Celebrating Women’s History Month: Avengers Campus Architect Cécile Pinel on Creating the Magic through Inclusion
Originally published at Disney Parks News
In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ll spend the coming weeks bringing you inspiring stories of women who bring the magic to life around the world as Imagineers, cast members and colleagues at Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. We’re starting with Cécile Pinel, an architect at Walt Disney Imagineering Paris, who is contributing her talent to Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris, which opens this summer!
Cécile studied at the National School of Architecture of Versailles just outside of Paris and spent 17 years at a small Parisian architecture firm before going back to school to specialize in building information modeling, also known as BIM. She quickly joined Disneyland Paris in 2018 as part of the team creating the highly anticipated Avengers Campus, where she used her new skills to help create its immersive attractions and themed elements.
“I have been extremely lucky because projects like this just don’t exist in any other theme parks,” Cécile said. “I’ve been able to put so much of myself and my architectural interests into the project. From an 11-meter-high curved screen to really minute details only a few millimeters in size. That’s what is so great about this – the incredible scale between the giant and the tiny.”
Her day-to-day job is to bring together the many different elements behind the project – high-quality entertainment, creative vision, and important architectural standards – and tackle challenges with the help of a passionate team. Cécile has seen personally how people with diverse perspectives, sharing ideas and working together, can make magic in our theme parks. Cécile believes that each person on her team brings unique ideas and new ways of thinking to the table. Which helps foster both an invigorating, more inclusive work environment and leads to more creative and exciting experiences for our guests.
As Cécile has worked to bring Avengers Campus to life in Paris, she’s taken inspiration from her favorite Marvel character, Black Widow, citing her perseverance and intense determination even without superpowers, and her ability to bring people together to get the job done well no matter the circumstances.
We’re excited to recognize Cécile’s contributions. And tell more stories from around the world, during Women’s History Month and throughout the year. We hope that by prioritizing inclusion, building connections, and supporting women’s growth and wellbeing, we can deepen our culture of belonging. And create experiences that reflect and celebrate the diversity of our guests and cast members.
Stay tuned for more this month as we highlight the many ways women contribute to Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products.
Follow along on social @DisneyParks and check out @WaltDisneyImagineering on Instagram for the latest on all things Imagineering.
