Landscape Architecture

Landscape Architecture | Courses | LARP Faculty

109 Hills North

Degree: Bachelor of Science

Contact: Henry Lu

Office: 325 Hills North

Phone: 545-6638

E-mail: henrylu@larp.umass.edu

The Field

Of the several environmental design professions, landscape architecture is the one most concerned with the wise use of the outdoor environment. It attempts to fit human outdoor activities into the natural or the built environment so that those activities function efficiently, have high visual quality and will have minimal impact on natural systems. Together with planners, architects, and civil engineers, landscape architects plan and design the myriad of elements that make up our cities and towns.

The profession of landscape architecture in this country began with the work of Frederick Law Olmsted. Mr. Olmsted, who was active in his profession from the mid 1850s to the mid 1890s, was involved with the full range of effort implied above. Today, because our civilization is more complex, many landscape architects tend to focus on one or more aspects of the profession such as: urban, rural, small scale, large scale, design, planning, construction supervision, or combinations thereof. A tremendous diversity of effort is required in the profession.

The Major

The Bachelor of Science Program in Landscape Architecture focuses on visual, physical, ecological, and cultural issues encountered in the urbanizing landscape. Its primary objective is to educate and train professionals who are prepared to engage future design problems and advance the state of the art. A diverse and internationally recognized faculty is much involved in educational, research, and professional activities in Landscape Planning, Design, and Computer Applications.

Our fundamental concern is the wise use of land and natural resources. As the public becomes increasingly aware of and sophisticated about environmental issues, opportunities for professional landscape architects can be expected to increase rapidly.

Landscape architects serve as mediators between developers and a site to ensure that development does not unduly disrupt natural systems, fits within the cultural context, and is aesthetically pleasing. They design and plan parks, residential communities, university campuses, corporate headquarters, and open space networks. The landscape architect's planning and design decisions are of critical significance to both the immediate and long-term future.

Opportunities exist in the program for study abroad. In the fall semester of the senior year, students may go to Copenhagen to study in Denmark's International Study Program. The program deals with both architecture and landscape architecture, and the city provides an exciting context for urban studies. Other opportunities for exchange exist in England and Germany.

Students who enroll in the program as freshmen can earn a B.S. degree in Landscape Architecture in four years. In addition to the University's General Education requirements, the landscape architecture core curriculum consists of five interrelated areas or sequences as follows:

Graphic Communications Sequence

A graphics course introduces students to the tools and techniques necessary to communicate design ideas. An elective in computer applications in design is also available.

Design Studio Sequence

The twelve studios that run through the second, third, and fourth years are the core of the landscape architecture program. Students learn the principles, methods, processes, and techniques of landscape architecture design. Each studio provides progressively more complex problems with most studios divided into two seven-week segments. Each segment has a different instructor to insure a diverse range of project types, scales, and points of view.

Natural and Cultural Factors Sequence

Six courses include: introduction to environmental design, dynamics of human habitations, plants in the landscape, planting design, city planning, and natural and cultural factors. They are intended to acquaint students with the natural and cultural processes that have shaped the landscape from past to present.

History Sequence

Two courses provide students with an understanding of the historic forces that have shaped the man-made environment and the role that landscape architects have played.

Landscape Technology and Professional Practice Sequence

The four courses in this sequence teach students the skills and knowledge required to implement landscape architectural projects. Includes courses in construction materials, site engineering, landscape structures, and professional practice.

Career Opportunities

The public concern for the natural environment and for high quality built environments has increased professional employment opportunities in landscape architecture. Currently landscape architecture is among the fastest growing design careers in the nation.

Types of work include:

Park and recreation planning and design

Regional planning and management projects

Resort development and golf course design

Urban design (streetscapes, urban development)

Coastal facilities (developments and protection)

Historic preservation

Land reclamation

Design-build enterprises

Land trusts and environmental organizations

As implied above, landscape architects work at a range of scales and interests. They are employed in private practice, in public agencies and in academic practice.

Landscape Architecture | Courses | LARP Faculty