Julia Okon

Project Designer

Julia joined The Brooklyn Studio in the summer of 2025. She earned her Bachelor of Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2024, with a minor in Environmental Sustainability. During her 2023 summer semester in Sweden, she studied sustainable alternative building material practices throughout Scandinavia. In the summer of 2024, she collaborated with the former Art Director of the Museum Quarter in Vienna to develop urban design proposals in Krems, Austria.

Prior to joining The Brooklyn Studio, Julia served on the Board of Directors for her school’s chapter of the AIAS, taking on various roles while working as a peer mentor for the Hillier College of Architecture and Design.

Julia grew up and currently lives in Jersey City. In her free time, she enjoys painting, reading, and hiking.

The Proust Questionnaire

Taking inspiration from a popular nineteenth-century parlor game, we sat down with each member of our team and asked them a few questions about their inspirations and aspirations.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Cooking or baking on a sunny Sunday morning with music playing.

What is your greatest fear?

Wasps.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Hardcover books and merino wool sweaters.

What talent would you most like to have?

To dance.

What is your favorite color?

Poppy red.

What is your favorite virtue?

Empathy.

Which living architect or designer do you most admire?

Renzo Piano or Peter Zumthor.

Which dead architect or designer do you most admire?

Carlo Scarpa.

What is the trait that you most appreciate in a building?

A distinct identity/personality.

What is your favorite type of project to work on?

Anything that teaches me something new.

Who is your favorite author?

Mary Oliver.

Who is your hero of fiction?

Hermione Granger.

Who is your favorite artist?

Julie Mehretu or Hilma af Klimt.

What is your most treasured possession?

My journal/sketchbook.

Where would you like to live?

Somewhere in the Mediterranean region.

What quality do you most admire in others?

Tenacity.

Stranded on a desert island, you have two books in your possession. What are they?

We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live by Joan Didion and a sketchbook/journal.