Career Opportunities

students with design or planning projects—real or theoretical—to be solved, with the requirements of the projects described in a brief or project statement. Students may work independently in developing their solutions (design proposals) or in small groups with the teacher interacting with individual students by offering advice and giving substantive feedback (suggestions) during a student’s progress. The work of the students is their own, developed through a process of self-discovery, eventually to arrive at a design solution to a large degree satisfying their understanding of what is required and their own creative sensibilities.

There are several career paths a landscape architecture graduate can take when practicing their chosen profession. These paths include:

academic public practice or service private practice non-traditional practice.

There are many career paths landscape architects can take that not only include becoming designers of outdoor places but also involve participation with other professionals and scientists in developing management plans for natural resource areas, or developing plans and programs for repairing and restoring damaged environments, such as hillsides mined for gravel and coal, and improving animal habitat. Landscape architects have been involved in coastal restoration and restoration of other ecosystems that are threatened and damaged by natural disasters such as hurricanes. Landscape architects are employed by highway and other public infrastructure departments involved in the planning of route selection and later landscape restoration and enhancement. The list could easily continue but the reader should get the message: the work and skills of landscape architects go far beyond what is contained within garden walls. Urban design is yet another area that finds landscape architects vitally involved. Urban design includes the redesign of street corridors to enhance pedestrian use and safety, as well as establishing attractive and vibrant places for shoppers, workers, and visitors in sections of cities, and the design of plazas, establishing inviting and highly useable public spaces in new developments. The knowledge, skills, and problem-solving processes of a landscape architect are applicable in just about any facet of life, limited only by one’s imagination and passion.

The workspace of the firm shown in Figure 1.3 is organized in an open office configuration, where professionals share a large open space not divided into individual, walled-in cubicles. The open office format is popular among design professionals and gives everyone a sense of knowing what is going on, the kinds of projects others are working on, and it also promotes group engagement. In situations where privacy is required to work or meet with clients or other professionals from other firms, private spaces or meeting rooms are provided.

Support professionals such as accounting and marketing may have their own spaces to work in, so as not to disturb or be disturbed. The workspaces are often designed with low partitions (note none are used in this example) so that a designer may work without direct eye contact with others when seated. Note in the foreground of Figure 1.3 larger tables that allow several people to work together on design projects when interaction is desired. The principals or partners may have individual offices in order that their telephone calls and conversations with others do not disturb the professional employees in the adjoining open work area. Also note the presence of computer monitors at each Figure 1.3 The work environment of a landscape architecture workstation. Each workstation has two monitors. firm. The dual system facilitates the multi-tasking necessary for efficient computer-aided production. While difficult to see in Figure 1.3, the dress code in this office and generally in most offices in America is casual and comfortable. Landscape architects are found on the professional staff of government agencies at the national, state, and local levels. Government entities such as national and state parks agencies as well as city park and recreation departments employ landscape architects, thus offering career opportunities that are challenging and productive throughout one’s career. The preservation of a nation’s historical and cultural heritage is an area of government that has grown significantly, requiring staff with professional expertise and training to manage these valuable facilities and landscapes. Landscape architects who are interested in history and culture have become integral professional staff in the planning, design, and management of landscape and cultural heritage sites. Governmental planning organizations, such as city planning departments, have long employed landscape architects. Just about any government agency will have landscape architects on its staff. Surprisingly government agencies such as national defense, housing, natural resources, transportation, and even departments of state will have landscape architects on their staff; primarily planning and designing facilities such as embassies or military installations. Working in these agencies most often engages teams composed of multiple disciplines. The work may include design of projects but more often it is overseeing the design of contracted consultants. The multi-disciplinary teams have primary responsibilities in planning, policy and regulation development as well as a review function, evaluating submittals of pre-construction documents to check for conformity with agency regulations and design and planning standards. Another career track in landscape architecture is to become an educator. To do so in North American and most European universities requires a terminal degree, which is a master’s in landscape architecture (MLA). In most other parts of the world, a doctoral degree has become the norm. An increasing number of candidates entering the teaching track have a bachelor’s degree from just about any discipline in the humanities, sciences, engineering, business, and social sciences, and then enroll in landscape architecture graduate studies