Episode 71: Gertie Besosa Silva
The time was 1923 or maybe 1924 depending on the resource, the place was Santurce, Puerto Rico. Gertie Besosa Silva was born. When she was 14 years old she graduated high school! She got her diploma from Sacred Heart Academy in Santurce. She applied to Cornell University School of Architecture but was denied because she was too young. So the University of Puerto Rico offered her a chance to take preparatory courses while she grew of age and was accepted into Cornell. Eventually, she attended the Cornell School of Architecture and graduated in 1945 becoming the very first Puerto Rican woman to graduate with a degree in architecture. She was also the first Latin American woman to graduate from the program.
So she gets back home to Puerto Rico and wastes no time in getting her license, and BAM becomes the first Puerto Rican woman to be a licensed architect. She even received the highest grade out of all the test takers. Gertie worked with Rafael Carmoega on the design for the Casino of Puerto Rico, which was also her thesis project. And she worked with Henry Klumb in the Public Works Design Committee, specifically in the Housing Department. She moved through the ranks at Public Works and became the Leader of the Site Planning Division. She also worked for the Department of the Interior, while also running her own practice focused on residential design. Then in 1950, she married Joaquín Servera Travieso and they moved together to Brazil. She passed away in 1983.
Caryatid: Astrid Diaz
Astrid Diaz is an architect from San Juan, Puerto Rico and she has a Master in Architecture from the School of Architecture at the University of Puerto Rico. Astrid has always been very invested in Puerto Rico, after graduating architecture school she started a television program teaching Puerto Rican viewers about architecture, construction, history and preservation. Years later it is still on air, and she was even nominated to an Emmy in 2016! Astrid has her own firm ADV Architects and she is also involved in social housing. She designed modular homes after Hurricane Maria, meant to withstand strong hurricanes.
References
Ancestors of Gertie BESOSA SILVA [29830]. www.familias-de-fajardo.com/29830.htm.
“Arquitecta Gertie Besosa Silva.” Fundación Por La Arquitectura De Puerto Rico, 28 Mar. 2021, www.fxapr.org/post/arquitecta-gertie-besosa-silva. Accessed 13 Mar. 2023.
DeRuiter, Gretel. “Gertie Yolanda Besosa Silva.” Docomomo Puerto Rico Facebook, 8 Mar. 2021, www.facebook.com/121734777900/photos/a.10152350940057901/10158080401762901/?type=3.
“Gertie Berosa Y Silva in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®.” Ancestry.com, www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Puerto-Rico/Gertie-Berosa-Y-Silva_5nfp9b.
Riggio, Giovanna. “Gertie Besosa-Silva: Primera Mujer Puertorriqueña Graduada De Arquitectura.” Puerto Rico Historic Building Drawings Society, 1999, m.facebook.com/nt/screen/?params=%7B%22note_id%22%3A2776595199289610%7D&path=%2Fnotes%2Fnote%2F&refsrc=deprecated&_rdr&_se_imp=0m8vGpxq36QV99X7w. Accessed 3 Jan. 2023.
Vargas Casiano, Patricia. “Astrid Díaz ‘La Arquitectura Es Vida.’” PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions, 12 June 2016, www.pressreader.com/puerto-rico/el-nuevo-dia1/20160612/281505045494831.
