Landscape Architecture & Planning
The landscape architect combines a love of nature, science and art into planning spaces. These spaces include natural and man-made elements, including trees, flowers, walls, pools and walkways. If you are thinking about becoming a landscape architect, there's a good chance you'll own your design firm. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, about one in five architects owns his business; this statistic is three times the national proportion of people self-employed in other occupations.
Other People Are Reading
-
Requirements
-
The landscape architect is a professional who completes at least several years of postsecondary work before qualifying for entry into the profession. If you want to become a landscape architect, most U.S. states require a four-year degree in landscape architecture, demonstrate job experience and obtain a satisfactory score on the Landscape Architect Registration Exam.
Significance
-
This profession performs a community service by planning designs for public spaces. Think about the beauty you find in New York's Central Park or walking along Paris' Champs-Elysee. Landscaped spaces are planned by architects and planners to create a visually appealing area that serves a purpose and coexists in balance with nature. Architects also plan the layout of other physical elements, including where to position buildings, paths and streets.
-
History
-
The planning of public gardens and parks began thousands of years ago in ancient civilizations like China, Greece, Rome and Babylon. The modern history of landscape architecture began in New York City around 1860. Henry Hill Elliott, street commissioner for the city, described Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as "landscape architects and designers" in a letter with an unknown date. Olmsted and Vaux were the artistic masterminds behind Central Park.
Professional Organization
-
Landscape architects can choose membership in a national organization like the American Society of Landscape Architects, or ASLA. This organization began in 1899. ASLA serves as an advocacy group for sustainable landscaping, architecture and planning.
Considerations
-
From 2008 to 2018, the BLS projects the number of jobs will grow by 20 percent. That means a strong demand for new graduates to fill more than 5,000 new jobs in 10 years. A landscape architect can graduate and earn an attractive wage. In May 2008, the yearly salary of top earners was about $97,000, and the median salary was about $58,000, the BLS says.
Definition
-
In 1983, the ASLA broadened its definition of landscape architecture to the following: "the profession which applies artistic and scientific principles to the research, planning, design and management of both natural and built environments."
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit central park image by jedphoto from Fotolia.com
