Landscape Architecture
A Profession In Demand
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) recently conducted a study that confirmed the growing need for the number of students graduating from the schools of landscape architecture across the country. The study stated:From city council rooms to corporate boardrooms, there is increasing demand today for the professional services of landscape architects.
This trend reflects the public's desire for better housing, recreational and commercial facilities, and its expanded concern for environmental protection. Residential and commercial real estate developers, federal and state agencies, city planning commissions, and individual property owners are all among the thousands of people and organizations in America and Canada that will retain the services of a landscape architect this year.
Clear differences do exist between landscape architecture and the other design professions. Architects primarily design buildings and structures with specific uses, such as homes, offices, schools and factories. Civil engineers apply scientific principles to the design of city infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and public utilities. Urban planners develop a broad overview of development for entire cities and regions.
Landscape architects touch on all the above mentioned design professions, integrating elements from each of them. While having a working knowledge of architecture, civil engineering and urban planning, landscape architects take elements from each of these fields to design aesthetic and practical relationships with the land.
The Diverse Field of Environmental Design, Planning, and Management
Landscape architecture is one of the most diversified of the fields of environmental design.
Landscape architects integrate the built environment of neighborhoods, towns and cities with the natural environment, from its forests and fields to rivers and coasts. Members of the profession have a special commitment to improving the quality of life through the best design of places for people and their natural environment.
In fact, the work of landscape architects surrounds us. Members of the profession are involved in the planning of such sites as office plazas, public squares and thoroughfares. The attractiveness of parks, highways, housing developments, urban plazas, zoos and university campuses reflects the skill of landscape architects in planning, designing, constructing and maintaining useful and pleasing places.
From coast to coast, in every region of the world, examples of the landscape architecture profession can be found. Many landscape architects are involved in small projects, such as developing plans for a new city park or site plans for an office building, other members of the profession have contributed their expertise to numerous projects which include:
- Preservation of Yosemite Park and Niagara Falls
- Management plan for the Alaskan Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
- Design of the U.S. Capitol Grounds
- Design of Mount Royal Park in Montreal, Quebec
- Development of Stanford University master plan
- Creation of Boston's "emerald necklace" of green spaces tying the city to the suburbs
- Plans for Baltimore's park system and Inner Harbor area
- Design of "new towns" such as Columbia, Maryland; Reston, Virginia; and Woodlands, Texas
- Landfill reclamation for Fresh Kills in New York and Dyer in Florida
- Plans for Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, California
- Sursum Cordan Affordable Housing, Washington, D.C.
- Design for water treatment and park facility in Hillsboro, Oregon
- Master plan for King Saud University in Saudi Arabia
- Restoration of the landscape design plan along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Maryland
Already, federal and state government agencies ranging from the National Park Service to local park planning boards employ a large number of landscape architects. More and more private developers realize that the services of a landscape architect are an integral part of a successful, more profitable project.
