Background
Rafael Carmoega Morales was born in Ponce in 1894.
Rafael Carmoega Morales was born in Ponce in 1894.
Cornell University; Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.
He was the first Puerto Rican to become State Architect, a position within the Department of the Interior which he held from 1921 to 1936. Carmoega was one of the most established Puerto Rican architects of the 20th century. A 1918 graduate of the Cornell University School of Architecture and subsequent director of the Architectural division of Puerto Rico"s Department of the Interior.
He was the first Puerto Rican to become State Architect, a position within the Department of the Interior which he held from 1921 to 1936.
In 1936 he went to work for the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) where he designed the University of Puerto Rico based on the Parsons Plan of 1924. In 1937 he established a private practice, which was characterized by eclecticism, and a varied mix of architectural styles.
As a private architect he produced the designs for the residences of Secundino Lozana (El Cortijo) in Barranquitas and Dionisio Trigo in Santurce, the General Electric store in San Juan, Colegio San José in Río Piedras and the Casino de Puerto Rico in El Condado. Among Carmoega"s works are Mercado de las Carnes in Ponce.
Carmoega died in San Juan in 1968.
The Architecture and Construction Archives at the University of Puerto Rico (AACUPR) holds the Rafael Carmoega collection (1837–1969). Approximately 48 cubic feet in size, the collection contains architectural drawings, photographs, artifacts, textual documents, and publications. The Architectural Drawing Series holds 144 projects organized chronologically.
The collection was donated by Mistress
Carmoega, widow of Ramírez, Mississippi Margarita Higuera and architect Antonio Higuera in 1989.
