Beatriz del Cueto López-Hidalgo (1952, Havana ) is an architect of Cuban origin , currently residing in Guaynabo , Puerto Rico . She is recognized for her work in the area of historical conservation, both in Puerto Rico and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Rome , where she developed research work as a winner of the Rome Prize awarded by said institution under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Arts, in the category of historical preservation and conservation.
Summary
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- 1 Early years
- 2Trayectoria
- 3 Obras
- 4 Publications
- 5 Recognitions
- 6 References
early years
Beatriz del Cueto was born in Havana in 1952. At the age of 8, she left her country. She studied architecture at the University of Florida in Gainesville in the United States where she graduated in 1976. The subject of construction interested her because her father, who died when she was 14, was a mechanical engineer.
In 1975 he took a course at the Nantucket Preservation Institute . She continued her training by obtaining a Master of Arts in Architecture with a specialization in Historic Preservation also from the University of Florida (1976). She studied in Rome in 1984 at the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage and returns in 2011 as a member of the American Academy in Rome.
Trajectory
Between 1977 and 1980 he worked in the office of the great architect Henry Klumb in Puerto Rico. He then continued working for the State in the historic preservation office for three years and for the College of Architects of Puerto Rico between 1984 and 1986. From then until 1990 he worked in his own firm. In that year, together with Agammenon Pantel, her husband, she founded the firm Pantel, del Cueto & Asociados, which is dedicated to consultancies related to built heritage, archeology and traditional architecture.
He has become a benchmark for his great knowledge of traditional architecture in the Caribbean region, obtaining recognition inside and outside of Puerto Rico . She has worked as an advisor to the American Institute of Architects, National Headquarters, and AIA Legacy, Inc. to prepare the Assessment, Recommendations, and Guidelines for the Historic Preservation and Built Cultural Heritage of Haiti’s Northeast Corridor. She has pioneered the study and renewal of techniques related to traditional architecture, vernacular construction, and interpretive design. She founded the Architectural Conservation Laboratory of the School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, of which she is Director where she teaches courses on conservation theory and scientific analysis of construction materials. She has been president of the American Institute of Architects (Puerto Rico headquarters).
Concerned about the situation of women in the profession, del Cueto was the curator of the exhibition organized in 1992 by the Pratt Institute and the AIA in the United States called Island Architecture: Women Architects from Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Florida and Long Island. . The exhibition showcased the work of 35 female architects. The sample was previously exhibited in Puerto Rico
Construction
- Restoration of the Lighthouse of Las Cabezas de San Juan, Fajardo
- bullet list item
- College of Architects Puerto Rico, Restoration of a 1910 residence
- Miramar Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico (Former Asylum for Girls)
- Restoration of an 18th-century mansion where the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico operates in Old San Juan
- Hacienda La Esperanza, Manati Puerto Rico.
- San Jose Church (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Publications
Beatriz del Cueto’s works have been published in prestigious international magazines: APT Bulletin – the Journal of Preservation Technology, AAA – Archives of Antillean Architecture, International Magazine of Architecture and Culture in the Greater Caribbean, Architecture, Florida and Caribbean Architect. In recent years, del Cueto has dedicated herself to researching and writing about the conservation problems of cement and mortar from the early years of the 20th century in Puerto Rico, a task that combines her interest in technology and history. Some works done by her are:
- del Cueto López-Hidalgo, Beatriz (1976), El Seminario Conciliar de San Ildefonso: cradle of higher education in Puerto Rico: adaptive use study. Master’s Thesis. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
- del Cueto de Pantel, Beatriz (September 1986) The Intervention in a Historic Building: The Fundamental Concepts, Plástica Revista, La Liga de Arte de San Juan, v. 2, no. 15, p. 78–82
- del Cueto, Beatriz (1997) A manual on conservation methodology for historic buildings & structures, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Caribbean Heritage, Inc., Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
- del Cueto, Beatriz (2012) The Rescue of Iglesia de San José – transdisciplinary investigations and analysis prior to Conservation, Pantel, del Cueto & Associates, pp. 1–27
- del Cueto, Beatriz (September 17, 2013), Rubble or recycling material? , Construction, Architecture, pp. 36–37
- del Cueto, Beatriz (2013) Mother Nature versus Puerto Rican Building Technologies, pp. 19
Acknowledgments
- 1991 URBE Award for Excellence in Architecture
- In 2002 she was elected to the American Institute of Architects for her research work on historic preservation in the Caribbean.
- In April 2011, she was awarded the Rome Prize by the American Academy of Rome, which allowed her to spend a long period there benefiting from interdisciplinary exchanges and intellectual freedom.
- In 2011, the Anne de Fort-Mennares Award for the application of historical methodologies to the preservation of technological practices.
- In 2012 he received the Henry Klumb Award for his lifetime achievement.
- In 2014, he obtained a grant from the James Marston Fitch Foundation to develop the Concrete Block and Hydraulic Cement Floor Tile in the Tropicsproject .