Seminar introduces contemporary theory and practice for describing, interpreting, planning, preserving, and designing vernacular and designed cultural landscapes (urban/peri-urban/rural; sylvan & postindustrial) and historic sites. Exploration through case study review, close reading and discussion of texts, short position papers & field trips. Graduate course will have additional course requirements.

Cities have altered natural drainage patterns, vegetation, local climate and habitats. Cities can use natural elements such as plants, trees and wetlands combined with engineered structures as "constructed green infrastructure" to redesign degraded urban sites. Students will utilize "green infrastructure" to create conceptual designs for sites to absorb stormwater, clean the air, or provide food and recreation.

Green infrastructure includes water, habitats, parks, soils, and forests essential for healthy communities and building community resiliency. Working in teams, students conduct field work and determine community needs and opportunities for a community's urban forests, water, recreation, and historic and cultural resources. Students then complete a strategic green infrastructure plan for a city.

Topical offerings in landscape architecture.

Advanced independent research on topics selected by individual students in consultation with a faculty advisor Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

Series of short analytical and conceptual design projects with special emphasis on the landscape medium, on site readings, and site-specific design approaches. Some studios sections for this course may have an embedded travel.

LAR 6020 focuses on process and form, exploring how dynamic bio-physical processes shape the form of landscapes and in turn are altered by the designed landscapes. Series of analytical exercises and field visits leading to a schematic design proposal for an urban landscape project. Some studios sections for this course may have an embedded travel. Prerequisite: LAR 6010.

This course surveys the pre-modern history of gardens and designed landscapes. The sessions follow a roughly chronological sequence, with a thematic focus appropriate to each landscape culture, e.g. water infrastructure and agricultural systems, public and private space, theater and performance, court rituals, horticultural display, natural philosophy and aesthetic theory, visual representation, and the professionalization of landscape design.

This course examines gardens and landscapes of the modern period, tracing the complex relations between innovations in landscape design and social, technological, and ideological developments of the past 200 years. Case studies focus on the United States and Europe, with thematic emphasis on the rise of the bourgeoisie. Graduate course will have additional course requirements.

Applies concepts and principles of earthwork, land manipulation, water, and drainage and basic construction in short exercises. Basic concepts of ecology and plants will be incorporated. Introduces digital applications in a combined lecture and workshop format. The course may have an embedded travel. Prerequisite: Must be enrolled in LAR 6010 or LAR 7010 Studio or Instructor Permission.