CRASH COURSE

ARCH 4556: The Transscalar City: Housing the New Texas Triangle

Connect the dots from Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, and you’ll have what’s known as the Texas Triangle. As the fastest-growing region in the state, it is home to more than 70% of all Texans, with a population of 21 million in 2020. Over the next 40 years, the population is expected to increase by about 65%. As it grows, Corpus Christi could become a fourth dot on this map, forming a new triangle that includes South Texas, claims Oswald Jenewein, assistant professor of architecture in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs.

In his course, “The Transscalar City: Housing the New Texas Triangle,” he invites students in the senior-level class to tackle advanced architectural and urban design problems on multiple scales in South Texas to explore how new urbanization patterns could populate this region.

“With a growing economy and population here in Texas, it’s time to plan ahead to ensure the state will be ready for the challenges of tomorrow,” Dr. Jenewein says. “As a professor, I try to include students as much as possible in my long-term projects that assist cities and decision-makers in their efforts for sustainable and resilient urban developments to make meaningful impacts in communities.”

Ultimately, his students ask and find answers to the question: What will the cities of the new Texas Triangle look like, and how will they serve as models for sustainable growth and resiliency in changing environmental conditions?

“There are often no blueprint solutions for such topics, and students need to find answers outside the box,” Jenewein says. “The strategies and actions needed to further develop our cities in the age of climate crisis are often difficult to implement, and equipping students with the skills to access and verify information, think critically, and reflect upon problems is a crucial step toward the future.”