landscape architecture & urban planning

Two faculty members from the College of Architecture were among researchers presenting their National Science Foundation-funded projects to U.S. senators Sept. 6, 2011 at an NSF expo in Washington DC.

Some of Texas’ top land developers will discuss their experiences at this fall’s Real Estate Development Association Speaker Series. The lectures will take place 7 p.m. in the Wright Gallery, building A of the Langford Architecture Center.

City officials in Sealy, Texas are proceeding with steps to revitalize its historic downtown area, part of a comprehensive strategy aided by recommendations made during the fall 2009 semester by Master of Urban Planning students at Texas A&M.

Momentum is mounting for the creation of a National Science Foundation-funded network of researchers dedicated to investigating disaster resilience, vulnerability and risk reduction, said Walter Gillis Peacock, director of the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center and champion of the interdisciplinary network proposal.

Francisco Farias and Paula Lorente, Ph.D. students at Texas A&M’s College of Architecture, are completing the final phases of their scholarly research-oriented work as inaugural Office of Graduate Studies dissertation fellows.

A new book exploring critical planning issues facing Latino communities includes a chapter about a building technique in Texas colonias by Cecilia Giusti, assistant professor of urban planning at Texas A&M, and Miriam Olivares, an Urban and Regional Science doctoral student.

Residents of Brownwood, Texas had a chance last fall to shape their city’s future by participating in a survey developed by Master of Urban Planning students at Texas A&M, part of a collaboration with the city’s officials to update its master plan.

Texas A&M Master of Urban Planning graduate Heather Wade ‘11, Texas’ first coastal community development agent, is creating plans with leaders in Coastal Bend counties with the twin aims of retaining the area’s coastal charm while growing in environmentally responsible ways.

Forster Ndubisi, head of Texas A&M’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, and his counterparts at two leading Chinese universities have agreed to explore the possibility of academic exchanges by signing letters of cooperation during meetings in China.

Students in the Master of Science in Land Development program prepared for careers in the property industry by visiting three of the Houston area’s most notable mixed-use developments, then worked with the developers to craft leasing proposals for a hypothetical business.

Chanam Lee, professor of urban planning at Texas A&M, will tell the American Public Health Association how the built environment can impede the physical activity of children and overweight adults at the group’s annual meeting this fall in Washington, D.C.

Native Land Design, a landscape service company owned by former student Ben Collinsworth, has experienced explosive growth since 2005 when its' focus switched from residential construction to commercial maintenance.

Two Master of Science in Land Development students traveled to Chicago in July 2011 to research and document how Millennium Park, a $475 million project completed in 2004, praised as a “showcase of art and urban design” by the San Francisco Chronicle, has affected the vicinity’s real estate value.

Landscape architecture students’ designs of educational butterfly gardens and a master plan-level analysis of “green,” low-impact development techniques for a portion of the university campus earned awards from the Texas chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

An idea to rent folding bicycles from a kiosk earned first prize and $3000 for Patrick Daniels, a Master of Science in Land Development student, and Martin Griggs, a Master of Urban Planning student, in the 2011 Ideas Challenge, sponsored by the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship.