Bachelor of Landscape Architecture - Urban Design

The Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) degree is accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board (LAAB). The BLA degree meets the academic requirements for licensure in all fifty states. LAAB standards require that first-professional degree curricula must include the core knowledge skills and applications of landscape architecture: landscape architectural history, philosophy, theory, values, ethics, practice, planning, design, implementation, and management. The program is a site-based design discipline that also deals with regional and larger-scale environmental/social issues. The curriculum, centered on a studio-based design curriculum, integrates ecological and social factors into the design and planning process. Students take a series of lecture and studio design courses, beginning with an introduction to landscape design principles in the first year and culminating in an advanced research and studio design project in the graduating year. Courses include Site Analysis and Ecological Principles, Site Design Studio, Urban Design Studio, and Professional Practice, among others. Digital design studios allow the integration of computer-aided design, GIS, and other analytical and communication tools with fundamental design and drawing skills.

Landscape architects examine civic environments and human activity and weave them together into a fabric of streets and open spaces, cultures and meaningful places, historically significant and emerging identities, social equity and economic viability. Urban design is a collaborative venture involving landscape architects, planners, architects, civil engineers, artists, developers, politicians, and residents. Understanding design at different scales is important ranging from block and neighborhood, to district and municipality. Each new scale introduces new complexities, issues and considerations. Students studying urban design visit outstanding examples in Baltimore, Washington DC, and New York City. They also visit professional offices and talk with practicing professionals who visit the studio and give feedback on student design solutions.