Landscape Architecture

Craig Barton — Department Chair
Kristina Hill — Director

The Landscape Architecture Program at UVA is committed to teaching design in a way that combines a technical understanding of ecological issues with forms that bring meaning to the contemporary landscape. We engage critical issues that we believe should influence the design of all landscapes, including attention to social justice, the need to renew industrial sites, and urban adaptations to global climate change.

If you wish to be a leader in this field, we invite you to join us in our work with urban communities and urban landscapes. Our educational program is demanding, but the exceptional opportunity we offer to learn, question, and develop your own approach to these urgent matters is rewarding as well.

Three recent changes made by our faculty reflect our commitment to leadership in our field: forming a joint Department with Architecture, creating a technical curriculum grounded in current ecological knowledge, and building an international network of collaborators with whom we can test the value of our approaches.

The Joint Department

Our decision to create a joint Department with Architecture is one that challenges the typical boundaries of both professions. It allows us to see design as a pursuit of answers to questions that crosses physical scales, from the interior and skin of a building to the spaces and surfaces of a city and its regional landscape. This partnership fosters collaboration by stressing design rigor and developing a shared language between the disciplines, bringing students and faculty into joint studios that address hybrid concepts of form and place in various international contexts. In addition to this primary partnership, we also rely on collaborations with colleagues in our School’s departments of planning and architectural history to create a rich intellectual and practical environment for our students.

The “Eco–tech” Curriculum

Our second major effort has been to establish an innovative curriculum model that draws on our strengths in theory and history while adding significant new capacity. First and foremost, our curriculum is centered on studio–based design. We support this core pedagogical approach with a combination of intellectually challenging courses in design theory and history, and an innovative new eco–tech curriculum that re–centers our teaching of technology around ecological knowledge. The eco–tech curriculum also links our technical courses directly to our studios, in order to bring current ecological and hydrological knowledge into our students’ design work. Our ambition is to present all of the traditional skills of the profession (grading, drainage, contract documents, plant identification, and so on) through an ecological lens, so that our students can address the critical issues of our time from a position that integrates scientific knowledge and cultural perspectives.

Next year and in coming years, our ongoing efforts to innovate in design education will involve thoughtful experiments that interweave digital and manual modes of representation. Our goal is to connect ideas to images in ways that allow us to explore issues relevant to our time and place, for example, the increasing recognition that dynamic processes such as flows of water, food, fuel and living organisms can be an explicit component of form–giving in built landscapes. We encourage our students to push the capacity of all representation techniques to the point where they generate new ideas about meaning, form, and dynamic change.

Expanding International Collaboration

Our program has made several recent commitments to international collaboration in design education. This is very important in both a global economy and an era of significant global environmental trends. We are likely to see major trends that affect many regions of the world, including investment patterns, water shortages, health threats, and climate change impacts. Students in our program are exposed to the ideas and design work of visitors from China, Mexico, and Europe, among other countries and regions. We offer a travel studio to Mexico City, in order to study the common challenges of globalizing cities. We have also begun a networked collaboration with the Leibniz University in Germany and Peking University in China to share ideas with two of the best landscape architecture programs in the world. With these commitments, our students are guaranteed an opportunity to make sure their knowledge and design ideas are relevant on an international as well as a national scale.

NEWS AND EVENTS

November 11, 2008

Julie Bargmann Wins $50k Fellowship from United States Artists

Article in Architectural Record

Today, the United States Artists (USA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding the arts, announced the 50 recipients of its 2008 fellowships. Five individuals were selected in the architecture and design category; other categories include crafts and traditional arts, dance, literature, music, theater arts, and visual arts. Each winner receives a $50,000 grant with no strings attached. See the article in Architectural Record for more information.

November 4, 2008

Under Leadership of Nancy Takahashi, Hereford College Students Create Urban Organic Garden

October 10, 2008

Ethan Carr Wins Bradford Williams Medal from ASLA

At the 2008 American Society of Landscape Architects meeting held last week in Philadelphia, Ethan Carr was awarded the Bradford Williams Medal, ASLA's highest honor for writing published in "Landscape Architecture Magazine". Carr, an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, is also the author of "Mission 66: Modernism and the National Park Dilemma" (Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2007).

September 9, 2008

Students Win Honor Award in ASLA Design Competition

ASLA Student Awards: Aqua

For the second year in a row, students in the Program in Landscape Architecture have been awarded a top prize for their submission in the annual ASLA competition. Shanti Levy (MLA, MArch, degree expected Dec, 2008) and Elizabeth Hoogheem (MArch'08) submitted, "AGUA: Infrastructure as Landscape Identity," a proposal for a 300-acre water infrastructure park in the Mexico City Basin. Assoc. Professor Julie Bargmann and Mario Schjetnan, FASLA, who was the Frank Talbot, Jr. Visiting Professor for 2007-08, served as faculty advisors. The awards jury commented, " Beautifully presented—real art! This project dealt with important hydrological issues in a revelatory way that was culturally specific and spoke to things that were Mexican in nature."

August 22, 2008

Thomas Woltz's Sustainable Practices Featured in NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/garden/21sustainable.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Alumnus Thomas Woltz, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Partner, NBWLA is featured in a NYT article entitled, "A Sustainability that Aims to Seduce," from this week's Home & Garden section. Follow the link below to the article.

	Home > Academics > Landscape Architecture Craig Barton — Department Chair Kristina Hill — Director The Landscape Architecture Program at UVA is committed to teaching design in a way that combines a technical understanding of ecological issues with forms that bring meaning to the contemporary landscape. We engage critical issues that we believe should influence the design of all landscapes, including attention to social justice, the need to renew industrial sites, and urban adaptations to global climate change. If you wish to be a leader in this field, we invite you to join us in our work with urban communities and urban landscapes. Our educational program is demanding, but the exceptional opportunity we offer to learn, question, and develop your own approach to these urgent matters is rewarding as well. Three recent changes made by our faculty reflect our commitment to leadership in our field: forming a joint Department with Architecture, creating a technical curriculum grounded in current ecological knowledge, and building an international network of collaborators with whom we can test the value of our approaches. The Joint Department Our decision to create a joint Department with Architecture is one that challenges the typical boundaries of both professions. It allows us to see design as a pursuit of answers to questions that crosses physical scales, from the interior and skin of a building to the spaces and surfaces of a city and its regional landscape. This partnership fosters collaboration by stressing design rigor and developing a shared language between the disciplines, bringing students and faculty into joint studios that address hybrid concepts of form and place in various international contexts. In addition to this primary partnership, we also rely on collaborations with colleagues in our School’s departments of planning and architectural history to create a rich intellectual and practical environment for our students. The “Eco–tech” Curriculum Our second major effort has been to establish an innovative curriculum model that draws on our strengths in theory and history while adding significant new capacity. First and foremost, our curriculum is centered on studio–based design. We support this core pedagogical approach with a combination of intellectually challenging courses in design theory and history, and an innovative new eco–tech curriculum that re–centers our teaching of technology around ecological knowledge. The eco–tech curriculum also links our technical courses directly to our studios, in order to bring current ecological and hydrological knowledge into our students’ design work. Our ambition is to present all of the traditional skills of the profession (grading, drainage, contract documents, plant identification, and so on) through an ecological lens, so that our students can address the critical issues of our time from a position that integrates scientific knowledge and cultural perspectives. Next year and in coming years, our ongoing efforts to innovate in design education will involve thoughtful experiments that interweave digital and manual modes of representation. Our goal is to connect ideas to images in ways that allow us to explore issues relevant to our time and place, for example, the increasing recognition that dynamic processes such as flows of water, food, fuel and living organisms can be an explicit component of form–giving in built landscapes. We encourage our students to push the capacity of all representation techniques to the point where they generate new ideas about meaning, form, and dynamic change. Expanding International Collaboration Our program has made several recent commitments to international collaboration in design education. This is very important in both a global economy and an era of significant global environmental trends. We are likely to see major trends that affect many regions of the world, including investment patterns, water shortages, health threats, and climate change impacts. Students in our program are exposed to the ideas and design work of visitors from China, Mexico, and Europe, among other countries and regions. We offer a travel studio to Mexico City, in order to study the common challenges of globalizing cities. We have also begun a networked collaboration with the Leibniz University in Germany and Peking University in China to share ideas with two of the best landscape architecture programs in the world. With these commitments, our students are guaranteed an opportunity to make sure their knowledge and design ideas are relevant on an international as well as a national scale. NEWS AND EVENTS November 11, 2008 Julie Bargmann Wins $50k Fellowship from United States Artists Article in Architectural Record Today, the United States Artists (USA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding the arts, announced the 50 recipients of its 2008 fellowships. Five individuals were selected in the architecture and design category; other categories include crafts and traditional arts, dance, literature, music, theater arts, and visual arts. Each winner receives a $50,000 grant with no strings attached. See the article in Architectural Record for more information. November 4, 2008 Under Leadership of Nancy Takahashi, Hereford College Students Create Urban Organic Garden See also the "Daily Progress" Article November 3, 2008 [UVa News]— An interesting, informal research project has cropped up at the University of Virginia's Hereford Residential College. Students and faculty are literally getting their hands dirty together, building an urban mini-farm. Two years ago, Keith Williams, assistant professor of physics, was considering moving to Hereford to become a faculty resident, but was hesitant to move to a place with no gardening space. He proposed the idea of building a garden to Nancy Takahashi, Hereford's principal [and Lecturer in Landscape Architecture]. In Williams' proposal, Takahashi saw an opportunity for student learning and growth. The pair decided on some basic principles for the garden, that it be as organic as possible — not using pesticides and building up soil quality over time, and that it involve students. At Takahashi's request, facilities management tilled up a large space near the Malone building for the project and the gardening began. The garden has since doubled in size and continues to expand. Williams and Takahashi co-taught "Local Foods: From Garden to Table," a short course at Hereford. In the course, they explored the latest trends in alternative food production and enlisted the help of students to tend the mini-farm. This included harvesting its yields for use at faculty/student dinners and at Runk Dining Hall. In addition, more informal gatherings have been organized around harvest time, including pesto and salsa-making nights. [for complete article, follow link in headline to UVa News] October 10, 2008 Ethan Carr Wins Bradford Williams Medal from ASLA At the 2008 American Society of Landscape Architects meeting held last week in Philadelphia, Ethan Carr was awarded the Bradford Williams Medal, ASLA's highest honor for writing published in "Landscape Architecture Magazine". Carr, an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, is also the author of "Mission 66: Modernism and the National Park Dilemma" (Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2007). September 9, 2008 Students Win Honor Award in ASLA Design Competition ASLA Student Awards: Aqua For the second year in a row, students in the Program in Landscape Architecture have been awarded a top prize for their submission in the annual ASLA competition. Shanti Levy (MLA, MArch, degree expected Dec, 2008) and Elizabeth Hoogheem (MArch'08) submitted, "AGUA: Infrastructure as Landscape Identity," a proposal for a 300-acre water infrastructure park in the Mexico City Basin. Assoc. Professor Julie Bargmann and Mario Schjetnan, FASLA, who was the Frank Talbot, Jr. Visiting Professor for 2007-08, served as faculty advisors. The awards jury commented, " Beautifully presented—real art! This project dealt with important hydrological issues in a revelatory way that was culturally specific and spoke to things that were Mexican in nature." August 22, 2008 Thomas Woltz's Sustainable Practices Featured in NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/garden/21sustainable.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Alumnus Thomas Woltz, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Partner, NBWLA is featured in a NYT article entitled, "A Sustainability that Aims to Seduce," from this week's Home & Garden section. Follow the link below to the article.	Architectural History Architecture Landscape Architecture Master of Landscape Architecture Landscape Architecture Faculty Courses Student Work Urban & Environmental Planning Historic Preservation Certificate Program Admissions Dual Degrees Undergraduate Minors Study Abroad Continuing & Professional Education Planning to Stay; William Morrish. View More: This Image · Faculty Portfolio Gallery
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