[5] The steel mills where his father worked and the historic grain elevators of Buffalo influenced Valgora to become an architect.

[5][6] Valgora studied architecture at Cornell University (BArch), Harvard Graduate School of Design (MArch) and was a Fellow in the Fulbright Program to the United Kingdom.

[19][20] Architectural examples include the J + K Residence (contemporary townhouse inserted on top of an historic hotel),[21] Bronx Post Office, Macy's Herald Square (historic fabric contrasting contemporary fabrication)[22] and Hunts Point train station, originally designed by Cass Gilbert.

[16] His design for Iwataya Passage in Fukuoka, Japan features a reinterpreted underground public street with illuminated glass and cable structures connecting train stations, hotel, and stores.

[14] Valgora's Flushing River master plan envisioned a new waterfront community with elevated esplanades and parks.