ABSTRACT
On 25 July 2011, after a decade of legal and community battles, Las Gladiolas – the last four public housing high-rise towers located in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s financial district – were demolished. The impressive implosion, carried out with 3,500 pounds of explosives, was broadcast ‘live’ on television into people’s homes and fed into tents and relocation areas. Traffic was stopped and viewing points designated along the neighbouring Martin Peña Bridge for curious spectators to stop and watch. For days, newspapers and television reports anticipated the demolition event with detailed coverage of the security measures it would entail, including the temporary relocation of the Las Monjas neighbours and their pets; the aviation permits obtained due to the building’s location within a flying corridor; the cordoning off of nearby streets to limit the effects of building projectiles and ‘fugitive dust’ resulting from the explosion; and the firefighting and police mechanisms set in place to support the operation. Besides some concern voiced by neighbours about the potential failure of the event or the damage the shaking ground and debris could cause their homes, local authority personnel, demolition experts and contractors were all quoted confidently attesting to the technical safety of the intervention. Their design-driven language side-lined years of contestation over the dismantling of those towers, emphasising instead the mainstream belief that early public housing developed in the island was a ‘mistaken vision’ that required material demolition.
