Professional Profile: Jay Valgora 2022
Jay ValgoraName: Jay Valgora
Title: Founder
Company: STUDIO V Architecture
Location: Manhattan, NY
Birthplace: In the shadow of the steel mills, Lackawanna, NY
Education: Harvard, Cornell, Fulbright (England)
First job: Shoveling asphalt (highway crew in architecture school).
First job in real estate or allied field: Same job–boss discovered I studied architecture; asked me to design his garage.
What do you do now and what are you planning for the future? Now—every day is different. Future—keep it that way.
How do you unwind from a busy day? Begin: 20-mile bike ride (to GW Bridge); End: Gin martini (stirred, olives).
Favorite book or author: Shakespeare, Mann, Whitman.
Favorite movie: Everything on Criterion (especially crazy stuff recommended by our IT guy).
One word to describe your work environment: Unpredictable
Rules to live by in business: Don’t plan everything.
If you could invite one person to dinner (living or dead, but not related to you) who would it be and where would you go? Person—Shakespeare, place—gypsy restaurant I discovered materializes after midnight on a remote beach outside Barcelona.
What is your DREAM job? (something other than your current job) Haiku poet.