More than 70 professionals representing 27 different landscape architecture firms from across the region were on the Texas Tech University campus this week for an intensive educational program known as WreckShop 2019. The event, organized by Tech's student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, encompassed a series of networking, professional development and collaborative opportunities.

"This three-day event provides a great opportunity for the students of the Department of Landscape Architecture to network and secure internships and employment with professionals from throughout Texas and beyond," said Kathryn Nelson, SASLA Advisor and an instructor within Tech's Department of Landscape Architecture.

"Representatives from numerous firms meet with our students, learn about their strengths, and mentor them for their future employment goals," she said. "The workshop also provides learning sessions for both students and professionals that discuss current topics that strengthen their knowledge base for practice."

Among the landscape architecture firms scheduled to attend were:

• 7gen Planning
• Belle Firma
• Covey Landscape Architects
• Cross Timbers Studio
• Delineator Design
• Dowdey, Anderson & Associates
• Dunaway Associates, L.P.
• Fasken Oil and Ranch
• Fortress Building Products
• GPSI
• Halff Associates
• Hitchcock Design Group
• KDC Associates
• Kudela & Weinheimer
• la terra studio
• Lee and Associates
• LJA Engineering
• McAdams
• MESA
• Mitchell Associates LLC
• MP Studio
• Norris Design
• Open Air Studios
• Peloton Land Solutions
• Stantec
• Studio Outside
• TBG Partners
• The Sage Group

The WreckShop 2019 program rolled out Thursday afternoon (Oct. 3) with a lecture series in Tech's Escondito Theatre featuring Kenneth Francis, partner and principal in charge of the New Mexico-based Surroundings Studio, and Barbara Deutsch, chief executive office of the Landscape Architecture Foundation in Washington, D.C. The lectures were followed by a reception where industry professionals were able to speak and network with students.

The main WreckShop events, which include a Landscape Architecture Foundation Landscape Performance Workshop, Firm Expo, and a portfolio review, began on Friday (Oct. 4) with an early morning breakfast and conclude with a special department exhibition as part of the First Friday Art Trail. The First Friday Art Trail is a free, self-guided, public art event that is part of Lubbock's Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts.

On Saturday morning (Oct. 5), students had an opportunity to interview with interested firms, as well as join a Department of Landscape Architecture tailgate held before Tech's football game against the Oklahoma State University Cowboys.

Tech's Department of Landscape Architecture is housed in the university's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The latest official enrollment numbers released this week indicate the department is home to 84 undergraduate students and four graduate students.

The program specializes in semi-arid landscapes, while engaging design and planning issues critical to a sustainable, resilient, adaptable earth and its growing urban populations. It's professional B.L.A. and M.L.A. degrees are accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board.

Separately, officials noted that the department has a long-standing relationship with Tech's College of Architecture, including an interdisciplinary collaboration studio; courses on urbanism; land arts in the American West program; and the land use, planning, management, and design doctorate program.

CONTACT: Kathryn Nelson, Instructor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-2862 or kathryn.nelson@ttu.edu

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