Lewis May is one of the nation’s most accomplished master-plan designers, with more than four decades of experience in planning, urban design, and landscape architecture for projects throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Africa as well as North America. His personal collections of objets d’art and artifacts from these cultures indicate his extensive interest in their history and culture, which in turn make him well-suited to anticipating and understanding client needs.
In fact, Lewis has had a significant influence on the built environment of the Middle East by leading design teams on the planning of dozens of cities and urban centers. Those include new town plans for ARAMCO, communities for Internal Security Forces Housing Projects, sites for the Peace Sun, Peace Shield Master Plan Base Installation Strategies, and master plans for cities such as Accra, Ghana; Jeddah North, Saudi Arabia, and others. He also authored the award-winning “Landscape Architecture in Saudi Arabia.”
Lewis describes his approach to design as process-driven, rather than deriving from a pre-determined theme, which frees him to be creative and leads to unique, unpredictable solutions. Page encourages that process-driven approach throughout the firm by allowing its designers the creative freedom to collaborate with colleagues and clients.
After post-graduate service in the U.S. Army, he joined the nationally renowned firm of Caudill Rowlett Scott where he directed the firm’s global planning and landscape architecture studio for more than two decades. In 1996, Lewis joined the Houston office of Page as Director of Planning with similar responsibilities.
Lewis’s extensive portfolio includes over 300 campus facility master plans at prestigious institutions around the world, including Harvard University, Carnegie Mellon University, the United States Military Academy (West Point), University of Virginia, Templeton College at Oxford University, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, King Abdul-Aziz Military Academy, and University of Houston System.
His recent update of the master plan for Universidad de Monterrey in Mexico allowed him to revisit the original campus plan he created nearly 30 years earlier. The update responds, in particular, to the need to create a long-range comprehensive plan for the 52-hectare campus, including the newly acquired 14 hectares west of the existing campus. The plan provides specific ideas for addressing current needs of the university, as well as concepts to anticipate its future changing needs. Fundamental changes included relocating the main entrance of the campus, redesigning vehicular circulation to reduce inner-campus traffic, emphasizing open space and pedestrian activity, and devising a campus security plan. The new master plan was recognized with awards from the Texas chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Recognized with many awards for his writing and design, Lewis has lectured at numerous universities and professional associations. In 1993, he was recognized by the American Institute of Architects as “one of the outstanding landscape architects and planners in America.” In addition, he has been appointed to serve on two policy committees, the Texas Center for Society and Health Policy and the Center for Population Health, for the Baker Institute at Rice University.
He shares this extensive knowledge with students through teaching positions, including at the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture where he founded the Center for Ecology and served as its director. He is currently a visiting critic/adjunct faculty in the architecture programs at Texas Tech University, University of Hawaii, and Universidad de Monterrey. His own Bachelor and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees are from Louisiana State University, which has honored him with induction into the LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction.
Registered to practice landscape architecture in Texas, Lewis is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a member of the American Planning Association. He also holds certification from the Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Boards.
