For many poets, architecture is the way to link dreams to the earth. For Aileen Marín González, it is restoring colors and lines that time has blurred in her beloved city.

Her approach to Architecture

Since she was a child she discovered that construction would be her world, thanks to her visits to the house of neighbor Ileana Lugones; an architect who inspired her with her display of rulers, triangles, pencils of different thicknesses and designs of lines and spaces on paper.

She remembers with emotion how she discovered that magical world, asking the meaning of each stroke, the colors and the functionality of the space on a blueprint; The large drawing table was fascinating for young Aileen, who wanted to know everything, while Ileana, with the patience of a teacher, showed her the way.

She came to OHCC

With only one year of experience after graduation, in 1998, she arrived at the Office of the Historian of Camagüey city (OHCC, by its acronym in Spanish). It is an institution to which she is very grateful, because there she began to teach the history of architecture to the students of the Francisco Sánchez Betancourt School of Trades. With them she participated on site in the different restoration tasks that the Office undertook at that time, which constituted a learning period.

In 1999 she became part of the Master Plan Directorate, where, surrounded by established professionals, she began to appreciate and understand urban planning.

A few years later she assumed the leadership of Project Management, where she not only faced the creation of architectural projects, but also acquired a discipline in her way of doing things that, even outside the entity, accompanies her to every place where she works.

The love that Aileen professes today for her beloved Camagüey is largely due to her training as a professional within the OHCC; Well, from within she began to look at each building and public space with the eyes of the heart, she assures.

The great work

Just as every actor dreams of playing a great role, every architect wants to participate in a great work. For this professional with 26 years of experience was the project and execution of the Railway Museum.

She reminds us that the Museum is a great project, with 5 work objects, all independent and that took a lot of work, but she fell in love with the work from its conception. She worked as a team alongside the Director of the Office and today it is a great dream come true, a beautiful gift for the city and for the railway family.

For this reason, sitting on a bench in what is now called Paseo del Museo Ferroviario (Mario Aróstegui or Van Horne Street), while we admire the beautiful building, a former passenger terminal, I can see the pride and pleasure reflected in her eyes and smiling like a mischievous girl comments very softly:

Architecture is life, it allows you to look at things differently, create and provide comfort to others. You always work to make people feel good, there is nothing more beautiful.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García