An interview with José María Carrillo, Architect and #AlumniUE
José María, tell us, what are you currently doing for work?
I’m an architect who graduated in 2005. Before that, I had completed an undergraduate degree for the profession that is now known as Building Engineer at UPM, a period at university for my technical training in the construction sector. It was nice and quite interesting, but once I finished my degree and faced working life, I realised that my true calling was pushing me to study architecture.
Tell us a little more about your work. What do you enjoy the most? What challenges do you face on the daily? Do you have an anecdote you would like to share?
I am lucky to be doing the work for which I studied during my architecture degree, which is carrying out architecture projects. I mainly work on new build projects and designing really is my passion. The seventh year… (professional life), is when you’re faced with continuous evaluations, not for a mark on your transcript, but for the responsibilities and commitments you have in order to do your work properly.
What upcoming projects do you have?
My goal is to keep moving forward with different projects, researching new ways of living and conveying a more modern concept to properties or developers, without making it a more expensive product or less in tune with the market.
What advice would you give to those who have just finished their studies and are now going out into the working world?
They ought to follow their principles, everything they studied architecture for. Defend the ideal of architecture that is most in line with current technology and the century we live in. Working life involves continuous evaluation, in the same way as projects at university. This is why our final degree project shouldn’t be the best project of our life, but one of the worst. You have to constantly get better and reinvent yourself.
What is your best memory from Universidad Europea?
My best memory is when I received the admissions letter from Universidad Europea, welcoming me to the architecture degree. For me that was so thrilling and I was very excited to receive it. I also remember all the activities and trips we did for some subjects to see the native architecture of Spain, those were some powerful weekends and moments with all my classmates.