Between the 1880s and the 1930s, portland cement profoundly transformed architectural and urban landscapes in the Spanish Caribbean islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Cement used to produce artificial stone or blocks, ornamental tiles, reinforced concrete, and molded cladding for steel frames enabled the creation of fire-, water-, and vermin-proof buildings well suited to the region’s tropical climate, high humidity, marine salinity, earthquakes, and hurricanes. Regional cement factories, beginning in Cuba as early as 1895, accelerated local production. Portland cement supported rapid, repetitive fabrication utilizing reusable molds, giving rise to a “molded architecture” of prefabricated elements—columns, balustrades, cornices, ornaments—adaptable to residential and civic design. Often adopted earlier than in the continental United States, the use of portland cement was embraced and integrated into both traditional and modern architectural expressions of the former Spanish islands. Catalogs published in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic offered combinations of standardized elements that retained vernacular forms. The present analysis highlights contributions by notable designers and companies, and the enduring influence of these innovations on the region’s architectural heritage. It also examines how global economic shifts, technological exchanges, and social innovations facilitated the rapid adoption of Portland cement and related technologies.
Beatriz Del Cueto (Sun,) studied this question.