Mat Bevel Company sponsor Mary Estes loves to travel, and infuses cultural influences from around the world into her architecture design solutions. She travelled to Japan in 2017.
Mary Estes is a Principal at Norris Design in Phoenix, Arizona. With a background in both landscape architecture and architecture, she works on all types of projects, from large planning efforts to single-family residential design, and everything in between.
“I didn’t know anything about the profession before I went to college,” says Mary. “While at Texas A&M University, my studies were in ‘Environmental Design,’ which despite how broad the name sounds, was actually more focused on architecture.”
Mary launched her career in New York City, in small architectural practices, but soon transitioned to a landscape architectural firm. She has never looked back.
What Mary appreciates about landscape architecture is the diversity of work. She explains, “You can specialize in one area or you can develop a broad knowledge base. I feel like landscape architecture is where horticulture, design, ecological science, and engineering all come together.”
Mary’s passions and interests outside of work include travel, hiking and trail running (and exercise in general…), yoga, reading, and spending time with her friends and family. She played competitive soccer for over thirty years, so lately she’s been enjoying watching the Women’s World Cup games. Through international travel, Mary infuses cultural influences from around the world into her design solutions.
Mary supported Mat Bevel Company during the “Escape Velocity” campaign to make the educational content from The Universe Within world-building course accessible to more students. She just completed her first semester teaching as a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University, so the exposure to formal teaching has provided the motivation to help others learn.
She says, “Mat Bevel Company allows students to explore their creativity and combine that with art and engineering, so it feels totally aligned with my professional career. I share my knowledge with my colleagues at work, to help them grow to be competent landscape architects, and I learn something new every day. I guess you could say I am driven by learning and knowledge.”
Thank you, Mary, for your continued support!