Workshop IV: Professional Practice

Catalog description

Workshop IV focuses on landscape architecture as a practice and as a profession, showcasing a broad range of traditional and nontraditional modes of practice. Students are prompted to be intentional in navigating early career decisions: setting goals, exploring personal and professional priorities, and cultivating a community of practice. The basic building blocks—forming (or joining) a firm and getting work—then lead into explorations of various ways to practice and engage with the profession of landscape architecture. The process of communicating design intent, development, and coordination through various phases of documentation, and how those documents are used to bring a project to fruition, are presented. The course examines the landscape architect’s role in the construction process through visits to construction sites and nearby built work. We will also engage diverse practitioners in student-led conversations that will emphasize the expansive nature of the discipline, reflecting upon careers that span research, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and design. Students will also be presented with tools that will help articulate and strengthen their voice and direct their career decisions. Development of their portfolios and initial considerations for their journey after graduating conclude the semester-long exploration of the profession.