Team Member Highlight: Joseph Garavito

Prior to joining our architecture team in Bryan during 2019, Joseph had gained vast knowledge in the industry. From working with a local Brazos Valley residential design-build company, to an architecture firm in Houston and a design company in Mexico, he accumulated over 15 years of design experience. Joseph was born in Texas, but spent the majority of his life in Monterrey, Mexico where he attended the Universidad Regiomontana. Due to Mexico's requirement that a university's architecture program produce a licensed architect upon graduation, he became a Licensed Architect in Mexico in 2001. When asked why he chose to pursue architecture he said, "Being a small child in Houston, Texas, of course I wanted to be an astronaut. As I got older I wanted to be a comic book artist, then graphic designer, and finally I found my place in Architecture. Architecture has the right combination between science and the humanities. It is math and art combined."

While attending college, he accepted his first job working in the industry at a small residential/commercial design and construction company. After receiving his License, he spent 10 years with a firm, traveling across Mexico designing and building casinos, restaurants, offices and even some residential projects, until moving back to Texas in 2015. When asked why he chose to be part of the GLS architecture team, he responded "GLS offered an opportunity to work in an area that I hadn't worked in before: education. GLS was and still is multi-disciplined with a large geographical market to service. In my time working here I have had the chance to work with our different departments and design for projects that provided the opportunity to grow professionally. And I will say that jumping back in to Revit was just a plus."

Although he has only been part of our architecture team for a year and a half, he has been working diligently as an architectural designer. Of all the projects he has worked on thus far, the Lovelady High School and Gym, Madisonville Bogan Street Apartments and Dime Box 2020 Campus Improvement projects have been among his favorite to design for. "My favorite part of working in the architecture department is that I get to work in every aspect of the process, from design to construction. I have always been involved in the construction aspect of design, and I find it very fulfilling to see a design actually built. Dime Box is among my favorite projects to have worked on because I was able to visit the site before, during and after construction."

In addition to the artistic vision and ability that he brings to each project that he designs for, Joseph shared his talents in our annual Christmas Card Contest. Every year our firm hosts a competition across all four offices where participants submit original artwork to be selected and sent out to our clients in celebration of the Christmas season. The artwork may be created digitally or done by hand using any medium from paint to pencil. In our 2020 contest, Joseph submitted a hand-drawn illustration which won first place and was selected as the Goodwin-Lasiter-Strong 2020 Christmas card. (Shown to the right)

When asked what he liked most about his department, he said "When working on a project, we make decisions, share information and resolve issues as a team. We hold each other accountable to our team's principals of integrity, honor and loyalty in order to provide nothing short of excellence for our clients. But overall, it's the attitude of our department and the inclusivity that our project managers implement with each project, to create open lines of communication between every member of the project." In regards to his favorite GLS tradition, "Maybe I'm biased because I won last year's card design contest, but the Christmas cards that get sent out to our clients. I think it says something about GLS that they would use one of our designs to be the face of our client Christmas gifts... it's more personal and a way to honor our talents outside of the projects that we work on."

"We are lucky to have had Joe on our team for nearly 2 years. Outside of the familiarity with construction and experience that he brings to every project, he has been a key component in implementing an organized system to deliver the highest quality projects to our clients." - Jennifer Sitton, R.I.D.

"I have seen Joe's artistic ability in both his work for the office and the sketches that he does for fun. It is absolutely incredible, the talent that he has and we are fortunate as a firm to have him on our team." - Jena Eulenfeld

FUN FACTS

Q. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

A. I would take my mom to Sicily to visit her relatives and then go to Northern Spain to visit my paternal grandfather's birthplace.

Q. If you had to listen to one album (or artist) on repeat for a year, what would it be?

A. There's many to choose from, especially since I like a wide range of music. But I think it would be Metallica with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Q. If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be and why?

A. Flight. My favorite superhero is Superman, but his greatest power isn't his strength or his flight, it is his ability to do what is right.

Q. What Disney character (or cartoon character) do you think you are most like and why?

A. I think that would have to be the adventurer/nerd Milo Thatch from Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I love learning about almost anything and going on adventures to explore places that I've never been to before.