Puerto Rican architect Luis Berrios joins the transformation of the ecological school in Ciales

Since 2021, the Montessori Concepción Peréz school is undergoing a transformation to be an ecological school and as part of the process, the architect Dr. Luis Berrios Negrón joins in to help. 

Luis Berrios Negrón is a Puerto Rican architect whose work seeks to create spaces where human beings and nature connect. Precisely the design that he worked on and presented to the community for the Concepción Perez school reflects this. 

“With the greatest desire that boys and girls can understand their position in relation to the sun mainly and then have a space that is pleasant and motivates them to stay and enjoy. They want to be in that space. That they want to go to school and want to understand and relate better to the environment,'' said Berrios about his contribution to the project. 

It is intended that the school have a pergola that moves according to the sun at different times of the year, that under the pergola there is a pond, a butterfly garden, orchard spaces, benches to sit on and a recycling area. 

The pergola is a structure, normally made of wood although it can be built in other materials, made up of columns on which a reticular structure of beams rests, with the original purpose of providing shade.

This pergola will be located in the middle of two buildings and it will have solar panels.

Teachers, families, students, and community members were a part of this design and look forward to seeing students in this space. 

This was stated by Vanesa Vázquez Lugo, mother in the school community who is extremely happy with the experiences that the students have had with the earth and nature. The families have seen how the students have created awareness of the environment and how they have allowed the community to integrate in the process. 

Vanesa affirms that the change has been positive. 

Dr. Berrios wish is that this summer the pergola can be started and that the students are part of the process of transforming the area under the wooden structure. 

“The commitment is complete. Understand that education has to transcend monetary values. That education will always be an investment in the future of a country and to be able to create agreements between our social communities so that they get involved in the care process and the good development of their school systems,'' Dr. Berrios shared about his commitment to this project.   

This school is accompanied and supported by the Instituto Nueva Escuela and Para La Naturaleza so that the community achieves its ecological school.