Juan Vallejo, B.Arch 2018

My name is Juan Vallejo and I am a graduate from the B-Arch class of 2018. I am a first generation Colombian American currently living in Puerto San Jose, Guatemala. Shortly after entering the field I worked in New York City as a designer and project manager for TW2M Design Build. I was able to reinforce my interest in the design build method of construction but felt an urgency to work alongside vulnerable communities and create lasting social, economic, and environmental impacts through design. So much of our academic studies focus on addressing these social dilemmas on paper, yet in the real world the opportunities to work in these areas are few and far in between. I found the city limiting in this regard.

… So I decided to move to Guatemala! I am currently working as a designer for VA Studio designing residential beach homes and as an ambassador for CAUKIN Studio.

I worked with CAUKIN Studio previously designing and building a community center in Fiji and now we are working on establishing their first project in Latin America. The project has sought to create the opportunity to work with rural communities via the agro-industrial corporations which have monopolized the rural coastal region of Guatemala. Through initiatives of social development within the corporations, we are allying with an NGO to provide access to telemedicine (remote clinical services) which will be housed in versatile spaces that can be used by the community when the clinics are not in session.