Buitrago, José
José Buitrago
Jose Buitrago is a professor in the Landscape Studies department at the University of Georgia. Buitrago joined the College of Environment + Design at the University of Georgia in 2002 and began teaching the core courses in Landscape Architecture. The main subjects include design, engineering, site planning, history of the built environment, sustainability, technology implementation, introduction to design research theory, and hand graphics.
Calabria, Ashley and Jose R. Buitrago. 2008. Computer Graphics for Landscape Architects: An Introduction. Clifton Park, New York: Thomson Delmar Learning Press, 2008. ISBN: 1-4180-6525-0.
Buitrago, Jose R. Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, US: A Case Study of Heritage Tourism as a Mechanism to Promote Historic Preservation and Economical Development. Fall 2007. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Observatory E-Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 1.
Buitrago, Jose R. The Iconography of San Juan, Puerto Rico, US National Historic Site. Fall 2007. The Pennsylvania State University Conference Proceedings of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture.
Buitrago, Jose R. “Photoshop Can Mimic Hand Rendered Sketches.” Landscape Architect & Specifier News, August 2008. 26 and 28.
Buitrago, Jose R. “Night View Rendering Techniques using Adobe Photoshop CS2 and AutoCAD.” Landscape Architect & Specifier News. June 2008. 24 and 26.
Jose Buitrago grew up in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Buitrago was active in his community and, in 1987, was recognized by the Caguas mayor with the Outstanding Citizen of Caguas Medal. In 1988, he was selected as the Outstanding Young Man of Puerto Rico by the Puerto Rican Youth Commission. He earned a bachelor’s degree with high honors in Landscape Architecture with a Minor in Sculpture from Pennsylvania State University in 1995. He later attended Harvard University and earned a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Design in 1997. At his Master’s Commencement Ceremony, Buitrago served as the Class Marshall.
Buitrago had a nine-year career in the private sector. He worked for Edward D. Stone and Associates, a highly regarded landscape architecture firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Buitrago worked extensively worldwide, from Florida to South America, the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico. His work design included urban, tropical environmental, hospitality-resort, and luxury residential. He also worked on hurricane restoration projects for mega resorts. Hurricane restoration includes rebuilding efforts focused on increasing resiliency through new construction standards and consideration for climate change-driven changes to weather conditions.
Buitrago began teaching in 2002 when he joined the University of Georgia, College of Environment + Design. Buitrago teaches several courses for the Landscape Architecture program. The topics he teaches include basic and advanced design, theory, engineering, site planning, planting design, computer graphics, history of the built environment, sustainability, graduate thesis supervision, technology implementation, incorporation of service-learning projects into the curriculum, portfolio design, and introduction to design research theory.
Buitrago participated in the University of Georgia’s Diversity Advisory Council from 2008 to 2013 and was recognized for Outstanding Service as an Inaugural Member. In 2009, Buitrago received the Outstanding Teaching Faculty Award at the University of Georgia.
In 2010, Buitrago received tenure status and was promoted to Associate Professor. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Georgia. Buitrago shares his vast computer software knowledge with his students, teaching them to use InDesign, CAD, and Photoshop-Sketch Up in their design work.
Buitrago’s current research focuses on the Caribbean Islands, utilizing heritage tourism to promote preservation and economic development, and teaching computer design.
Buitrago is an American Society of Landscape Architects associate member and an Alumnus of Sigma Lambda Alpha, National Honor Society of Landscape Architects, and Phi Delta Psy, First Honor College Hispanic Fraternity.
University of Georgia. n.d. Jose Buitrago. Retrieved June 28, 2023 from https://ced.uga.edu/directory/faculty_profiles/buitrago_jose/.