Architect
Guillermo J. Marrero Bauzá is an architect based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a member of Marvel, a multidisciplinary, award-winning architecture, landscape, planning, and interiors firm with offices in San Juan, New York, Richmond, Virginia, and Barcelona. With more than 15 years of experience, his work spans affordable housing, commercial developments, public spaces, and complex projects that blend architecture and landscape.
A graduate of the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, Guillermo has led and collaborated with multidisciplinary teams from concept through execution. His work has been recognized locally and internationally for innovation, sustainability, and research, reflecting his commitment to culturally grounded and environmentally responsible design.
Guillermo approaches every project with a place-based philosophy rooted in community, craft, and collaboration. He believes that meaningful design emerges from an understanding of context—social, cultural, and environmental—and he brings that perspective to each endeavor at Marvel and beyond.
He is also a devoted husband to María Cristina Rodríguez and proud father of twin daughters, Violeta and Ámbar, who remain at the center of his life. Family time is his grounding force and his greatest source of joy.
Volkswagen Story
Beyond his architectural career, Guillermo is deeply connected to the Volkswagen community—a passion that began in his childhood and continues to shape his identity today.
Born in 1978 and raised in Peñuelas, a rural town in southern Puerto Rico, Guillermo grew up surrounded by air-cooled culture: split windows, ovals, slammed Beetles with sound systems, and buggies racing along the dirt roads by the river near his home. His father’s stories about his rusty ’72 Bug and his older brother Junito’s stack of VW Trends magazines ignited his fascination with the brand.
In the 80s and 90s, the VW world blended naturally with the pop culture imagery he loved—MTV, Beastie Boys, custom boombox culture—shaping the design instincts he carries to this day.
Throughout his teens in Ponce and his college years in San Juan, Volkswagens remained constant companions. A friend’s bright yellow ’72 Super Beetle, neighborhood Corrados and Rabbits, and island-wide adventures in a slightly rough but lovable 1973 Type 2 Westfalia all deepened his appreciation and cemented VW culture as part of his life.
A Dream 15+ Years in the Making
For more than 15 years, Guillermo searched patiently for his dream car using what a professor once described as the “sharpshooter method”—waiting for the right opportunity rather than casting a wide net. In 2025, that moment arrived when he found a beautifully preserved 1970 Irish Green Karmann Ghia Coupe (Type 14).
Manufactured in 1969, delivered originally to Georgia, and later brought to Puerto Rico, the Ghia had been carefully maintained by its previous custodian, Poshi of EuroVolky Parts. With its fully intact body, semi-automatic Autostick transmission (rebuilt by Jorge “El Profeta” Díaz), and classic EMPI Porsche Gas Burner wheels, the car embodied everything Guillermo had envisioned since childhood.
Volksmania Spring Edition Feature
The Ghia will soon reach a wider audience:
it will be featured in the Spring Edition of Volksmania Magazine, thanks to the support of Paul Cave and the Volksmania team.
The story is accompanied by photography from Miguel Boria and Jean Martínez, who captured the car’s stance, character, and details with extraordinary care.
Community and Connection
Owning the Ghia has created unexpected connections. Strangers wave and honk at him in traffic—just as he once did as a kid. It has become a way to bond individually with his twin daughters, sharing one-on-one rides filled with stories and laughter.
Guillermo is also a proud member of the Low Budget Crew in Carolina, a tight-knit group of enthusiasts dedicated to camaraderie and community service. He describes the group not as a club, but as a family.
What the Ghia Represents
For Guillermo, the Karmann Ghia is more than a car—it is:
• A lifelong dream fulfilled
• A symbol of design elegance and simplicity
• A bridge between his past, present, and fatherhood
• A rolling expression of the design values he practices as an architect
It embodies the belief that timeless design, crafted with intention, creates connections that last across generations—a philosophy that guides both his architecture and his life as a Volkswagen enthusiast.