[lukad]

I believe it’s the general lack of Landscape Starchitects and the general offense to the classic “design my backyard” remark for many. Otherwise, this field is actually becoming much more respected. See: http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/090806landscapearc-1.asp

For me, as a landscape architect I think our magazine is relatively lacking. The overall marketing, layouts, and process behind it seems to deliberately go out of it’s way to make this profession bland, but that’s just a matter of my own taste. See : http://faslanyc.blogspot.com/2009/09/man-down-bill-thompson-ends-reign-of.html

[lukad]

AutoCAD/Vectorworks (Drafting Software in General)
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Google SketchUp (And if you want to be on the edge of things take a look at Rhino or any other Nurbs modeling software)

Quite the ambitious question to ask, as significant time and energy needs to be dedicated to extensively learn the capabilities of each piece of software listed above. And there are PLENTY more. It really depends on what you want to do with yourself in the coming decade. Unless of course you intend on sitting in a windowless basement for 10 years, I would get most familiar with CAD and photoshop (especially for photosims and the like), and then venture into basic illustrator for design work, inDesign to put your presentations together, and 3D for everything else. 3d will require the most time to learn due to the significant learning curve of more advanced pieces of software such as Rhino or 3dsmax.

[lukad]

Changing the terminology of a profession wont change society’s perception of it (Just look at Radioshack’s “The Shack” campaign; it’s still the same crappy, overpriced electronics store). In fact, the entire issue with landscape architecture is that there it’s not even on the radar for the average member of society; hence why people first reference the only landscapes they are familiar with when confronted with such a job title. Additionally, decades of environmental negligence and atrocities have led to a complete disconnect with the “natural” environment and the built environment. For this reason, people see little to no reason why landscapes must be designed or any intervention be necessary at all; other than their backyard that is.

The second issue with landscape architecture of course is landscape architects. This profession has long since had an extremely low self esteem. This is because landscape architects naturally compare themselves to architects. Since the dawn of man, humans have sought shelter to protect themselves from the natural environment. Now architecture seems to defy the laws of nature and demonstrate man’s supremacy over it’s surroundings. Architecture is a supreme form of art and design and is the epitome of man’s greatness. How do hills, tree placement, and micro-climates compare with massive buildings that literally cut the skies?

What landscape architects need to realize is that we are not architects. Nor are we any lesser or greater beings than architects. Architecture has long epitomized man’s dominance over his environment, and has since pushed man and the millions of species that also inhabit this earth to the brink of massive ecosystem collapses and complete systems failure. In the coming decades the world will need not only landscape architects, but ecological restoration practitioners, horticulturalists, and various other professionals to meet the needs of our rapidly changing environment.

When confronted with the question “could you design my backyard?” at your next cocktail party, why act offended? This individual is clearly trying to establish a dialogue with you. If your work does not involve residential projects, politely explain the various work that landscape architects do and briefly explain what you do on a daily basis. Lobbying for a change in the profession’s name wont ever fully explain what a landscape architect’s or any profession’s purpose is; that’s up to the person in question. If any landscape architect struggles to answer this question then maybe it’s time landscape architects start to ask themselves what they do in the first place anyway.

[lukad]

Hmm. Well for one, how do you expect to represent this gap? I would never put “Unemployed April 2009-Present” on a resume. However, if an employer can connect the dots and ask you about it then hopefully you have a story to tell. Maybe you’ve done work in some form of community design collaborative, sat in as a juror for a landscape architecture studio, or even taken some webinars for cad, photoshop, or any relevant software to the field. In short, I wouldn’t point it out to an employer. But if they inquire about it then hopefully you’ll have an answer that shows that even though you like many, many others in this and other fields were hurt by the recession, you were still able to make valuable use of your time. Good luck

[lukad]

My apologies, though I find the hostility a tad unnecessary, especially in the context of a landscape architecture forum. Regardless, thanks for the replies.

[lukad]

I haven’t done any update to my folio, but I’m currently working full time at a firm (the one I interned at) made up of registered planners and architects, and 1 or 2 unregistered LA’s. I was hoping grad school would act as a means to not only go beyond what I learned in my BSLA, but also act as a means to reinsert myself into the field when things start to pick up again.

Judging from what I’ve seen with planning, architecture, and landscape architecture so far, I find myself still more interested in site specific design treatments rather than the large scale design that planning implies. Additionally, I’m no fan of codes, and have dealt with form based codes on a daily basis. Perhaps I’ll go for my M.Arch then, though I’m not convinced it’s the right path for me. My interests in LA involves anything relative to the urban context, so perhaps M.Arch is what’s best.

[lukad]

It’s also possible to model in sketchup, and texture in a more advance 3d program (i.e. max). I guess it all depends on a firm’s approach to 3d.

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