[2][3] During the Cold War and after the fall of European socialism, many buildings in Cuba remained unfinished, and modernization stagnated, leaving architecture in ruin and decay.

[2][4] After these studies, Garaicoa served four years of mandatory service in the Cuban army as a draughtsman,[5] then enrolled in the painting department at el Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) from 1989 to 1992.

[6] Carlos Garaicoa began his career in the 1990s, as Cuba was thrust into economic depression by a lack of support from the USSR, combined with the US embargo.

[8] In Carlos Garaicoa's earliest works, he did not focus on one medium due to his belief that it was too restricting, as well as his interest in the intersections of theory, reality, and art.

[6] To disrupt these barriers, as well as those between the artist and the spectator, Garaicoa's first pieces were anonymous installations placed in the street or alterations made to public spaces, like buildings and walls.

[6] He then posted signs with information about the installation, added strips of nylon throughout the building to separate floors from one another, secretly took photos of his neighbors' reactions, and requested that residents deliver their opinions about the project.

[10] His documentation was meant to serve as a criticism of the tendency of society to process messages without challenging them, as so many people walked by without noticing the installation.

[3] This historical moment is what inspired Garaicoa to come up with the name, Continuity of Somebody's Architecture, because the buildings were abandoned in the middle of construction, and his installation completes these projects.

[4] The images of incomplete, crumbling buildings, therefore, symbolize the decay of Utopian dreams, such as communism, while the multimedia elements represent the reconstruction of new social aspirations.

[4] In 2005, Garaicoa produced a series of large scale black and white photographs of stores and restaurants that capture the nature of Havana's consumerist past and present.

[12] The sculpture forces the viewer to examine the difference between the individual structures and then the congregate of all of them, a model of how socialism is an overarching structure composed of individuals[12] Carlos Garaicoa's Yo nunca he sido surrealista hasta el día de hoy (I've never been surrealist until today), was displayed at the Museum of Architecture, Art and Technology in Lisbon.

The installation emphasizes the importance of rethinking one's position as a citizen, and questioning the current political and economic crises that are occurring within the urban landscape.

Garaicoa believes that the center-periphery distinction is a question of perspective, and that in contemporary times there has been a power shift in which the visions, art, and culture of the periphery is becoming more prominent.

[14] Carlos Garaicoa has been influential in developing Cuba's art scene by drawing international and private sector attention to his work, and consequently, other artists on the island.

[15] Garaicoa is passionate about creating a stable environment for artists and culture, rather than commercial interests, to thrive, and was involved in the opening of the Galleria Continua’s Havana space.