Jarincy Flores-Rodriguez honored as a Daily Reporter Woman in Construction
AG Architecture is pleased to announce Jarincy Flores-Rodriguez has been selected as one of the 2021 Daily Reporter Women in Construction honorees. She is an emerging professional and valued team member who is setting a stellar example for what it takes to pave the road for success. She has demonstrated a commitment to and passion for the field of architecture and is an inspiring role model. Jarincy is a noteworthy woman in construction to keep an eye on in the years to come.
The Path to Architecture
Jarincy, or J as many call her, was born in the small rural village of Santa Cruz, Coatepec Harinas, Estado de Mexico. The village architecture served its humble purpose: to provide shelter from the elements, a place for rest and a space that fostered community relationships. Due to the lack of educational infrastructure and resources in the village, her parents knew it would be difficult for her to earn a high school diploma and attend college if they remained in Santa Cruz. Therefore, at the age of four, her family immigrated to the United States.
They drove across the country to the small city of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She remembers driving through Chicago and seeing a wide range of buildings and shiny towers as they traversed the city by car. At that age, she didn’t quite know what architecture was; but she loved to look at those buildings and imagine what was happening inside. Years later, through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program she could enroll at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) to study architecture.
A Stellar Student
When she began her studies, she was introduced to an entirely new way of thinking about space and architecture. She learned that architecture has the power to positively influence and serve society. She developed a deeper understanding of this in her senior year at UWM. In spring 2017, she was selected as one of five undergraduate students (as well as ten graduate students) to participate in the Urban Edge Award elective seminar, taught by Associate Professor Nikole Bouchard. This seminar gave Jarincy the opportunity to collaborate with a variety of local stakeholders in the city of Milwaukee, like the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, and allowed her to directly learn from and work with a wide range of design pedagogues and practitioners from around the country including: Walter Hood, Fionn Byrne, Joyce Hwang, Olalekan Jeyifous, Sergio Lopez-Pineiro, Aleksandr Mergold and Catie Newell.
Being an Urban Edge Award student gave her direct exposure to creatives who cross the disciplinary boundaries of art, architecture and landscape architecture. These are people doing difficult and important work in cities across the country to make more equitable and accessible spaces in society. In working with them, ideas began to look like possibilities giving her a new outlook on how architecture and design can make a meaningful impact in cultural landscapes. Much like the first time she drove through Chicago, she was fascinated by what architecture could encompass and the change that it could instigate.
For Urban Edge Award Workshop No.2—led by Fionn Byrne and Joyce Hwang—her team—developed Freshet, a medium-scale solution to the existing pollution and flooding issues that plague the concrete-lined Kinnickinnic River neighborhood on Milwaukee’s south side. Her team proposed to remove the existing concrete riverbed to make way for a series of fuzzy berms constructed with aggregated waste materials. This lumpy landscape created a welcoming terrain for various scales and types of inhabitation by flora, fauna and humans. Walter Hood—the Urban Edge Award Keynote Speaker and Guest Critic—awarded Freshet one of three $500 prizes that afternoon. She remembers how excited the Kinnickinnic River community was about the ideas her team shared with them at the Urban Edge Award symposium. That is when she realized that she can be an agent of change through architecture.
“Throughout her scholastic architectural endeavors, Jarincy exhibited an unmatched ability for thoughtful and empathetic creative explorations that demonstrated conceptual rigor and a commitment to craft. She was hands down a standout student amongst her 100+ undergraduate classmates in the Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies (BSAS) program.” — Nikole Bouchard – Associate Professor | University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning
Community Involvement
Jarincy is always looking for ways to support the community and evolve personally and professionally. She has participated in AG Habitat for Humanity event days as well as industry events with Women in Design. She has also been an active member of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Wisconsin Chapter. During undergrad she volunteered for the Immigration Help Center called Voces de la Frontera. She worked with the organization to build more awareness about immigration issues going on in the community. Through the organization Jarincy helped make phone calls, posters and participated in documenting their annual fundraiser.
Mentoring & Leadership
Throughout undergrad Jarincy was actively involved with the UWM Wisconsin Alliance for Minority Participation (WiscAMP) STEM-Inspire program. WiscAMP is Wisconsin’s version of the national Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program, designed to encourage more diversity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. As a respected WiscAMP alumna and UWM graduate, she was asked to give the WiscAMP Spring 2021 Graduation Address.
“My involvement with WiscAMP was a really formative experience during my career development. Being the first in my family to attend college I had no idea what to expect going into my first day. WiscAMP gave me the tools that allowed me to excel,” says Jarincy. “Not only did being a part of this organization help my career development, but it also provided encouragement to strive to be more and do more in my community.”
Jarincy was one of five students that helped revive the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) chapter at UWM. Through this organization she served as the treasurer for a year and helped coordinate fundraising events as well as serve as part of the NOMAS mentorship program. This included a recruiting initiative to encourage more student involvement and the continued development of NOMAS at UWM. Her junior year of college she also participated in the Summer Architecture Camp offered at UWM as a way to encourage high school students to enter the field of architecture. She is currently mentoring a high school student who is also first-generation and exploring the field of architecture at another local firm.
“Through WiscAMP I was encouraged with a group of students to revive our chapter of NOMAS at UWM,” says Jarincy. “Being a part of NOMAS connected me to a larger group of professionals that were doing amazing things for the industry as well as working to elevate other BIPOC professionals. I think this is when my drive to reach out to others in the industry with similar backgrounds to mine became such a big part of my career.”
Professional Growth & Experience
Jarincy joined the AG team as an intern in 2015 because the firm’s tagline “a sense of community” resonated with her. The supportive team is what she says kept her at AG as she is grateful for the firm’s dedication to her personal and professional development. Her hard work and unique skillset along with AG’s commitment to personal development aligned for a senior living project in Colorado called Aberdeen Ridge. This was one of the firm’s first projects in Revit, and Jarincy played a key role in developing the 3D model. Her dedication to this effort and technical expertise made it evident that she should be part of the concept presentation team. This was the first time an emerging professional in the firm played such a key technical role in a major concept presentation with the client.
“Jarincy is a valuable asset to our team, with a great attitude and ‘can do’ approach to her work. Her willingness to learn and ask questions, shows Jarincy has a bright future in this industry!” — Mike Miller, AIA – Senior Associate – Team Lead | AG Architecture
Jarincy has also gained valuable construction administration experience as a key member of the team for RiverWoods in New Hampshire, a fast-paced senior living remodel/renovation project.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Jarincy on several projects. She has proven herself to be an asset on the team, showing an ability to think things through, ask questions and an eagerness to learn. She is genuinely excited about the process of creating buildings and spaces, from the start of the design process through construction. Whether her eventual focus will be design or project management, I am sure she will be a strong advocate for both her clients and her coworkers.” — Russell R. McLaughlin, AIA- Senior Associate | AG Architecture
While Jarincy has been learning and growing at AG, the time in her career had come to pursue her graduate degree. As Jarincy contemplated graduate school, she set the bar high and her acceptance into UWM, University of Illinois Chicago, Rhode Island School of Design, Cornell, Yale and Princeton, exemplifies how she is a sought-after emerging professional. She received a full scholarship and will be attending Princeton this fall while continuing to support the AG Team remotely.
A Bright Future
Jarincy is eager to continue pushing boundaries and challenging preconceived notions of what architecture is. She wants to continue exploring how design can be used as an agent of positive change to build a more socially sustainable society. She pursued opportunities to work with professors exploring design that challenges the traditional views on urban design. She sees the need for more equitable architecture in the city of Milwaukee, and similar cities across the country. She feels this past year in particular has brought even more light to substantial flaws in the system. She is ready to return to academia to learn more about herself as a designer and the ways in which she can be a trailblazing agent in the next generation of design.
“Jarincy Flores-Rodriguez is a first-generation UW-Milwaukee alumna in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and a former WiscAMP STEM-Inspire scholar, graduating with a 3.5 GPA in her degree field. In that capacity, and since she has entered the workforce, she remains a force to be reckoned with as only one of a handful of strong, capable Latinx women with a degree in Architecture that are changing the landscape of the profession and making it more diverse, inclusive, and most of all innovative. Her giving heart is seen in both her creative talent and drive to excel, and with her recent award of a full scholarship to attend Princeton University Architecture graduate school, I know she will go far and continue her family’s legacy of hard work and giving back to their community.” — Anique N. Ruiz, MA, JD – WiscAMP STEM-Inspire Program Director, Multicultural Network Chair, 2020-2021 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
She looks forward to studying under Mónica Ponce de León, whom she highly admires. “She was also the first in her family to graduate from college and become part of the small percentage of licensed architects that are Latinx,” says Jarincy. “I would like to follow in the path she has helped to pave for Latinx architects. I have immense gratitude for the chance my parents took when they left everything behind for a better future. They provided me with this opportunity to learn and grow, now it’s my turn to continue building that future.”
