Rafael Carmoega Morales (1894–1968) was born in Rio Piedras. In 1913 he entered the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art and Planning receiving a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1918. That same year Carmoega began his career as a draftsman in the Public Buildings Division of the US Department of the Interior. After the death of then State Architect Adrian C. Finlayson in 1921, Carmoega was the first Puerto Rican to become State Architect, a position within the Department of the Interior which he held until 1936.

In 1936 he went to work for the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) where his work included the execution of the design of the University of Puerto Rico Cuadrangulo based on the Parsons Plan of 1924. The Parsons Plan was a master plan mainly designed by architect William E. Parsons of the Chicago firm Bennett, Parsons & Frost, for the expansion of the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras campus. The plan consisted of a Spanish Renaissance Revival style, U-shaped quadrangle and the construction of a clock tower named the Roosevelt Tower, a grand stand at the athletic field, a Library Hall and other main academic buildings.

In 1939 he established a private practice producing work characterized by a varied mix of architectural styles, frequently utilizing the Spanish Baroque and Neo-Mudejar styles in his designs, emphasizing the use of glazed, mosaic tiles. He produced the designs for the residences of Secundino Lozana known as El Cortijo in Barranquitas in 1939 and Dionisio Trigo in Santurce both still standing, Colegio San José in Río Piedras for the Catholic Marianist Order and the old Casino de Puerto Rico in El Condado built in 1946 and now demolished, the Plaza de los Perros in Ponce, the Edificio del Valle in Santurce in Spanish Renaissance Revival style in 1941 and the Humacao City Hall building included in the National Register of Historic Places.