earthworker

AR, you can’t hire young talent when you can’t even afford to pay the staff you have. A kid may be able to do great graphics but companies need employees who can do that and land new projects, manage them and not need hand-holding to make sure they don’t screw up. Young designers aren’t an investment right now. They are a liability. Sorry to say.

Jeff, have you been reading any of the posts on this site? I would seriously reconsider this profession if I were you. Even by the time you graduate, this profession will still be licking its wounds in recovery. Also, the interests you have are typically addressed by environmental engineers not LA’s.

Actually, CLARB is protecting the public from incompetent and dangerous designers who may endanger the public and/or property in public settings. It’s sole intent is to maintain a minimum set of standards in regards to the public’s health, safety and welfare.
You are correct about ASLA. They are a club of self-congratulating academics and…[Read more]

Make sure you have liability and e&o insurance before submitting a proposal. If they are a reputable client, they will ask for proof of your insurance with a maximum liability coverage. Grading and vehicular issues will incur greater life/safety issues. Make sure you know your scope services and where the division of services between you and the…[Read more]

Ponder this:
-This was a survey of LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS. By definition and state licensure standards, shouldn’t every LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT already be licensed. Would they not be a landscape designer if they had no license? Should their be separate categories for landscape designers and all those Planners, Project Mgrs and other associate level firm…[Read more]

Agreed, Henry. This subject has been discussed on this site before but it still baffles and infuriates me that some in this field demand respect and recognition for the profession yet want to take shortcuts to earning the professional title. This attitude serves nothing except to dilute the profession and confuse the general public as to the…[Read more]

Trace, you may be qualified to throw stones but you are not qualified to have ‘Landscape Architect’ in your ‘TITLE’ if you have not passed the exam…… has California changed their requirements for a Landscape Architect? Unless a person has passed the LARE, they are a landscape designer or some other type of professional. Just being nit picky 🙂

Agreed, these people (kids?) should really read the posts on this site before making such risky endeavor.

Just a couple of thoughts….
-What we consider denser urban areas today were actually suburbs at the city limits fifty years ago.
-Many people move to the burbs because the construction of the denser older city areas has become dilapidated and of poor quality construction. I admit, I live in the burbs. Why? Looking at the homes closer to the…[Read more]

To my knowledge the difference derives from what ‘College’ your University has classified Landscape Architecture under. I graduated BSLA from an Accredited program and am licensed. Originally, the program was accredited but not a B.S. It moved over to the College of Ag Science to receive an increased budget and greater access to computer labs.…[Read more]

I take it the lack of postings on this discussion illustrates the disastrous state of this profession. Is Walmart hiring?

Sounds like the industry is just fine and dandy. I am sure the Design Strategies of Urban Parks is quite relevant at a time when cities are laying off staff by the hundreds and can’t even afford to maintain the parks they have? Where were the seminars about finding a job after ten years at a firm? Or the seminar about how 30% to 50% of LA’s…[Read more]

The test is not about ‘aesthetic’ design which I assume any designer would have some skill with. The test is determining your ability to follow rules and maintain minimum life, safety, welfare standards. If you want the word ‘architect’ in your landscape architect job title, you are going to have to earn it. Like it or not, errors in our designs…[Read more]

The profession is a shell of its former self. LA’s are looking into other fields just to find any kind of work. Just look at the latest job postings on your local ASLA’s chapter website. It’s pitiful. I only wish my professors in college had told me that the profession gets wiped out every ten to fifteen years. Of course, none of them had stepped…[Read more]

Agreed. If we lower the standards to be a Landscape Architect, should we also lower them for our structural engineers, doctors and architects? If we want respect and to be professional, we need to earn it. This test is the minimum standard to do this. CLARB is not out to get you or make huge profits from you. They are just the guys in the black…[Read more]

You saw recent job postings? Did you see these open job postings while pigs were flying and hell was freezing over? I have not seen viable job postings in this industry for months.
As far as 3d is concerned, it is not taught in school because instructors don’t know how to use it or teach it. Most don’t even know Autocad. From what I have seen in…[Read more]