Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Landscape architects combine critical design thinking, planning and design, and knowledge of physical and social sciences, to engage situations of landscape involving health, safety, and wellbeing.
The Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) is a STEM-designated degree and fully accredited program that prepares graduate students for the rigors of professional practice, research, leadership, and community engagement. Students combine critical design thinking with creativity, and passion to address diverse landscape architecture and environmental planning projects.
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Join us this Wednesday, April 3rd, for a wonderful lecture with Thomas Woltz, senior principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz.
The lecture will take place in Burns Auditorium at 4:30-6pm. Along with this, there will be a brown bag lunch from 12-1pm. UPDATE: HAPPY HOUR WILL NOT BE HELD THIS WEEK.
CEU’s will be available. Go to https://calendar.ncsu.edu/event/laep_lecture_thomas_woltz for more information.
Don’t forget, today is jam packed with events!
12-1: Brown Bag Lunch with Barbara Deutsch in the Pit
4:30-5:30: Lecture with Barbara Deutsch in Burns Auditorium
5:30: Happy Hour at Players Retreat
See you there!
Congratulations to Claire Henkel @fancy___nancy___ and @ncsucoastaldynamics on receiving the CELA Academy of Fellows Best Poster Award! Thank you for your hard work!
#CELA
#aslanational
#NCAsla
#NcState
#NCStateLAEP
Join us next Wednesday, March 27th for Barbara Deutsch’s lecture “Designing for People and Planet: a Great Time to be a Landscape Architect” @lafoundation
The lecture will take place in Burns Auditorium from 4:30-6pm. For licensed professionals, this lecture is a great opportunity for CEU’s.
Go to https://calendar.ncsu.edu/event/laep_lecture_barbara_deutsch for more information.
#landscapearchitecture #visions #lectureseries
Tomorrow, Wednesday March 20th, SASLA and the LAEP department is sponsoring a brown bag lunch and evening lecture with Kyle Verseman and Jayne Worth from Landscape Forms.
Please welcome them at the brown bag lunch in the pit from 12-1.
The lecture will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 in Burns Auditorium.
See you there!
Join us on February 21st for a wonderful lecture with Kona Gray, FASLA, PLA; Principal EDSA; and ASLA president elect.
Following the lecture, we will have happy hour at Players Retreat sponsored by NCASLA Emerging Professionals Committee. See you there!
Go to https://calendar.ncsu.edu/event/laep_lecture_kona_gray for more information
#landscapearchitecture #lectureseries #visions
NC State’s Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning is proud to announce our Spring 2024 Lecture Series:
VISIONS: A Range of Magnitudes
The lectures take place in Burns Auditorium at 4:30 pm. Make sure to save the dates!
February 21, 2024:
Kona Gray, FASLA, PLA
Principal, EDSA; ASLA President Elect
March 27, 2024:
Barbara Deutsch, FASLA
CEO, Landscape Architecture Foundation
April 3, 2024:
Thomas Woltz, FASLA, CLARB
Sr. Principal and Owner, Nelson Byrd Woltz
April 17, 2024:
Dr. Saúl Alcántara Onofre
Professor, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
This semester, joining via Zoom will not be an option, so please come support our lectures and events in person. Recordings will be posted to https://design.ncsu.edu/landscape-architecture/news/lectures-events/
Not to be missed! hashtag#IFLAAmericas Regional Conference in hashtag#BuenoaAires this May!
Join hashtag#landscapearchitecture colleagues, practitioners, and faculty from across the Americas: North, Central, and South!
Greater knowledge = > probability we’ll tackle the hashtag#wicked challenges of our time. The hashtag#IFLAAR Conference provides a chance to actively explore hashtag#diverse hashtag#landscapes and hashtag#ourclimateculture!
Don’t forget!! Join us tomorrow, 11/15, at 6pm in the ROTUNDA.
To join the Zoom: Scan the QR Code or go to design.ncsu.edu/news/lectures
#landscapearchitecture #lectureseries
Mark your calendars!!
On 11/15, Aiden Ackerman will be presenting a wonderful lecture titled, “The Virtual Forest: Immersive Landscapes, Carbon, and Climate Change”.
Join us in The Rotunda from 6-7:30pm or on Zoom!
Join us on Zoom today at noon for a wonderful lecture by Anya Domlesky!
Visit https://calendar.ncsu.edu/event/ddeslaep_lecture_anya_domlesky for more information.
Congrats to our 2023 graduates! It has it been a pleasure to have you in our program, and we look forward to seeing all the wonderful things you do! #ncstatedesign
Our mission is to teach, learn, research, and apply state-of-the-art practices that create innovative and resilient landscapes focused on human and ecosystem health, safety, well-being, social equity, and quality of life.
We prepare the next generation of landscape architects to engage challenges and opportunities focused on:
- Landscape dynamics and resilient design;
- Community planning and design;
- Design for children and families;
- Research and evidence-based design strategies;
- Emerging digital design tools for representation, simulation, and evaluation.
Graduate Landscape Architecture
The Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) is a STEM-designated degree and LAAB accredited program that prepares graduate students for the rigors of professional practice, research, leadership, and community engagement. Our students, faculty, and local design community seek to understand the impact of human actions on the land and to respond with community-based design strategies. We are dedicated to teaching, researching, and practicing design processes that acknowledge the interdependence of built landscapes and ecological, social, and economic systems.
The department offers three main academic curriculum tracks:
- First Professional Masters of Landscape Architecture (Track III)
- First Professional Masters of Landscape Architecture, Advanced Standing (Track II)
- Post-Professional Degree (Track I)
The first half of the academic program prepares students for the current practice and discipline of landscape architecture. It equips them with the core knowledge base, tools, processes, and skills in design, site works, history and theory, planning, research and the culture of professional practice.
The second half of the academic program propels students into the profession and discipline of the future that they will help evolve and lead. It positions students to pursue substantive inquiry into their own, those of the faculty, and those of the larger extended community. Students master bodies of knowledge, pursue evidence-based research, and hone verbal, written, and graphic communication skills.
Throughout their program of study, students combine critical design thinking talents with their intelligence, creativity, and passions to frame, engage and challenge the questions, problems, and situations of landscape that involve health, safety, wellbeing, and quality of life.
The department also offers the following certificates and programs:
- Graduate Minors and Certificate Programs
Graduate minors are available to all students and consist of nine credit hours of courses, in another graduate degree granting discipline, listed as 400-level or above. A member of that degree’s faculty may serve as a third member of the student’s final project committee. Certificates offered in GIS, Public Policy and Horticultural Science may be of particular interest. Please visit the Graduate Minors and Certificate Page for more information.
Graduate Certificate in City Design
The Graduate Certificate in City Design focuses on design at the scale of the city, and within neighborhoods and urban districts. Studios and seminars focus on the challenges, and opportunities facing communities and cities in the 21st century, with a particular emphasis upon principles of sustainability and urban ecology.
Learn more
Disaster Resilient Policy, Engineering and Design Certificate
The imperative motivating the Graduate Certificate in Disaster Resilient Policy, Engineering and Design is to educate the next generation of practitioners and scholars to apply knowledge gained in the classroom and in the field to reduce the rise in disaster losses and assist communities to adapt to a changing climate.
Learn more
- Inter-Institutional Study
Students at NC State University may also register for courses at local universities (UNC–Chapel Hill, UNC-Greensboro, and Duke University) paying NC State University credit fees. Our students have an exceptional range of courses and programs open to them through these inter-institutional study opportunities. Students may also take courses at the other Raleigh colleges that are members of the Cooperating Raleigh Colleges organization. Please visit the Inter-Institutional Study Page for more information.
Undergraduate Minor in Landscape Architecture
While we no longer offer a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, it is possible for NC State University undergraduate students to take certain landscape architecture courses as electives. Please visit the Undergraduate Minor in Landscape Architecture Page for more information.
See Student Work
See more examples of student work here: Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Student Work
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To first-year architecture student Ashtyn Thomas, design represents possibility and opportunity.
Inspired by her father who works in construction, she chose to pursue architecture in 11th grade. Now, she’s building her community at NC State with the help of the Native American Student Association (@ncsu_nasa) and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (@ncsumsa).
“My Lumbee identity impacts every aspect of who I am,” states Thomas. “Not just when I speak about it to others, but it also impacts my abilities as a designer.”
Right now, she’s designing a structure meant for the North Carolina Museum of Art that embraces native culture using the four directions – a significant symbol in many native cultures. “I want to use my culture to show that we’re still here, we’re prominent in the world, and we’re thriving.”
Thomas is also exploring how casino design can have a positive effect on indigenous communities, using the Catawba tribe’s casino as a case study for her aspirations. “I’ve seen how casinos can directly impact native communities, especially ones in very remote locations,” she says. “For the Catawba, they can provide housing, they can provide funding for schools and healthcare. They’re much better off.”
Thomas also stated she would love to design a casino for her tribe since the Lumbee don’t have one yet.
In 2023, Thomas was crowned Miss Lumbee – an honor that asks nominees to develop a platform for cultural advocacy. Ashtyn developed R.I.S.E., which stands for Resilient and Intelligent Young Women Supporting Empowerment. The initiative is designed to help advance the pursuit of STEM careers by young Indigenous women.
At the College of Design, she plans to continue her advocacy to create spaces that provide economic stability, cultural enrichment and resilience for indigenous communities throughout North Carolina.
“I would not be who I am and where I am today, if not for the culture fostered by the College of Design."
When Demarcus Williams (’03) thought about the ways in which he could support NC State University’s College of Design following graduation, he thought back to his own experience.
When he enrolled, he was one of seven Black students in a class of 120 that year. He was the only Black student to graduate in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design.
The experience came with some challenges, but the college was there as an extended, supportive family for him.
For Williams, giving back is about helping current and future students have the same experience or one that’s even better. He’s kept up with the college since graduation, returning as a guest speaker and for alumni events. Williams also currently serves on the board of directors for NC State’s Alumni Association.
He’s seen the college work to enroll and support students from all races, ethnicities and life experiences.
Read the full story of how Williams is designing an inclusive college experience through philanthropy in our bio.
It`s the last week of class and it is *crunch* time. ✍📐🏗
What lifted your spirits as a student when faced with a looming deadline?
Despite being raised in the heart of a community ravaged by cartel fighting, Melissa Manjarrez Dominguez discovered something transformative – the power environments can hold to foster unity.
Her journey began amidst the arid landscapes and agricultural communities of Sinaloa, Mexico. Raised in the heart of a region ravaged by cartels, she witnessed firsthand the spread of violence and fear. Yet, amid the chaos, she also observed something remarkable – the power of certain spaces to bring people together, offering respite from the turmoil and fostering unity.
After graduating, Melissa embarked on a transformative journey across five continents. From bustling cities to remote villages, she encountered communities grappling with similar challenges of violence and division. In each place, she discovered pockets of hope – spaces that transcended the chaos, where families gathered, and humanity’s love prevailed.
Reflecting on these experiences, Melissa found her calling in landscape architecture. “Everywhere I went, I saw the potential of design to heal wounds and unite communities,” she says. It was this realization that drew her to NC State, where she believed she could learn to create spaces that promote peace and inclusivity.
Today, Melissa is not only a passionate advocate for landscape architecture but also a champion for diversity and community engagement. As the president of Women in Landscape Architecture (WxLA), she is dedicated to attracting more diverse students to the field. Her commitment to fostering community is evident in her immersive study of Moore Square Park in downtown Raleigh. Through her work, Melissa seeks to create inclusive and peaceful spaces that bring people together.
Recently, Melissa shared her insights on landscape architecture, and her efforts to promote diversity and community engagement in a Q&A session. Read her story in our bio!
Students in MADTech are leveling up their skills along with like-minded student groups from @wpeaceu and @waketechcc. 🎮👾🕹️
This week, the Brooks Hall Rotunda was filled with students and instructors eager to show off what it takes to make a game from scratch.
Video game design has taken off at the College of Design in recent years. Now, with a wide array of accessible software at our fingertips, curricula are being taught which include game platforms and logistics, applied game design concepts, aesthetics and world-building, dynamics and gameplay, plus mechanics and development.
We can’t wait to see what’s next!
📰 OPINION: Is ‘Systems Thinking’ the new buzzword in UX?
✍️ by Doctor of Design student, Meghan Bausone for @medium.
UX professionals can successfully add systems thinking into our work, yet we should be willing to do it justice. This means we’ve got to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
There is a growing interest in systems thinking as a framework for designers to apply in solving user experience problems. Some are even donning new titles as ‘systems designers.’
It might seem like a new fad or a pivot from the awkward growing pains that UX is experiencing. Systems thinking sounds intriguing, even intuitive, to those working in human-centered design spaces. To answer the question posed in the title of this article — it might be fashionable; however, it should be given more attention than just a passing phrase in the spotlight.
Encouraging momentum toward UX successfully adopting systems thinking can be found, as Sheryl Cababa describes in her 2023 book Closing the Loop; Systems Thinking for Designers.
Anyone promoting it should understand its rich history and do it justice to avoid degrading its potential. This means we’ve got to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Full story in our bio.