Sin Autonomía: Radical Landscapes + Relational Ecologies

Abstract

This thesis interrogates the practice of landscape architecture in Puerto Rico, where imported models have long overshadowed local ecological knowledge and cultural identity. Motivated by the island’s colonial status and the persistent impositions of external frameworks, I ask: What does it mean to design landscapes in the archipelago without any sense of territorial, disciplinary, or ecological autonomy? Through design exploration of El Yunque—the only tropical rainforest within the USDA system—I examine how landscape practice has perpetuated dependence and disconnection, privileging control and ornament over adaptive, relational ecologies. My research reveals that design paradigms fail to engage with the island’s fluid realities and creole culture, resulting in spaces that serve external interests rather than local needs. By foregrounding archipelagic thinking and vernacular knowledge, I propose a practice that subverts colonial orders while opening new possibilities for “land.” This approach embraces the complexities of local ecologies, foregrounding memory, relation, and radical imagination as tools for reimagining autonomy.