Gabriel Díaz Montemayor Blends Theory, Practice and Community Engagement in Teaching

Editor's Note: As the U of A strives to become an employer of choice, the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design is highlighting the faculty and staff who help the school excel.

---

Growing up in Chihuahua, Mexico, Gabriel Díaz Montemayor split his time between the dry, desert environment of his hometown and the dense urban landscape of Mexico City, where he spent many summers with extended family. The contrast between the two places — particularly their access to trees, public space and infrastructure — left a lasting impression.

"I was always enthralled by Mexico City — the change of scale, intensity, infrastructure, architecture, and, of course, amenities that were not available in my much smaller and drier hometown, including large, forested parks such as Chapultepec," said Diaz Montemayor, associate professor of landscape architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

In Chihuahua, green space was scarce. In Mexico City, parks such as Chapultepec and tree-lined streets were central to daily life. That difference, he said, shaped his early understanding of how landscapes affect communities.

Díaz Montemayor pursued architecture at the Instituto Superior de Arquitectura de Chihuahua, enrolling in 1993 when the school was still new. The program emphasized critical regionalism and the relationship between architecture, culture and environment. During his first semester, a public lecture by a Mexican landscape architect introduced him to landscape architecture.

"I had no idea that landscape architecture existed as a profession, and I immediately felt drawn to it and represented by its motivations," Díaz Montemayor said.

At the same time, he became involved in local environmental and social justice efforts. He joined a human rights and environmental NGO, participated in public campaigns opposing a proposed trash incinerator and began recycling at a time when such practices were uncommon in the city. His close friendships with ecology students further deepened his interest in environmental systems and native landscapes.

"One of them gifted me a book on native plants of the Chihuahuan Desert when I graduated from architecture school," Díaz Montemayor said. "It felt like a sign of what was coming."

He began working in a professor's office during his fourth year of architecture school and quickly developed an interest in public space and urban design. That interest was recognized, and he was assigned to those types of projects. After graduation, Díaz Montemayor joined another office where he again worked on parks, plazas and streetscapes.

"In hindsight, I didn't realize it at the time, but all of this was leading me toward landscape architecture, including my growing interest in teaching," Díaz Montemayor said.

His teaching career began early. Díaz Montemayor was invited to teach while still a student and began leading architecture studios at age 22, balancing teaching with professional practice. He credits his father, who early in his career also combined teaching and practice as a certified public accountant, as a major influence.

"A fundamental influence in this, and in many other aspects of my life, was my father, who often spoke about him combining teaching and practice. That reciprocity was something I aspired to," Díaz Montemayor said.

Fluency in English helped open doors to cross-border academic collaborations, including joint studios with the University of New Mexico. Those experiences led him to obtain a fully funded Master of Landscape Architecture at Auburn University, where Díaz Montemayor also held a teaching position.

After earning his graduate degree, Díaz Montemayor held faculty positions at Arizona State University and The University of Texas at Austin. He has also taught and lectured extensively throughout Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. In spring 2019, he was invited by Ken McCown, landscape architecture department chair, to be the Verna C. Garvan Distinguished Visiting Professor in Landscape Architecture in the Fay Jones School. In fall 2019, Díaz Montemayor joined the Fay Jones School. Although he knew little about Arkansas before visiting, Díaz Montemayor said the state felt familiar.

"Both Chihuahua and Arkansas — and their larger regions — have a strong sense of place, pride and latent socio-economic and socio-ecological potential," Díaz Montemayor said. "In many ways, these are non-presumptuous places defined by rooted resistance and resilience. I like places like this, and I think I understand them."

For Díaz Montemayor, that sense of place and grounded ambition is what drew him to the Fay Jones School. He said the school balances rootedness with forward-looking energy, and he felt a natural connection to an institution with that kind of character. His first visit to Fayetteville confirmed it, and the combination of strong programs and supportive colleagues made the decision to join the school feel right.

"Both are ambitious and grounded, and I like to think that I gravitate toward institutions like that. Of course, having a fantastic building — now two — certainly helps, as does the quality of life in Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas," Díaz Montemayor said.

At the Fay Jones School, Díaz Montemayor teaches landscape architecture studios and courses that emphasize theory, practice and community engagement. His research explores what he calls "ecotonal reconciliation," a concept rooted in transitional landscapes and evolving relationships between human and ecological systems.

"The reconciliation component is broader, more aspirational, and intentionally ethereal. I use it to address a larger inquiry into how we might improve relationships between humans, and between humans and the more-than-human world," Díaz Montemayor said.

The idea emerged from research on informal urban practices in immigrant communities in Phoenix, Arizona, and continues to inform both his teaching and professional work. Rather than focusing solely on technical skills, he prioritizes critical thinking and social responsibility.

"I hope to contribute to the formation of critical thinkers and responsible citizen-designers who understand, embrace and positively advocate for the social, economic, political and environmental dimensions of all professions involved in shaping the built/made environment," Díaz Montemayor said.

In addition to teaching design skills, he hopes to help students think critically about the world around them. By fostering curiosity, empathy and a sense of responsibility, this next generation of designers can better understand the communities they will serve and the impact their work can have on both people and places.

"I aspire to help educate young professionals who are engaged with their places and societies, who are willing to listen and who understand that communities — and all their members — are what matter most. From that understanding, they can help facilitate positive and adaptive transformation," Díaz Montemayor said.

That reciprocity between research, practice and teaching is evident in Díaz Montemayor's consulting work on urban plans in Texas border communities and public landscape projects in Mexico. One of the projects he cites as most meaningful is the Vistas Cerro Grande Linear Park in Chihuahua City, a one-mile-long park designed to preserve an informal neighborhood market while creating needed green space in a food desert.

The project, completed years after its initial design, received an honorable mention at the Third Latin American Landscape Architecture Biennial in 2018. For Díaz Montemayor, the recognition reinforced the importance of work rooted in both research and real-world impact.

That same intersection — between design, ecology and social responsibility — continues to guide his teaching and scholarship. He is direct when speaking to students who feel drawn to that space but question whether it is viable.

"I would say that this intersection is real, not an ephemeral mirage, as some might suggest," Díaz Montemayor said. "If you have this interest and conviction, pursue it. Find firms that share these values, build a career as a contributor and innovator, and help shape new modes of practice that are necessary now and in the near future."

At the core of his work is a belief that design is never neutral. Landscapes, buildings and cities reflect the priorities and failures of the societies that create them.

"Our built/made environment reflects our societal values," Díaz Montemayor said. "It has been designed — make no mistake — and much of it is imperfect and unjust, for both human and more-than-human life. While we have created many beautiful things, there is still much to improve, repair and adapt, and that means there is important work to be done."

That sense of responsibility shapes how he approaches teaching at the Fay Jones School and how he defines the role of design professionals more broadly.

"Society — our families and communities — invests in us as students, faculty and professionals to make the world a better place," he said. "We must not forget or ignore that responsibility."

Read the full Q&A with Gabriel Díaz Montemayor.