Wyatt Thompson, PLA

This doesn’t surprise me. Maintaining lush vegetation and a thriving lichen colony inside the exhibit may not be practical given the horticultural resources available. Zoos also have sanitary concerns. A big concrete box is much easier to clean and disinfect than one that embraces a more ecological approach.

Good day for the precast salesperson.

I feel bad for anyone who lost credit due to CLARBs test format revisions. I know many people spend lots of time and money in order to further their careers, and it can seem very unfair when a seemingly faceless organization proclaims that your previously passed tests do not count. That stinks. I hear you.
I also think you all are talking about…[Read more]

I certainly don’t mean to speak for Daniel, but are you sure he’s using 3D people? He uses lots of 2D people in his work as far as I know. Search Daniel Tal on the Trimble 3D Warehouse and you’ll find several 2D collections. If that’s not what you’re looking for, let us know.

 Sounds like you’re in a good position: busy. I think you’ll find K-State graduates would be well equipped for a job like this. I’d definitely recommend getting in touch with someone in the landscape architecture department there. I also know several grads from Iowa State that do very fine work.

When I was in school several classmates were asked to take CAD tests as part of their internship interview process. I never had to do that so I don’t know exactly what the tests were like or if the employer found much benefit. The reaction from the students,however, was not positive (“What are we, CAD monkeys?” Well….yes, actually…).  I…[Read more]

With regards to my previous comment, K-State offers a 2-year or a 3-year post-baccalaureate MLA. I’m not sure how your specific situation would work out though.

Kansas State University has a program such as this.
http://www.capd.ksu.edu/prospective-students/degree-programs/post-baccalaureate-degree-programs/master-of-landscape-architecture

The program I graduated from provided a lot great “nuts and bolts” education with a lot of emphasis on construction. That was a good foundation. The firm I went to work for was a multi-disciplinary firm that had a strong background in construction support services like inspection and field testing. I am actually DOT-certified for inspection and…[Read more]

Robert, what interests you about municipal work?
I’ve only been in this position 3.5 months, so the list of completed works is not all that long. I currently have 2 projects under construction – a natural playground and a small retaining wall. The playground was designed by a consultant, but I came on board in time to handle bidding and…[Read more]

Check the Outliner or the Components Browser; your block names should show up in both places if they actually were imported.
Try zoom extents. The geometry may be located very far from the origin. Did you check or uncheck retain original coordinates?

I am a landscape architect working as Park Planner for a growing city in the Midwest. I worked in the private sector for about 8 years before moving to the public side in January this year. As the City’s only landscape architect and the Parks and Recreation Department’s only design professional, I have a lot of responsibility and oversight for…[Read more]

See what you can find from Jeffrey L. Bruce. He’s a landscape architect based in Kansas City, Missouri. Turf management and soil engineering is a specialty of his. I believe he’s been featured in past issues of LAM. In fact, here is a list of publications on his company’s website: http://www.jlbruce.com/a_firm/publications/publications.htm 

Andrew and Andrew, thanks for your replies. I’ve not had an issue with the WCS, but we still use 2012 so maybe that is a 2013 bug.
I understand the workflow that you both described, and it isn’t much different from what I’d expect from offices using 2D CAD. I was trying to figure out if sharing Civil 3D files created any unique problems. Naming…[Read more]

Trace, welcome to the future. I hope you gather from my post that though the transition is difficult, it gets better.
Andrew, I’d like to hear about your experience coordinating with civil engineers. At my employer, we have not had a need to share files with other consultants, so our own in-house styles are all we have to manage. I am curious…[Read more]

Civil 3D is a beast. I’ve used it for the last 18 months or so, and only really understand a portion of what the software will do. I was told when I started learning it that I would need to use it exclusively on about 3 projects before I would really grasp the workflow. I would say that’s accurate. The parts of the program that I’ve used 3 or more…[Read more]

I’ve heard it jokingly said: “I’m a landscape architect. I don’t mow lawns….but I will for the right fee.”
“I won’t design your garden or your back yard” is pretty extreme.

Toby, I don’t take issue with your experience or the opinion you derive from it. I also work at a firm that is primarily engineers, and my experience has been quite different. Landscape architects here do lots of grading, drainage, site planning, accessible design, parks and trails planning, etc. On balance, I actually do very little landscape…[Read more]

Holy cow, when did the engineering lobby join Land8? I hope your primary source of information about the profession is not this site. If you believe everything you read here you’d think that there weren’t any practicing LAs left this side of Dubai. The truth, is that there is quite a bit of work for landscape architects in both public and private…[Read more]

I’d recommend that you become familiar with all the books on CLARB’s Study Reference List – Toby mentioned several of them in his post. The list used to be much longer, but they pared it down several years ago. I do not know if they rewrote Sections A and B significantly when they went to the new format, but in my experience taking the exams in…[Read more]