Landscape Architecture Program
A Day in the Life of a Husker
Follow landscape architecture student Laura Koch throughout her day and get a glimpse of what it is like to be a design student in the College of Architecture.
Areas of Emphasis
What You'll Learn
- How to design places that renew the spirit and perform at a high level
- How to read and understand the environment in service to and support of design interventions
- How to become leaders in the pursuit of community improvement
- How to respond to and develop an understanding of the importance of cultural landscapes and environmental equity
Learning Outcomes
- Prepare for a career in landscape architecture or other related areas
- Develop leadership skills through team projects and service learning
- Develop an understanding for the importance of cultural landscapes and environmental equity and the ability to respond to these conditions
Career Connections
- Making real-world connections, students can choose summer long internships or year long coop positions in the landscape architecture profession
- Networking with professionals, student members of the chapter of the American Association of Landscape Architects are involved in numerous opportunities to connect with working landscape architects
- Interacting with design professionals in core course work exposes students to many issues facing the profession today
How You’ll Learn
Hands-On Learning Experiences
- Working on real world projects and building physical mock-ups of site designs
- Traveling to see first hand outstanding examples of landscape architecture
- Working on service learning activities with community groups and professional staff
Transferrable Career Skills
- Fundamental design abilities including research, programming, and creative problem solving
- Communication skills designed to build both listening and presentation abilities
- Development of technical skills required for the implementation of design projects
Social Connections
- Participating in first year learning community along with peer mentors
- Working with undergraduate learning assistants in coursework
- Participating in opportunities in landscape architecture specific, multidisciplinary, and/or particular constituency student organizations inside and outside the college
Making a Difference
- Participating in local service projects that directly give back to the community
- Helping community groups and/or public organizations visualize potential futures
Core Academics
- The design studio is the core integrative experience where ideas are explored and visualized in tangible designs
- Development of analogue and computational communication skills including drawing, computer visualization including 2D, 3D and GIS
- Fundamental environmental science instruction considering plants, soils and ecological coursework
Research / Grad School Prep
- Core design research course designed to prepare students to understand design as more than just a creative activity
- Final design research studio where students do research for design, research on design and research through design simulating a graduate studio experience
Core Academic Experiences
The Landscape Architecture Program is fully accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board and is the only four-year accredited program in a four-state region. This program also offers the only collaborative interdisciplinary approach with the allied disciplines of architecture, interior design and planning.
The four-year undergraduate program consists of a common first year of courses shared by students in architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture. This year is followed by two years where students develop discipline-based knowledge and skills focused on site and building, community planning and design, and urban environments. The final year allows for collaborative work with students in architecture, interior design, and planning in research-based studios. Students participate in exploring a broad range of design problems in the studios where they develop design solutions that are presented to practicing professionals and for some projects, actual clients or partners. Students participate in a myriad of opportunities to support learning in the profession including professional electives, seminars, minors, lecture series, and study abroad. Learning about the profession continues in the required internship program where students work in professional design firms for academic credit. The Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree requires 120-semester credit hours of coursework.
Research and Academic Opportunities
Participate with faculty on UCARE initiatives
Collaborate with faculty in funded external research
Study Abroad Opportunities
This faculty-led education abroad program highlights architecture, interior design and landscape architecture London.
Our Sustainable Urbanism Research Studios focus on the sustainable urban condition and what their design model concepts might yield in real site situations in China
Student / Professional Organizations
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA STUDENT CHAPTER of the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS (ASLA)
ASLA helps foster mentoring relationships between classmates as well as provides professional development opportunities and alumni connections.
ALPHA RHO CHI (APX)
Alpha Rho Chi (APX) is the national fraternity for architecture and the allied arts. Our brotherhood unites men and women for the purpose of fellowship and lifelong friendships and our mutual interest in professional development.
Landscape Architecture Internship Examples
- OLIN, Philadelphia, PA (Jace Armstrong)
- Turenscape, Beijing, China (Moqi Yao)
- Kimley-Horn, Fort Worth, TX (Allison Sheen)
- Parks and Recreation, Olathe, KS (Madeline McGill)
- HOK, Kansas City (Shelby Warrick)
Landscape Architecture Career Path Examples
- Clark Enersen, Lincoln, NE (Jonathan Hauck)
- Community Works Design Group, Riverside, CA (Lyle Janicek)
- HDR, Omaha, NE (Austin Vachal)
- ZGF LLP, Portland, OR (Kaylyn Neverve)
- Vireo, Omaha, NE (Anthony Malone)
4-Year Plan and Notable Courses
LARC 241 History of Landscape Architecture
This foundational theory class, introduces students to the ongoing legacy of landscape architecture and the ideas that underlay our cultural landscapes. Using the continuing heritage of landscape architecture design, students build an understanding of how landscape architects have contributed to the development of civilization.
LARC 230 Site Systems I: Materiality in Landscape Architecture
The designed environment is made of tangible things that frame and describe the nature of space and place. This course explores materiality and give students hands-on experience in the material making of space and insight into how we represent these for construction.
LARC 231 Site Systems II: Site Engineering
The definition of the land is the most basic way space is defined. This course explores the aesthetics and functional requirements for the manipulation of the surface of the ground in service to the execution of successful water management and activity facilitation.
LARC 210, 211, 310, & 311 Design Studio I, II, III, IV
The second and third year design studios build awareness and understanding of the various issues facing landscape architects in the preservation and creation of designed environments. Students as individuals and in teams inventory sites, research precedents, and engage in site design in service to creating the potential for a meaningful environment.
DSGN 410 Collaborate Design Studio
Working in collaboration with students and faculty from architecture and interior design, students explore the possibilities of dialogue between the design disciplines in the creation of new designed environments. This team based studio encourages students to understand how their disciplinary voice can contribute to the creation of a better holistically defined environment.
LARC 411 Design Studio VI
Advanced Design in Landscape Architecture; Design is both a research and creative activity. This final studio has students explore issues that inform a design problem, research the current state of the art relative to designed solutions related to their project, and explore how design and performance intentions and requirements inform successful solutions in the contemporary world.
Contact Us
Leslie Gonzalez
Undergraduate Admissions Coordinator & Advisor
402-875-3465
leslie.gonzalez@unl.edu
Follow the College of Architecture