Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
An award-winning book written by an outstanding alumnus of Texas A&M's College of Architecture will serve as the text for an introductory land development class for graduate and undergraduate students this fall.
Dennis Jerke, who earned a Master of Landscape Architecture degree in 1978, penned “Urban Design and the Bottom Line: Optimizing the Return on Perception,” which makes an argument for the dividend generated from high-quality, preinvestment design and investigates the benefits and impact of good design upon all facets of an urban area — the community, businesses, employees, the general public, city officials and the developer.
Jerke, recognized as an outstanding alumnus by the college in 2005, is a principal with TBG Partners, an Austin-based landscape architecture and planning firm. He will also serve as a guest instructor for the course, delivering lectures and reviewing student research.
Jerke said proceeds from the sale of his book, published by the Urban Land Institute, will fund two endowments benefiting the discretionary accounts for the architecture and landscape architecture and urban planning departments at Texas A&M.
"Return on Perception," a term trademarked by Jerke, is the book’s underlying theme. Lavishly illustrated with photographs and plans, the book makes the case for value-added design, showing the impact of trails, parks, and amenities, landscapes and streetscapes, transportation and urban waterways, the built environment and conservation, on the bottom line. A final chapter explains how to put all of the pieces together for the greatest impact and value.
The tome won an Award of Excellence from the Texas Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects when it was published in 2009.
Jerke previously led Jacobs’ national land planning and landscape architecture initiatives in large-scale development and public projects. He expanded the firm's urban design and planning practice from one to seven U.S. locations, encompassing a 70-person team.
Early in his career, he was involved in master planning, designing and entitling residential communities through the southwest. He has managed the design of such notable projects as Main Street in Fort Worth; Timmaron in Southlake, Texas; the Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery; and White Rock Lake in Dallas.
The class consists of graduate students led by Geoffrey Booth, Youngblood Endowed Professor of Land Development and the Master of Science in Land Development Program coordinator, and undergraduate students led by Cecilia Giusti, assistant professor of urban planning.
- Posted: Oct. 1, 2010 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.
