SOA Spotlight: Juan Jofre Lora

Juan Jofre Lora joined the School of Architecture in 2017 as the Emerging Scholar in Design. He is a practicing architect, founder of Estudio Esmero, an interdisciplinary design office, and co-founder of JLA, a high-end wireless speaker company. Jofre Lora teaches courses in both the undergraduate and graduate curriculum at the School of Architecture focusing on digital fabrication and geometric disciplines.

Prior to joining UT Austin, Jofre Lora held an adjunct faculty position at Parsons | The New School and was a designer at the firm A+I in New York City. He has worked for several renowned firms, including Tod Williams & Billie Tsien, Weiss/Manfredi, and the office of Preston Scott Cohen, and has participated in multiple public exhibitions, including the US Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale.

Jofre Lora received his graduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the Thesis Prize for his work on architecture in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and holds a BS in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati. In 2011, he was named a Soros Fellow for New Americans. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Jofre Lora immigrated to the United States in 1996.

We caught up with Jofre Lora for a quick Q+A:

What is your focus at the UT Austin School of Architecture? Can you tell us a little bit about what drew you to this position?
I'm interested in how design plays a role as a cultural storytelling device. Whether we intend to or not, everything we design and build is part of a lineage and broader history, so my goal is to get students to think about the broader narratives in which their projects exist. I think my focus is trying to understand how we give form cultural meaning, which means, on the one side, exploring form and how we make objects, and, on the other side, exploring the multiple histories that surround us.

As for the position, I had the unique opportunity to help create its focus alongside Associate Dean Cisco Gomes. I was working as a professional, but looking to to get back into academia in an exciting way. In that sense, I was incredibly lucky, and I'm trying to make sure that I make the best of it! 

What is your area of expertise?
I would say that my area of expertise is digital design and fabrication. That is certainly where I have the most quantifiable skills; however, I think a better answer might just be in thinking about design and how to craft the narratives around it.

Note: Jofre Lora's Visual Communication III class was responsible for last year's installation, "Found Objects," in Goldsmith Hall. See some of their work here.


What courses will you be teaching this fall? What do you hope students take away from your courses?
I'll be teaching two studios. The first is an advanced level studio looking at the future of a complicated but historically significant building in Cuba and the second is the foundations studio for first year students. 

I hope students take away a renewed sense in their ability to create a narrative through design that touches on larger cultural topics. I'm happy to teach them tools, but, at the end of the day, I would like them to be able to show us through design why their projects matter. I'm also excited to teach students as they first start design school and simultaneously as they reach the end.   


You are currently working on Fortlandia, an outdoor exhibition opening in October 2018 at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. What can we expect from this project?
Our goal with Fortlandia is to create an interactive exhibit that allows visitors to change its shape and use. I remember making forts as a kid, and the best part was building them and tearing them apart to start over, so I want to make sure we give users the same opportunity.