Segundo Cardona, the Puerto Rican architect known for designing some of the island’s most emblematic structures, died on Friday at age 76 in Barcelona, Spain. A spokesperson for his firm, SCF Arquitectos, confirmed the death to El Nuevo Día, saying it was caused by a heart attack. Details about the funeral and the transfer of his body to Puerto Rico were still unknown.
Cardona’s portfolio includes the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum of Puerto Rico, the Paseo de Puerta de Tierra, the Museum of Art and Design of Miramar, the Supreme Court Library and, most recently, the Opus luxury residential building in Miramar. In a written statement, the firm mourned its founding partner as a visionary who dedicated more than four decades to Puerto Rican architecture.
He was in the first graduating class of the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Architecture, taught design there from 1974 to 1984, and in 1984 cofounded Sierra Cardona Ferrer (now SCF Architects) with Luis Sierra and Alberto Ferrer. His honors include the 1984 Henry Klumb Prize from the Puerto Rico Architects and Landscape Architects Association, AIA Fellow selection in 2006, the 2016 CEMEX Professional Career Prize and the 2017 Public Space Prize from the International Union of Architects for the Paseo Puerta de Tierra.
He also chaired the association, and presided over the UPR Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2007.