JOCELYN VALLES
Portrait courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
Project Coordinator at OWTArchitects
Founder of Uniquely Nerd Creations
Master of Architecture – University of Texas at Arlington – 2019.
Bachelor of Science in Architecture – University of Texas at Arlington – 2017.
Associate of Science in Computer Graphics – Midland College - 2013.
Jocelyn Valles is a project coordinator at OWTArchitects and is on a path towards licensure. Her journey started at a community college, landing her a job in residential architecture at the age of 19 thanks to the support of her professors. She then moved on to pursue her degree in architecture from the UT Arlington.
She spends her time outside of her career making clay sculptures and digital art. What started as a hobby, turned into her side business Uniquely Nerd Creations and she now runs an Etsy shop. She also enjoys taking photos of street art around the DFW and baking!
Masters graduation, holding my final model. Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
Street art photography. Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
Clay Sculpting. Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
Together We Rise
What inspired you to pursue architecture?
Architecture is a very creative profession in which you could have something that you've designed realized in real life. I was inspired by the impact that architecture contributes to our daily lives. It affects the way we live, our mood, our behavior, and also our health.
Future of airports undergraduate project. Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
What is the most important thing that you learned in the past year?
The importance of women empowerment. Rising each other up is how we grow and improve. This can be done by giving feedback or advice, lending a hand during a deadline, becoming a mentor, having conversations about salaries, and joining organizations outside of work. Together, we can combat the challenges that we as women have to go through.
Diagrams of the airport form and function. - Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
Perspective renderings of the airport. Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
What are some architectural organizations (or specific person/role model) that helped you learn to overcome an obstacle? How did they?
(CAPPA) Architecture Mentorship Program helped me tremendously. I have been both a mentor and a mentee in this program throughout my years in architecture school. When I was paired with a mentor, they would help review my resume and portfolio. We would meet up and talk about interview questions, salary, and how to be more involved in the community.
Design process and different schemes. Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
If you were given the opportunity to repeat the year, what is one thing you’d do differently?
I would repeat my first year, I did not know a single architect nor iconic building. I would’ve done a bit more research on my end to prep for the semester.
Drawings of the model, a monastery on a existing New York pier. - Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
As you reflect on the past year, what did you discover as your biggest strengths?
I am very detail orientated and have a passion for involving as much landscape as possible in each project. Let’s make the Earth green again!
Design build project of the Casa Modular, a portable micro house. - Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Valles.
In terms of rising concerns and problems (in the architectural profession) over the past year, what is one change that you wished would happen and it did not? This can be in an educational or work atmosphere.
I am a strong believer in ending the normalization of pulling all-nighters. My classmates and I experienced serious sleep deprivation every year that we were in the architecture program. A studio workload should be fairly distributed to prevent students from falling behind in other courses or more seriously, falling asleep at the wheel. The mental and physical health of every student should be the top priority in all educational programs.
