s everyone is seated, Jason Sowell stares out to the crowd of students and peers. The attendees are on the edge of their seats waiting to learn more about landscape architecture.
Sowell is a registered architect and a professor at Texas Tech University in the Department of Landscape Architecture. Sowell spearheaded the Texas Tech event, After Design, at the College of Architecture in April 2019. After Design is a symposium the role of management to students how architects think about how architects think about landscapes and the steps it takes to implement them long-term.
“I invited a whole series of scholars and practitioners in the state of Texas, who are at the forefront of management concerns in a whole range of different landscapes,” Sowell said.
Sowell had help from his graduate student and communications manager, Justin Palacios, on this project. Palacios is handling the marketing and communications aspects of the event and has created groundwork for future events.
“This is a brand-new event that is going to become an annual event,” Palacios said. “So, I’m really trying to create a foundation for him.”
I invited a whole series of scholars and practitioners in the state of Texas.
Aside from After Design, Sowell also teaches landscape architecture studio classes where he helps students craft a variety of solutions to architectural problems or questions. During the spring 2019 semester, the students worked toward generating different scenarios on how downtown Lubbock can be redesigned to fit the city’s Draft Master Plan.
“The Draft Master Plan proposes to revitalize the downtown as a new place for commercial, residential and retail,” Sowell said.
Sowell has a passion for landscape architecture and plans to remain teaching students the proper curriculum. He will also continue working as a registered architect to help solve some of the leading issues in the industry. He resonates with nationally renowned landscape architecture icon, John Brinckerhoff Jackson, and supports his definition of landscape architecture.
“J.B. Jackson, who was a significant cultural historian of landscapes, asserted that landscape is, in essence, humanity taking upon themselves the responsibility to accelerate biophysical prophecies,” Sowell said. “It also means that there is a need to care for that landscape and manage it in order to achieve the goals and objectives that the cultural and social outline.”