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Landscape Architecture

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Overview

Landscape architecture is an environmental design discipline. Landscape architects actively shape the human environment: they map, interpret, imagine, draw, build, conceptualize, synthesize, and project ideas that transform landscapes. The design process involves creative expression that derives from an understanding of the context of site (or landscape) ecosystems, cultural frameworks, functional systems, and social dynamics. Students in our program learn to change the world around them by re-imagining and re-shaping the landscape to enhance its aesthetic and functional dimensions, ecological health, cultural significance, and social relevance. The profession addresses a broad range of landscapes in urban, suburban, rural, and wilderness settings. The scale of landscape architecture projects varies from broad, regional landscape analysis and planning to detailed, individual site-scale designs. The curriculum at Iowa State prepares students for this challenge as they develop their abilities to design and communicate ideas through a sequence of foundational courses and studios. The program seeks to produce graduates who understand the ethical, social, and environmental/ecological dimensions of issues involving changes in the landscape.

Graduates are active in a broad range of careers, such as sustainable site design, land development, park management, environmental advocacy, community planning, urban design, and others. In their professional lives, graduates apply their creative and technical skills in the planned arrangement of natural and constructed elements on the land with a concern for the stewardship and conservation of natural, constructed, and human resources. The resulting environments serve useful, aesthetic, safe, and enjoyable purposes. Graduates are able to communicate effectively with colleagues in the sciences and humanities as well as in the allied professions and are prepared to work individually and in multidisciplinary teams to address complex problems dealing with the cultural/ecological environment.

The department offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs and cooperates in the undergraduate minors in Design Studies, Critical Studies in Design, and Digital Media. 

The undergraduate curriculum includes one year of the college’s Core Design Program followed by four years in the professional program. Applicants are reviewed on the basis of academic performance and a portfolio of original work; admission to the professional program is subject to the approval of a faculty committee at the completion of the Core Design Program. Information on admission criteria is posted each year on the College of Design website.

Following admission to the professional program, students embark on the traveling studio during the fall semester of their second year. This studio is a full semester’s credit of integrated departmental courses and involves extensive travel within and beyond the great Midwest region of North America, to study regional natural systems and the cultural responses to those systems.

To enhance the study of landscape architecture in off-campus settings, the department requires students to choose from among the following options during the spring and summer of their fourth year: 1. a professional internship 2. the College of Design Rome Program 3. an independent study abroad experience or 4. National Student Exchange. The department assists students with placement, and additional information is provided through the department and the College of Design’s Career Services Office.

The undergraduate program consists of a five-year curriculum, requiring 150 credits, leading to the degree Bachelor of Landscape Architecture. These credits are distributed between a one-year Core Design Program of 30 credits and a four-year professional program of 120 credits.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Understand and practice design as an iterative process.
  • Design landscapes as part of the built material world from concept to detail.
  • Select and use a wide range of manual and digital techniques to communicate ideas; utilize appropriate communication and representation techniques based on the design problem.
  • Present a project clearly and concisely to a client, community, or user group and produce professional communications.
  • Produce basic construction documents and other project documentation including plans and specifications.
  • Incorporate knowledge of ecology and plants into design proposals.
  • Understand and practice landscape architecture as a continuously changing historical and cultural activity.
  • Interpret how social, cultural, and political dynamics affect the use and design of public and private space.
  • Function effectively in collaborative and multidisciplinary settings.
  • Practice professional ethics, judgment, and skills and understand the professional’s role as a fiduciary.

Degree Requirements

The department offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs.

The undergraduate program consists of a five-year curriculum, requiring 150 credits, leading to the degree Bachelor of Landscape Architecture. These credits are distributed between a one-year Core Design Program of 31 credits and a four-year professional program of 119 credits.

Admission into the professional program depends upon available resources and is subject to the approval of a faculty committee at the completion of the Core Design Program. Applicants are reviewed on the basis of academic performance and a portfolio of original work. Information on admission criteria is posted each year on the College of Design website. 

The BLA from Iowa State University is an LAAB (Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board)-accredited professional degree program. In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for professional licensure. The LAAB is the sole entity recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation to accredit U.S. first-professional degree programs in landscape architecture at the bachelor's and master's levels.

Total Degree Requirement: 150 credits

Only 65 credits from a two-year institution may apply, which may include up to 16 technical credits; 9 P-NP credits of free electives; 2.00 minimum GPA.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES: 3 Credits

U.S. Cultures and Communities (formerly U.S. Diversity): 3 credits

Communications: 10 credits

(C or better grade in ENGL 1500 and ENGL 2500)

ENGL 1500Critical Thinking and Communication3
ENGL 2500Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition3
LIB 1600Introduction to College Level Research1
One of the following:3
Proposal and Report Writing
Technical Communication
Total Credits10

Humanities: 9 credits

9 credits from PHIL, HIST, MUSIC or other humanities course offerings.

Social Sciences: 6 credits

6 credits from ANTHR, ECON, POLS, PSYCH, or SOC.

Mathematics and Science: 12 credits

One of the following:3-4
College Algebra
Applied Trigonometry
Calculus I (4 crs)
ENVS 1200Introduction to Renewable Resources3
Science Elective6

Additional General Education Course 3 credits

3 credits from 3000-4000-level courses

Design Core: 13 credits

DSNS 1020Design Studio I4
DSNS 1150Design Collaborative Seminar1
or DSNS 1100 Design Exchange Seminar I
DSNS 1310Drawing I4
DSNS 1320Digital Design Literacy1
DSNS 1830Design in Context3
Total Credits13

Landscape Architecture: 85 credits

LA 2010Studio: Landscape Interpretation and Representation6
LA 2020Studio: Site Design I6
LA 2110Digital Design Methods for Landscape Architecture3
LA 2410Developing Identity as a Landscape Architect1
LA 2720Landscape Studies3
LA 2740The Social and Behavioral Landscape3
LA 2810Investigating Landscape Form, Process, and Detail3
LA 3010Site Design II6
LA 3020Ecological Design6
LA 3220Fundamentals of Planting Design3
LA 3410Contemporary Landscape Architecture1
LA 3710History of Modern Landscapes, 1750 to Present3
LA 3730Gardens and Landscapes from Antiquity to 17503
LA 3810Shaping the Land3
LA 4020Urban Design6
LA 4040Advanced Landscape Architectural Design6
Landscape Architecture Independent Educational Enrichment: Professional Internship
Landscape Architecture Independent Educational Enrichment: Study Abroad
Landscape Architecture Independent Educational Enrichment: National Student Exchange
LA 4420Professional Practice2
LA 4810Landscape Construction3
LA 4820Landscape Construction Documentation3
DSNS 5460Interdisciplinary Design Studio6
Plus nine credits professional electives9
Total Credits85

Electives: 12 credits

Complete electives sufficient to complete graduation requirements.

Landscape Architecture, B.L.A.

First Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
DSNS 1020 or 13104DSNS 1310 or 10204
DSNS 11501DSNS 13201
DSNS 1830 ( or General Education)3Soc. Sciences/Humanities Elective3
ENGL 1500 or 25003Science Elective or MATH 14203
Soc. Sciences/Humanities Elective3LIB 16001
MATH 14503Elective (Optional for pre-professional year; not required for program application. If not taken in first year, add 3 cr. to a subsequent semester to meet the 150.0 credit total)3
   
 17 15
Second Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
LA 20106LA 20206
LA 21103LA 27403
LA 22103ENVS 12003
LA 24101Elective3
LA 27203 
 16 15
Third Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
LA 30106LA 30206
LA 32203LA 34101
LA 37303LA 37103
LA 38103Social Science/Humanities Electives3
ENGL 25003Math/Science Elective3
 18 16
Fourth Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
LA 40206One of the following:  
LA 48103LA 4440AR
Social Science/Humanities Elective3LA 4440BR
LA electives3LA 4440CR
Communications (3000 level English)3 
DSNS 3010 (Rome option only)1 
 19 0
Fifth Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
LA 40406DSNS 54606
LA Electives3LA 44202
LA Electives3LA 48203
Social Science/Humanities Elective (3000 level)6Electives/LA Electives3
 Professional Elective1
 18 15
 

Additionally: Each student needs to take 3 credits of U.S. Cultures and Communities (formerly U.S. Diversity) and 3 credits of an International Perspectives course (usually covered by LA 3730). Students also need to take at least 6 credits of 3000 level or above in the combined areas of communication, science, math, humanities, and social science (6 total from all the areas).

Graduate Programs

The department offers the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA), an accredited professional degree designed for students with or without an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture. The degree provides skills and knowledge as measured by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) and the licensing exam for students seeking to practice as a licensed professional in the public or private sectors. The MLA degree also offers competency for students interested in post-professional study as it provides the skills and knowledge for the application of research and/or scholarly methods to professional practice.

The MLA program offers three concentration tracks in the following topical areas — Theory/Urbanism, Technology/Ecology, Advocacy/Community — through coursework and an optional thesis or creative component. The concentration in one of the three tracks will be determined by the student in consultation with his/her advisor. Concentration electives may be selected from within the college and university from an approved list and up to three (3) credits from within the department. In their final year, students may undertake a creative component or thesis option with the approval of their major professor and the department Graduate Committee.

Students are also able to pursue double degrees with Master of Community and Regional Planning (MLA/MCRP), Master of Urban Design (MLA/MUD), and Master of Design in Sustainable Environments (MLA/MDesSE). Students interested in the double-degree programs should contact the departments to receive a detailed description of requirements.

The department also offers courses in the Graduate Certificate Program in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), administered by the Department of Community and Regional Planning.

Design and Planning: 34 credits

LA 6010 Design Representation4
LA 6020 Studio I – Land/Form & Plant/Scape6
LA 6030 Studio II – Living Systems6
LA 6040 Studio III – City Matters6
LA 6050 Studio IV – LandWorks/LandDigits6
DSNS 5460Interdisciplinary Design Studio6
or 2 cr. LA 5800 Thesis, Creative Comp. Tutorial + 4 cr. LA 5990 Creative Comp. or LA 6990 Thesis

Theory/History/Research: 10 credits

LA 5710Landscape Architectural Theory3
LA 5900DSpecial Topics: History/Theory/Criticism3
or LA 5780D: LA History elective*
LA 5410Design Inquiry3
LA 5430Colloquium: Landscape Architecture Research1

Technology/Ecology/Materiality: 14 credits

LA 5220Advanced Plant Technology3
LA 5420Professional Practice2
LA 5590Digital Design Methods for Landscape Architecture3
LA 5830Landscape TopoGraphics3
LA 5870Landscape Construction3

Advocacy/Planning/Policy: 6 credits

LA 5940Environmental Justice in Built Environments3
Planning Elective - choose one from:3
Policy Analysis and Planning
Planning and Development
Environmental Law and Planning
Land Use and Development Regulation Law

Concentration Electives: 15 credits

Concentration track electives in Theory/History/Urbanism; Advocacy/Planning/Community; Technology/Ecology/Materiality from approved list. Students may in consultation with their advisor also choose courses from CRP, ARCH, MUD, SUSE, INDD, or other relevant departments in the college or university.

Total 80 credits