The Concentration in Built Environment (BE) allows the study of the living environment from a variety of perspectives, ranging from building techniques and architecture to the larger context of social and ecological landscapes. Architecture is a social art, thus, this concentration is as much about design theory and practice as it is about people and how their needs and ambitions can be expressed in spaces and structures. You will study the sustainability, functionality, and beauty inherent in a well-designed building as well as the physical fabric of the city. This field involves knowledge of the following areas:

• Aesthetics: Exploring the nature of space and building materials, looking at basic design theory, the design of simple structures or landscapes, the relationships between buildings and their context, and the study of urban form.
• Human Experience: Relating spatial experience to the needs of human beings, the cultural and psychological aspects of space, and human relationships with the natural and built environments.
• History of Architecture: Introducing the history of building, its relationship to the aspirations and practical needs of various societies, and an overview of the evolution of architectural styles and urban form.
• Design Technology and Technique: Designing environmentally sound spaces and structures that meet functional standards and aesthetic goals, introducing basic construction techniques of structures and landscape elements, understanding the physical and aesthetic properties of materials used, and gaining familiarity with building codes, zoning regulations, graphic communications, and computer skills.

Classes for the BE concentration emphasize studio art, architectural history, building technology, and human use of space. This concentration develops technical skills for understanding design and planning at the building scale within the framework of creating sustainable communities.

Career Paths

The Built Environment concentration prepares students for careers in a wide range of design and construction fields that deal with the social aspects of the built environment with an emphasis on sustainability. They will also be prepared to pursue a graduate-level professional design degree in building technology, architecture, or landscape.

The BE concentration works well for students interested in the accelerated 2-year Master of Landscape Architecture (the 4+2 MLA program), with the addition of 500-level LandArch studios in the senior year.

BE Concentration Requirements

Take four concentration required courses and two electives from the approved courses list. No more than two 100-level courses can count toward concentration requirements.

Required Courses

Take four of the following courses.

Typical terms and times are listed. Please check the current departmental course offerings for up-to-date information.

Certain Landscape Architecture courses can also count as concentration required courses. However, availability of these courses to SCD students is limited. Check with instructor.

Electives

Take two concentration electives. The following classes are approved electives; students interested in counting a relevant course (3 or 4 credits) not listed may request a substitution from the Program Director. Many classes in Architecture (ARCH) and Building and Construction Technology (BCT) can count towards this concentration.

Availability of the following classes varies. In addition, some classes may have prerequisites or be limited to certain majors. Check Spire for current offerings and restrictions.

The Concentration in City and Society (CS), formerly called Urban Studies, is concerned with the quality of life in neighborhoods, towns, cities, and metropolitan areas. Closely aligned with urban planning, the CS concentration allows students to explore creative and systematic approaches to environmental, economic, and social issues affecting communities and larger regions. Sustainable communities may be created through careful economic development, control of sprawl, heritage conservation, expanded recreational and cultural opportunities, green infrastructure, improved housing, preserved open space, political reform, and environmental justice. CS concentration courses focus on social equity, human ecology, cultural vitality, economics, politics, policy, land use, and other issues related to city planning. You will build a broad social science understanding of how cities work and how they can be influenced to better serve a broad range of social and environmental goals. Studies in the CS concentration are concerned with:

• Human Settlement Dynamics: The forces that go into developing human agglomerations, how these environments change, how different groups experience these environments, and how designers and planners work within the context within which communities develop physically, but also socially, politically, and economically.
• Regulatory Processes: The legal and technical dimensions related to city planning and strategies, the implications of urban policies and practices, and how living conditions and livability can be improved through land-use and policy decisions.
• Global Issues: The challenges and opportunities found in villages, towns, cities, and mega-cities in the global context, including inequalities in the distribution of goods and services that are required for a quality life food, such as water, shelter, safety, commerce, the question of leadership and what it means to be an active and engaged citizen.
• Planning Tools and Techniques: Theories and analytic methods useful in the practice of public sector planning at the local level, including from fostering economic development and creating local employment to managing improvements efficiently.

Career Paths

Students with this concentration are prepared to work in government agencies, consulting firms, or non-profit organizations working in any of the many domains related planning better communities. They also go on for a master’s degree in planning or other related fields, such as public policy and transportation planning.

This concentration is well suited for students pursing the accelerated Master’s in Regional Planning (the 4+1 MRP program).

CS Concentration Requirements

Take four concentration required courses and two electives from the approved courses list. No more than two 100-level courses can count toward concentration requirements.

Required Courses

Take four of the following courses.

Typical terms and times are listed. Please check the current departmental course offerings for up-to-date information.

Classes in the MRP core curriculum count as a concentration required course with the approval of the Program Director. SustComm 125 is recommended for freshmen and sophomores.

Electives

Take two concentration electives. The following classes are approved electives; students interested in counting a relevant course (3 or 4 credits) not listed may request a substitution from the Program Director.

Availability of the following classes varies. In addition, some classes may have prerequisites or be limited to certain majors. Check Spire for current offerings and restrictions.

The Climate Change and Green Infrastructure Concentration (CCGI), formerly called Landscape Studies, is concerned with large-scale environmental planning and policy. This concentration focuses on the ways that cities and buildings can reduce greenhouse gasses, improve livability and resilience, and enhance ecology through building, infrastructure and planning interventions. You will learn how to enhance the environmental quality through the wise allocation of resources that mitigates, anticipates and accommodates pressures arising in rapidly changing environments and perform the delicate balancing act between development and conservation. To enter this field requires study in:

• Ecological Systems: Applied ecology and ecosystem principles, the role of the natural systems in urbanization, the impact of human activity from the global environment to specific environmentally sensitive areas, and theory and practices in resource economics and planning for greenway systems to improve ecosystems resilience and human well-being.
• Social Systems: Historical and contemporary needs and cultural attitudes that shape environments, the future of the urban form given our current context of rapid urban growth and increased environmental pressures, and the implications of these coming conditions for built form both now and in the future, and how planners and policymakers can provide environmental leadership to communities.
• Climate-related Impacts: The challenges of a rapidly changing climate and the frameworks and tools needed to address climate issues that impact people and their communities, confront climate threats, reduce vulnerability, and build resilience to extreme events.
• Policy and legal tools: Working with local, regional, state, and national governments to regulate land use, protect natural areas resources, expand sustainable practices, encourage socially responsible development, and transform transportation systems.

Career Paths

Students concentrating in CCGI are prepared to begin careers with government, non-profit, and private organizations focused on biodiversity, ecology, resource and environmental policy, or sustainable landscape planning and management. They are also well placed to attend graduate school in a wide variety of climate, design, or policy programs.

This concentration works well for students pursuing the accelerated Master’s in Regional Planning (the 4+1 MRP program).

CCGI Concentration Requirements

Take four concentration required courses and two electives from the approved courses list. No more than two 100-level courses can count toward concentration requirements.

Required Courses

Take four concentration required courses.

Typical terms and times are listed. Please check the current departmental course offerings for up-to-date information.

*Choose either SustComm 285 or RegionPl 585.

SustComm 543 Landscape Architecture History I can count as a concentration required course if the student takes SustComm 544 Landscape Architecture History II to satisfy the SCD core requirements.

Classes in the MRP core curriculum can count as concentration required courses with the approval of the Program Director.

Electives

Take two concentration electives. The following classes are approved electives; students interested in counting a relevant course (3 or 4 credits) not listed may request a substitution from the Program Director.

Availability of the following classes varies. In addition, some classes may have prerequisites or be limited to certain majors. Check Spire for current offerings and restrictions.

The Concentration in Landscape Design and Build (LDB), formerly called Horticulture Studies, is designed especially for students entering from the 2-year Associates Degrees in Landscape Contracting, or related fields. It is concerned with the small-scale details of building and maintaining sustainable landscapes. It allows environmentally-aware students to explore different aspects of the rapidly expanding ‘green’ industries and learn how to apply sound scientific, construction, and management principles in adding beauty to a sustainable environment. This concentration brings together scientific knowledge of plants, soils, and ecology with the theoretical and practical aspects of landscape design, construction technology and business management. This field requires a theoretical and practical knowledge in these areas:

• Life of Soils and Plants: Environmental factors that encourage or inhibit plant growth, requirements for sound plant growth, ecological principles that support organisms (both plants and animals), types of soil and methods of soil modification to maximize plant health, plant communities and their native habitats, and current research on concepts of sustainability.
• Plants-Human Relationships: Plants for food and utility, horticulture and the cultivation of plants, the principles of designing the layouts of small properties, and the benefits of people-plant relationships.
• Landscape Construction: Techniques in the construction and maintenance of landscapes and control of storm water run-off and erosion, economics between various construction and management systems, and reading and creating construction drawings.
• Business Management: Specific fields within the 'green industry', knowledge of the principles of estimating and accounting for small businesses, and awareness of legal responsibilities, insurances and other business responsibilities.

Career Paths

The LDB concentration serves students who want to design and build landscapes in a sustainable way. This major provides an excellent background for those who want to go on for a Master in Landscape Architecture or go to work for design and contracting firms.