Lisa Davis is a Senior Associate in OJB’s Houston office.

What inspired you to become a landscape architect? While I was in undergrad majoring in horticulture, I became interested in learning more about landscape architecture. We could choose landscape design as a focus of study in our senior year, which led me to pursue a graduate degree in landscape architecture.

Who as an artist or landscape architect influenced your design and plant materials? The simplicity yet bold work by environmental artists (Andy Goldsworthy, Robert Irwin, Robert Smithson) always fascinates me. I am also intrigued by the design research process of Scape. For planting design, I love Piet Oudolf design – the way he uses perennials to create natural looking gardens that grab your eyes instead of appearing as a blur.

What is your focus when designing? What makes your work rewarding? Clarity of forms, human comfort, layered narrative and sense of place. Landscape architecture really does influence how we live, work and play.

Conceptualizing a design and working out all the logistics to make it a reality is very exciting. I feel most rewarded when I see people enjoying the spaces that I design.

Where do you go to feel inspired? Travel allows me to see things through a different lens and provides an opportunity to challenge my typical way of thinking – observing how other cultures use spaces and have a different perception of ‘beautiful’. The detailed design of Japanese landscapes and Singapore’s sustainable initiative are inspiring.

What has been your favorite OJB project to work on and why? Parkland Square is a recent favorite project of mine. It’s a Howard Hughes TND community that incorporates residential & commercial elements, along with plenty of public spaces and walkable streets. There’s a one-acre central park area that has quite a bit of programming, including dog park, playground, pavilion with outdoor living area and other shared amenities. The most fun part of the project is dreaming about how to translate the programming into physical spaces.