Jay Valgora

Jay Valgora grew up in Buffalo, New York.[5] The steel mills where his father worked and the historic grain elevators of Buffalo influenced Valgora to become an architect.[5][6] Valgora studied architecture at Cornell University (BArch), Harvard Graduate School of Design (MArch) and was a Fellow in the Fulbright Program to the United Kingdom.[2]  At Harvard, Valgora studied under Pritzker Prize-winning Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza Vieira.[7]

In London, Valgora commenced his investigations into industrial waterfronts,[8] continuing with a Fulbright Fellowship.[9]

In 1993, Valgora became design director of Rockwell Group, leading designs for the Cirque du Soleil theater, the Dolby Theatre (then known as the Kodak Theatre), the first W Hotel, and Mohegan Sun.[10] Starting in 1998, as design principal of WalkerGroup, Valgora designed buildings in the United States, Spain, and Japan[11] and began his investigations into combining contemporary design with historic and industrial architecture.[12]

In 2000, Valgora established V Studio, a design studio.[13] In 2000, Valgora designed the Iwataya Passage in Fukuoka Japan,[14] and designed the set for Double Exposure, a multi-media dance production by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater that premiered at Lincoln Center, New York.[15]

This practice formed the basis for founding Studio V Architecture in 2006.[16] He began to focus on the redesign of industrial waterfronts to transform former industrial sites.[17][18]

Valgora’s design methodology focuses on critical inquiry engaging contemporary form with historic structures.[19][20] Architectural examples include the J + K Residence (contemporary townhouse inserted on top of an historic hotel),[21] Bronx Post Office, Macy’s Herald Square (historic fabric contrasting contemporary fabrication)[22] and Hunts Point train station, originally designed by Cass Gilbert.[23] Valgora’s designs have also juxtaposed different uses for a single structure, as seen in his design for Frank 57, which includes a hospital, three types of residences (luxury, affordable, and co-living), and retail.[24]

Valgora’s designs for the Empire Stores[25] addresses many of his design principles  within a single project, combining historic and contemporary architecture.[26][27] His project  “Silo City,” which transformed the grain elevators in Buffalo, NY into an arts and cultural center, features art galleries mixed with velodromes, residences and community gardens.[28]

His design for the abandoned Michigan railway bridge spanning the Niagara Gorge between the US and Canada proposed converting the bridge into an elevated public park, hotel, and museum.[16]

His design for Iwataya Passage in Fukuoka, Japan features an reinterpreted underground public street with illuminated glass and cable structures connecting train stations, hotel, and stores.[14] Valgora’s Flushing River master plan envisioned a new waterfront community with elevated esplanades and parks.[29]

Valgora’s design for the adaptive reuse of oil tanks at Maker Park / The Tanks was also the subject of debate on the adaptive reuse of industrial structures.[30][31]