Prefessional
Development
Thursday July 26, 07 09:32
...what is landscape architecture?
Landscape architecture is the art and science that embraces those professional activities relating to the systematic planning of land areas, the design of outdoor places and spaces, the conservation of natural resources and the creation of a more useful, safe and pleasant living environment. Practitioners of this profession apply creative and technical skills and scientific, cultural, and political knowledge in the planned arrangement of natural and constructed elements on the land with a concern for the stewardship and conservation of natural, constructed, and human resources. It is our job to make the difference.
Landscape Architecture is an extremely diverse design/build profession, with practitioners working in transportation planning, historic preservation, urban and town planning, reclamation and land development planning, ecological planning and design, site planning, landscape design, parks and recreation planning and design (see below for additional detail).
Site Planning
Site planning projects may include the design for a single residence an office park, a residential community, shopping center, day care or park. Site design incorporates man-made objects and the sites natural features such as topography, wildlife, water, climate, and plant materials in an aesthetic, orderly, ecologically sensitive manner.
Landscape Design
Landscape design is concerned with the details of the outdoor built environment for the residential client, public spaces, commercial and industrial sites. It looks at the play between hardscapes (e.g. concrete, wood or metal surfaces), plant materials (softscapes), irrigation, construction materials and infrastructure.
Parks and Recreation
This is the planning and restoration of parks, open space, and recreational features for the use by the public.
Urban/Town Planning
Urban and town planning is the designing of towns and cities. The landscape architect researches and uses local zoning laws and regulations, master plans, conceptual plans and land-use studies to design urban areas and public spaces.
Historic Preservation and Reclamation
This specialty includes the preservation and or maintenance of a site that has historic significance. Landscape architects are involved from the research to the actual physical restoration of a site. Reclamation includes the reclaiming of land that might have been used a gravel pit, brownfield, or other environmentally destructive use and bringing it back from an unusable state and developing the site for public and or private use.
Land Development Planning
Landscape Architects working in this field integrate economic factors with great design and public desires to create quality environments. Landscape Architects may actually head multidisciplinary teams.
Ecological Planning and Design
This discipline looks into how humans interact with their environment. This type of planning uses environmental law, such as; Clean Water Act, Wetlands regulations and mitigation, and so forth to restore and protect significant resources.
The Landscape Architect's Future
The future of the profession is constantly broadening with environmental causes becoming increasingly important. Farmland preservation, town revitalization, landscape preservation, and conservation are fields of landscape architecture that are expected to see great growth in the future. Technology such as computer aided design (CAD) have meant more opportunities in the design field, and has become a major source of work for people in the profession. In many ways the landscape architect is shaping the future by improving our quality of life by designing and building environments that promote the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Arizona.