The decision to take the aptitude tests for the university course that he would later study for five years was not accidental. Since he was a child, Humberto Delgado Fernández was fascinated by the drawings and blueprints with which his mother’s colleagues worked. The boy who today is one of the young architects of the OHCC went to visit the company where he worked at that time.

It was in 2014 when Humberto graduated from the University of Camagüey, and began his career in the Engineering and Architecture Projects Company # 11. With the daily work in that recognized entity of our province, he learned a lot, “about everything related to the use of software and digital tools for design”. There he was mainly linked to projects related to the construction of hotels in the Cruz and Santa María keys.

Five years later, the young architect had the opportunity to take on new challenges as a planner and designer. Since 2019, in the OHCC Projects department, he has been able to dream and see the results of several of his resuscitation projects, “always with the maxim of safeguarding, protecting and preserving the built heritage, which makes our work have a huge social connotation and therefore we must assume it with great responsibility”.

In the list of the most current, the rehabilitation project of Independencia cannot be missing, -one of the main arteries of the Historic Center of the city- which includes notable transformations in that street and in urban spaces located in its surroundings, such as the well-known Las Cubanitas Park.

In addition to this work that Humberto has presented in various spaces, such as the Architecture, Design and Urbanism Workshop held last February, the opportunity to create the Intelligent Classroom project “allowed me not only to investigate and immerse myself in the world of the new pedagogy , but it gave me the first experience in a construction site. Seeing the result was very satisfying.”

Architecture and music

His own physical appearance shows that it is difficult to brand Humberto with labels or stereotypes. Perhaps for this reason, it is not easy for him to define himself in the first place as an architect, or as a musician; and he assumes those two paths with the same passion. “Although they are areas that could be seen as distant, they have creation in common, and that in both communication with the public is essential, since they constitute artistic expressions.”

Even from the name of the band of which he is the bassist, an allusion is made to a term related to the construction processes. “Clearing is the first stage of a work. It consists of extracting and removing trees, brush, rubble… or any other undesirable material from designated areas. It serves to prepare the land and start building.

Thus, as an analogy, as a signification of what is about to begin, the rock group to which Humberto belongs emerged and which is linked to the young artistic vanguard in the province, through the Hermanos Saíz Association. “Each member of Desbroce came from extinct projects, so it was like demolishing the old to build a new project.”

Architecture, music, art… are key words for Humberto Delgado Fernández, who makes up his creative universe from his relationship with a World Cultural Heritage city.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García