Introduction to Landscape Architecture + Urbanism

It is not often that the focus of our work at the university seems as prescient as during these past twelve months. With a year that began with Extinction Rebellion protests raising concerns for the climate crisis and ending with Black Lives Matter protests occupying cities around the world, the theme of Disruptive Ecologies that we had planned has explored many of these actions and concerns. Disruptive Ecologies was partly inspired by Rebecca McdonaldBalfour, a student on the BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture programme, who won one of the Landscape Institute Student Travel Awards to study the transformation of public space during the Extinction Rebellion protests. It also reflected concerns amongst the student body as they consider their careers and ambitions.

The year was also marked by the disruption to all of our lives of the Covid-19 global pandemic. From campuses being closed to new online meeting places and from missing friends and family – some who tragically passed as a result of the coronavirus – to expanding landscape conversations, this has been one of the most difficult years to be a university student and a complicated time to be a tutor. Such disruption can be a creative force, but it can also be extremely unsettling. It is to the credit of the students and their tutors that they persevered with developing their work from remote locations around the world, adapting their design approaches and producing such impressive projects.

In March The Landscapists Seminars were initiated to support the students during this time and to explore conversations with landscape practitioners – from our bedrooms to their studios. With some of the most famous landscape architects from London to Shanghai and from Mumbai to New York, what began as a small group of thirty students on the first day developed to a daily audience of over 250 students, designers, friends and colleagues. The title and theme of the seminars was developed from The Landscapists: Redefining Landscape Relations, an issue of Architectural Design (AD) that included work of students and staff and was published by Wiley this year.

As we plan for the coming year we are excited to be launching a new BA (Hons) Urban Design programme. This is an important development to our programmes as we explore the relations between landscapes and cities and how we can creatively inform their future. All the Landscape Architecture and Urbanism programmes (BA, MA, MLA, MSc and PhD) at the University of Greenwich are focused on the speculative design of future landscapes and cities, informed by site-focused research, within specific local, regional and global contexts. This new Urban Design programme will continue our exploration of ecological justice and urban equity, from theoretical discourses to new forms of material construction.