales para la Investigación (FIPI) from the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.
© 2026 SITIOS — A Spatial Story of Puerto Rico’s Modernization (AACUPR/UPR). All rights reserved. 
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