In the fall of 2010, the College and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design at Washington University in St. Louis will launch a new graduate program in landscape architecture leading to a professional* Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA). Two- and three-year degree options will accommodate students with design and other undergraduate degrees. The landscape program will further develop cross-disciplinary connections among architecture, urban design, and visual arts in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts to grant MLAUD and MLA/MARCH degrees.
The MLA program will be chaired by Dorothée Imbert, currently associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard's Graduate School of Design (GSD). A noted scholar as well as a practicing landscape architect, Imbert was program director for the GSD's MLA Degree Programs in 2004-05. Learn more about Imbert
The Sam Fox School's new program in landscape architecture will focus on the three subjects of design, ecology, and urbanism. The transformative process of design—linking cultural, historical, and technological investigations—will form the pedagogical basis for research. Ecology will inform design practice to address a multiplicity of scales and natural systems within the environment. Urbanism will serve as a terrain of contemporary landscape practice. As heirs to design, ecological, and urban traditions, landscape architects are uniquely suited to articulate a spatial vision for today's environment. This three-pronged approach is geared to develop the students' critical and conceptual abilities, and prepare them to become leaders within professional and academic spheres.
The curriculum will be centered around studio teaching supported by instruction in technology, history, and theory. Following the core sequence of design studios and classes, students will be encouraged to develop their own research interests through advanced design studios and electives. Interdisciplinary and international option studios will foster a multiplicity of perspectives leading to a research based degree project (thesis or independent study). In addition, students will have opportunities to further their investigations within and beyond the school through teaching and research assistantships, and scholarships.
The landscape architecture program draws on a unique set of institutional, regional, and international resources available at the Sam Fox School. St. Louis will function as a laboratory for understanding and testing ecological and urban theories at the local scale, from brownfield reclamation to urban agriculture systems. Washington University's outstanding programs in environmental studies, environmental engineering, and American cultural studies will expand curricular offerings in ecology, technology, and landscape studies, and the internationally renowned Missouri Botanical Garden will serve as an exceptional tool for research and teaching. Finally, through the extensive international offerings of the school in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Helsinki, Seoul, and Tijuana, students will be able to experience different landscapes, cultures, and cultures of practice.
* Accreditation pending
