Rate My Professor Hans Klein Hewett

Hans Klein-Hewett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Iowa State University College of Design. He earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) from Iowa State University in 2005 and a Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) from Cornell University in 2009. As a licensed Professional Landscape Architect (PLA) and member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), his research specializations include rural parks and recreation, landscape tourism, and landscape architecture pedagogy. His investigations into rural parks and recreation cover classification systems, their function as quality-of-life amenities for rural residents, park distribution and planning, and equity in rural park access. In landscape tourism, Klein-Hewett examines the history of landscape tourism, design of tourism spaces, and scenic tourism. His pedagogical research emphasizes experiential learning, flipped-classroom approaches for construction detailing, and digital documentation. He aligns with signature research areas encompassing design education and pedagogy, design for health and wellness, engagement and social issues, history, culture and heritage, and sustainability, environment, and planning.

Klein-Hewett received a 2023 Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities (CEAH) Research Grant to advance studies on rural parks, underscoring their roles in sustainability, economic development potential, and community vitality. Key publications feature "Classifying Rural Parks: A Case Study in Iowa" (Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 2024), which develops the Iowa Rural Park Classification System (IRPCS) using data from 749 recreation spaces in eight central Iowa counties; "Rural Parks in Neoliberal America: Can Rural Parks Adopt Urban Funding Strategies?" (Architecture_MPS, 2023); "Design as an Indicator of Tourist Destination Change: The Concept Renewal Cycle at Watkins Glen State Park" (Land, 2021); "The Savanna Studio Travel Experience: From My Backyard to Broader Benefits" (Landscape Journal, 2021); and "Timeless Scenery vs. Changing Tourists: The Design History of Watkins Glen State Park" (New York History). These works contribute frameworks for rural park management, equitable planning, tourism landscape analysis, and enhanced landscape architecture education.