AREAS OF FOCUSED STUDY

The Landscape Architecture Program at the University of British Columbia is distinguished from many other programs in North America by the thoroughness to which it emphasizes sustainability. The areas of focused study below represent many of the possible areas of study in landscape architecture. The faculty at UBC have particular strength in the areas outlined below.

AREAS OF FOCUSED STUDY

1. Site design examines the formal qualities (space, form, technique, and expression) of landscapes that can be experienced at the human scale. Emphasis is given to the conceptual and representational dimensions of designed landscapes, with attention to exploring materials and structures.

Areas of emphasis for study might include landscape theory, architectural theory, history of landscapes, history of architecture, new representational methods and modes of communication, planting design, children’s play spaces, therapeutic gardens, etc.

Example student projects: Gathering Conversations

2. Sustainable landscape techniques and green infrastructure focuses on theory and technique for reducing the environmental impacts of developed landscapes with emphasis on materials and practices of site scaled landscape architecture.

Areas of emphasis for study might include sustainable and native planting design, sustainable landscape materials and detailing, stormwater source controls, green roof and green wall design and construction, food security and urban food systems, etc.

Example student projects: Food-Oriented Development, RE(f)USEscape

3. Urban biodiversity emphasizes the maintenance of environmental services in urban regions to maintain social and ecological sustainability. Applied ecology, landscape ecology, biodiversity studies, wildlife species/habitat models and ecological restoration are used to support the planning, design and management of landscapes in urban regions to support biodiversity.

Areas of emphasis for study might include planning for urban biodiversity, urban ecosystems planning and management, nature in the city, native planting to enhance habitat values and functions, healthy landscapes, urban forestry, etc.

Example student projects: Road Rights of Way: Connective Conduits

4. Urban design addresses knowledge and expertise related to the design of sustainable communities. Students pursue this focus through exploration of issues of neighborhood, community, and urban design.

Areas of emphasis for study might include sustainable community design, including the role of place attachment in sustainable communities, pedestrian and bicycle transportation system planning and design, open space planning, urban rainwater system planning and design, urban redevelopment, post-industrial redevelopment and restoration, etc.

Example student projects: Walk the Waterfront - Regeneration of Fraser River Waterfront

5. Design theory explores how landscapes arise from and elaborate theoretical and philosophical ideas. Emphasis will be placed on a number of competing positions and how these relate to designed landscapes.

Areas of emphasis for study might include built experiments, landscape interventions, landscape theory, architectural theory, history of landscapes, history of architecture, and new representational methods and modes of communication, etc.

6. Landscape Planning concerns the design and management of large scale landscapes. It is a given in current landscape planning that its purpose is to foster sustainability. Sites may include urban regions, watersheds, islands, agricultural and forest landscapes.

Areas of emphasis for study might include landscape assessment and design, visual resource management, studies of regional biodiversity, watershed planning, planning and design of rural landscapes, climate change adaptation/mitigation, mined land reclamation, large scale open-space systems/greenways, etc.

Example student projects: A vision for Straumsvik, Iceland, Revealing Climate Change Mitigation in the Landscapes of the Future, INSCAPE evolution of a working landscape, freeFOLLY: caught in the momentum of trail evolution