As metaphors for three different periods in the historical development of Puerto Rico, the Pavilion presented three geometrical components made of differing materials: 1) a triangular structure with thick, stone-textured walls, representing the military fortifications of the Spanish colonial past; 2) the pergola made of immaculate marble, representing Puerto Rico’s turn toward modern political and economic models and toward modernity itself; and 3) the cylindrical structure of copper and translucent glass, representing Puerto Rico’s future

integration into the technological world. The whole rests on a sinuous, stepped platform that simulates the island’s littoral. At the time, the pavilion was the only architectural work representative of Puerto Rico known to the world at large.