The Profession of Landscape Architecture

Landscape architecture is primarily concerned with designing the built environment. Representative projects include the design and planning of cities and their regions; highways and parkways; subdivisions, shopping centers, malls and plazas; campuses; municipal, state and national parks; river, lakefront and oceanside developments; playgrounds, golf courses and marinas; historical sites and monuments; community developments and individual residences.

The profession is interdisciplinary and practioners must be knowledgable on a number of subjects including design principles, plant materials, construction, graphic arts, computer applications, and ecology. In a sense, the profession represents an intersection of other fields, requiring mediation of the many aesthetic, physical, legal, ethical, functional, and ecological challenges of developing a site. The land use contexts in which landscape architects work range from wilderness to city and the scale ranges from multi-state regions to the design of gardens and courtyards.

Landscape architects traditionally obtain either a BLA or an MLA from an accredited school. Many graduates choose to pursue licensure. The procedure for doing this varies by state, but typically involves working for a period of time under the supervision of a licensed landscape architect followed by a written exam. Practioners are often employed by consulting firms, development corporations, and mining and forestry companies. Additionally, public agencies such as the National Park Service or state and local parks, planning, and environmental agencies are a significant source of employment. Landscape architects typically work in cooperation with planners, building architects, engineers, historic preservationists, and natural and social scientists. Most practioners join the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), an organization which promotes the interest of the profession.