Abstract:

In Vieques, Puerto Rico, the abandoned bunkers left by the U.S. Navy remain as enduring monuments to militarization, contamination, and collective trauma.Originally engineered to withstand explosions, these concrete vaults now contain a more persistent force: toxic residues that continue to shape the health and future of the island. Rather than erasing these structures, this project proposes their transformation into a regenerative architectural system— The NO-Bunker.

By reconfiguring and inverting the trio-shaped vaults, the intervention lifts occupation above contaminated ground while reestablishing connections between sky, water, and vegetation. In this shift, the bunker is no longer a defensive artifact but a living environmental machine —one that filters, cultivates, researches, and heals. Former ammunition chambers become laboratories for in situ analysis of heavy metals and long-term remediation strategies. Simultaneously, inverted vaults operate as communal amphitheaters, fostering gathering and collective resilience.Beneath and within, thermal stability enables protected agriculture and bioremediation, restoring soil health and food sovereignty. In addition, a contemporary surgical theater integrates robotics and public engagement, reframing medical intervention as a means of understanding environmental exposure and embodied impact.

The NO-Bunker positions architecture not as passive shelter, but as an active agent of ecological and social transformation.