Hi! My name is Lorena Roig Gil de Pareja
I’m studying the first course of the degree of Foundations of Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, in group E taught in English as you can see by reading this blog.
After many years of waiting for it, I have finally reached the degree and I can’t be happier to be here. I could tell you since when I had a passion for architecture, but I would be lying to you since not even I remember the exact moment when I realized that this was my vocation and what I wanted to dedicate a big part of my life to. I have a curious anecdote and that is that when I was a little girl I really wanted to be a veterinarian because I was (and still am) passionate about animals, so I asked for the playmobil veterinary hospital but to my surprise, when I started playing I realized that I liked more to set up the clinic and play to decorate it and pretend it was a house rather than playing with the animals themselves, so I started buying little houses and accessories such as furniture and I remember that I spent all my childhood playing like that. As I grew up and with technology and tablets gaining ground, I started downloading interior design games and building houses, even minecraft and sims. From there I somehow confirmed that that was really what I was passionate about; designing and building houses and that’s why I decided to take this degree and get to where I am today.
Although I really don’t have a cultural background in architecture, I am very eager to learn everything I need to know about architects, buildings and new works in order to continue learning about this world. Although I can say that I love modern architecture.
As I said before, I have several things that I am passionate about besides architecture, such as animals, drawing and music. I love any kind of animal (except most of the bugs, especially the bees that I have a phobia of) and throughout my life I have had many types of pets such as fish, birds, turtles, a rabbit, a cat and currently a border collie dog that I love. I spent four years training with her in «Agility», a sport that consists of a circuit with different obstacles that the dog must overcome by listening to its owner’s indications, but without the human intervening by touching it. I had to quit due to lack of time and the truth is that I regret it quite a lot. Also related to sports and animals, I did horseback riding since I was a child until I was 12 years old approximately, although I took it up again three years ago but I quit a year ago due to a very serious accident I suffered in one of the classes that almost took my life.
«Thanks» to that accident, I was able to dedicate more time to another of my hobbies, drawing. I draw mostly mandalas and zentangle art, and since this summer I have started drawing and selling cloth bags (On my own from instagram @lorenart.designs). At the moment I am almost recovered although I still have some sequels that together with other medical conditions (I am celiac, I have scoliosis and as if all this were not enough, I also have migraines) limit me to doing some types of activities such as doing sports of great physical effort, lifting a lot of weight, forcing my neck too much, etc. but in spite of all this I really cannot have any complaints because I am lucky enough to lead an almost completely normal life.
I’ve lived in Valencia all my life and since a few years ago I also have a town in Teruel. I love to travel and I’m lucky enough to have visited several countries and have had experiences like two international exchanges when I was at school. My favorite place in the world is La Fontana di Trevi in Rome. Italy is my favorite country so far (I’ve been to Rome three times, that’s all I can say hahaha) and it’s a place I like to go to whenever I can because it’s amazing and full of wonders and treasures and amazing places.
I‘m glad you made it to the end of the presentation! If you‘ve still wanted to know more about me I‘m going to put some of my favorite photos (yes, even more photos hahaha), as an image is worth a thousand words 😉
