Return to the Future: Puerto Rican Vernacular Architecture in New York City

Mental Geographies of Home and Place: Introduction to the Special Issue

“…For example, the notion of the casita as a metaphor of home used among Puerto Ricans in New York, relates both to the domestic dwelling space and the national homeland. Sciorra (1996) describes the building of a casita as ''a concertive action of collective reminiscences'', ''a politicization of memory that distinguishes nostalgia, that longing for something to be as once it was, a kind of useless act, from that remembering that serves to illuminate and transform the present'' (hooks, quoted in Sciorra 1996:78).…”

Plazas, Streets, and Markets: What Puerto Ricans Bring to Urban Spaces in Northern Climates

“…Much of this work, especially that of Sciorra (1996), Sciorra and Cooper (1990) and Aponte-Pares (1994), has focused on casitas (little houses) and bateys (swept yards), and their symbolic reference to a past time and place in rural pre-industrial Puerto Rico. In these studies, cultural practices and production of space are viewed.primarily in the context of political and economic forces.…”

“…The growing body of research on Puerto Ricans in terms of their use of physical space has focused on the Puerto Rican population in New York City (Aponte-Pares 1994;Bressi 1993;Moed 1993;Sciorra and Cooper 1990;Sciorra 1996;Winterbottom 1997). Much of this work, especially that of Sciorra (1996), Sciorra and Cooper (1990) and Aponte-Pares (1994), has focused on casitas (little houses) and bateys (swept yards), and their symbolic reference to a past time and place in rural pre-industrial Puerto Rico.…”

“…For instance, casitas in New York demonstrate that plaza-like spaces can work in non-traditional settings. Casitas are small structures built by neighborhood residents on abandoned lots without the sanction of city officials--a practice unique to New York City and apparently not found elsewhere in the northeastern United States (Aponte-Pares 1994 ;Gonzales 1990;Moed 1993;Sciorra and Cooper 1990;Sciorra 1996;Winterbottom 1997). In some ways casitas and their bateys physically resemble dooryard gardens (Kimber 1973), since they are usually built and maintained privately by individuals and are not part of a central institutional core or adjacent to commercial structures.…”

Public Space Praxis: Cultural Capacity and Political Efficacy in Latina/o Placemaking

“…There are also 'in-between' spaces that delineate a threshold between the public and the private realms of individual households and residential streets, restaurants and sidewalks (Arreola 1988;Rojas 1993). Other instances of adaptive spaces include vernacular landscapes and the use of streets, open spaces, and buildings for social purposes such as plazas, markets, and community gardens (Apontes-Pares 2000; Arreola 1992; Forsyth, Lu, and McGirr 2001;Sciorra 1996). One example is the Puerto Rican vernacular house, or casita, which serves as a social hub in many New York City neighborhoods that lack such spaces (Aponte-Pares 1997Sciorra and Cooper 1990).…”