A brief guide to notable places to study landscape architecture in Europe. The history of landscape architecture has its roots in Europe, with historical greats such as Andrew Jackson Downing and Gilbert Laing Meason, so why not go to the place where the greats had their origins? Today, Europe is home to over a hundred schools that offer courses in landscape architecture and below are some of the best. In no particular order here are 10 great places to study landscape architecture in Europe:10. The University of Sheffield (United Kingdom) – Department of Landscape One of the largest schools for landscape architecture, the department is home to approximately 200 undergraduate and 150 postgraduate students, all there to obtain an education that uses both science and art to teach large scale planning and detailed design. On their website they boast, “At Sheffield, we aim to develop graduates with outstanding skills, who will be able to take leading roles in multidisciplinary projects and will have an ethic of care for the landscape and the people who live within it. This blend of attributes ensures that you will be highly employable, ready for professional practice and a committed lifelong learner.”WATCH: Architecture and Landscape at the University of Sheffield 9. University of Copenhagen (Denmark) Students in this two-year program graduate with a Master of Science (MSc) in Landscape Architecture and specialize in planning, green space management or urban design. Copenhagen is at the forefront when it comes to urban spaces and sustainability and according to their website, the program builds on the city’s ideology by allowing students to “combine (their) architectural knowledge with courses such as conflict management, ecology or economics in order for (them) to acquire specialized competences.”The entire program is taught in English.WATCH: Study Landscape Architecture at the University of Copenhagen 8. University of Gloucestershire (United Kingdom) – Department of Landscape Architecture This is the oldest Landscape Institute accredited course in the UK and offers students and education with a strong focus on sustainable design. Students can choose from three paths of study, including landscape architect, landscape planner, and freelance, all of which are assessed through written and illustrated reports combined with essays and design-based projects. WATCH: University of Gloucestershire Open Day Video 7. Leibniz Universitat Hannover (Germany), Fakultät für Architektur und Landschaft Since 2006, this school has offered three accredited degrees: “Bachelor in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning,” “Masters in Environmental Planning,” and a “Masters in Landscape Architecture.” Student projects take into account current developments in culture and socio-economic planning and use both scientific and artistic solutions to reach their final designs. In addition, the school is home to the Das Zentrum für Gartenkunst und Landschaftsarchitektur (CGL), led by the LA faculty, their studies focus on the history of garden art, the care of memorials and contemporary landscape architecture, and their findings are used by the master’s program in their modules.
Main building Leibniz Universität Hannover. Credit: Firefeichti, CC 3.0
6. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain) – The School of Architecture of Barcelona (ETSAB) While the ETSAB was founded in 1875, the landscape architecture program is still young having only been started in 1983. Their master’s program graduates 35 international students each year and is a partnership between the ETSAB and the School of Agriculture (ESAB). According to the EMiLA, “ETSAB’s Masters educational specificity is on one hand the integration of the local urban design tradition to the contemporary trends of landscape architecture and sustainability as well as their application to Mediterranean-specific climate and ecological specificity. On the other, we find emphasis on the detailing of the project and its good implementation.”5. Amsterdam Academy of Architecture (The Netherlands) – Department of Landscape When a country is a leader in innovation and design in the field of landscape architecture, it makes perfect sense that they are also going to be leaders in regards to training landscape architects. At the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture’s Department of Landscape Architecture students are placed in interdisciplinary teams supervised by practicing professionals and follow a course of study that follows the current trends in the Netherlands. This is one of the five schools that offer the EMiLA, European Masters in Landscape Architecture. 4. École Nationale Supérieur de Paysage Versailles (France) – The Potager du Roi in Versailles Since 1974 this school has been training students in urban, suburban and agrarian modernization, and graduates 75 students each year with an internationally recognized Landscape Architecture Diploma DPLG (Diplômé par le Gouvernement Français). Studios focus on the physical, geographical, and human uses of the landscape and teach students to search out the opportunities in a site rather than the constraints. The school’s website describes their mission as this, “We strive to develop our thinking by understanding a ‘sense of place’ and this approach is fundamental to our ethos as we conceptualize and select projects.” Finally, ENSP is the only school in France with a research lab housing 15 multi-disciplinary researchers working on landscape dynamics and suburban agriculture themes.
Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts. Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 by KoS
3. ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) (Switzerland) – Department of Architecture – Institute for Landscape Architecture The Institute of Landscape Architecture (ILA) combines disciplinary research and teaching and follow three topics: landscape design, digital media, as well as theory and history. Courses are offered at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate levels, and all of the courses provide the knowledge needed to enter the public sector. The department falls under the Network City and Landscape program, which, according to their website,“aims to lay the foundations for a design of our environment that meets human needs, is sustainable, and has high aesthetic and cultural qualities, while finding a means to make this design available to the public.”WATCH: Visual Tour: Studying at ETH Zurich 2. Edinburgh College of Art (Scotland) – The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA) The ESALA offers two LA programs, a postgraduate two year MLA program and a BA(Hons)/MSc integrated masters, both of which are accredited by the Landscape Institute (LI), the chartered body which regulates the profession, on an annual basis. Both programs have excellent reputations based on the graduates’ employment rates, awards, the overall success of alumni and the sustained research profile of academic staff. In addition, the school has consistently won both the design and theory categories from the LI Awards, showing that the ESALA is a leader in LA education in Europe.
Sculpture Court in the Edinburgh College of Art Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 by Kim Traynor
1. Leeds Metropolitan University (United Kingdom) – The Leeds School of Art, Architecture, & Design Students graduate with a BA in landscape architecture and while in school spend their time in a new award-winning building located in the heart of Leeds. Courses consist of design-based modules that focus on relevant issues such as climate change and sustainable communities. The program benefits from their state-of-the-art library as well as, a unique Landscape Resource Centre and Experimental Gardens. WATCH: Hannah Murton takes about her experience studying 00 Landscape Architecture in Leeds Metropolitan University Some of these schools offer courses in English, and most offer study abroad opportunities so that students can have access to the latest and greatest of Europe as a whole, and all of the above are fully accredited so that the degrees offer the highest standards of landscape architecture education in Europe. Recommended Reading:
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