Below are currently offered courses for the spring semester. For course meeting times and locations, see the UC Berkeley Academic Guide.
LDARCH 1
Drawing a Green Future: Fundamentals of Visual Representation and Creativity
4 units
This introductory studio course is open to all undergraduate students in the University, who want to investigate the process of drawing as a method to learn how to perceive, observe and represent the environment. This studio will encourage visual thinking as a formative tool for problem solving that provides a means to envision a sustainable future. The focus will be on the critical coordination between hand, mind and idea.
LDARCH 102
Case Studies in Landscape Design
5 units
This studio stresses the shaping and coordination of ideas from initial concept to complete design product. A product(s) of intermediate scale and complexity (such as a garden, small park, plaza, or campus courtyard) will be developed in detail including the selection of planting, selection of construction materials, and topographic design. Lecture modules on selected professional topics are integrated into this course.
LDARCH 111
Plants in Design
3 units
Through lecture, research, and studio assignments, this course introduces the use of plants as design elements in the landscape, from the urban scale to the site-specific scale, focusing on the public open space. By analyzing historic, contemporary, and Bay Area examples, the course examines the spatial, visual, and sensory qualities of vegetation, as well as the interplay with ecological functions and engineering uses of plants.
LDARCH 112
Landscape Plants: Identification and Use
4 units
This course is an introduction to the identification and recognition, as well as design applications and uses, of plants in the landscape. Through lectures, assignments, and fieldwork, the course provides class participants with an appreciation of the importance of vertical vegetation as a design element. Students will be introduced to a variety of built projects and plants commonly used in Bay Area landscapes.
LDARCH 121
Design in Detail: Introduction to Landscape Materials and Construction
4 units
This course introduces the visual and physical characteristics of landscape construction materials including, but not limited to, stone, brick, concrete, metal, asphalt, and wood. Additionally, lectures cover the production and availability of these materials, any existing evaluations on their sustainability, and their potential impact on the immediate environment. Students also learn to utilize standard sources of information on building materials and the terminology typically utilized when choosing and specifying construction materials. They become familiar with dimensional standards for landscape structures, including pavements, stairs, furnishings, retaining walls, freestanding walls, fences, decks, and small overhead structures.
LDARCH 122
Hydrology for Planners
4 units
This course presents an overview of relevant hydrologic, hydraulic, and geomorphic processes, to provide the planner and ecologist with insight to incorporate these processes into the planning process and coordinate with specialists in the field of hydrology. Relevant government regulations and policies are also reviewed. The course is not intended to duplicate more specialized courses offered in such fields as engineering hydrology, coastal engineering, or geology, but rather to provide an integrated understanding. The course takes a process- and field-based approach to hydrology, and emphasizes interdisciplinary perspectives.
LDARCH 130
Sustainable Landscapes and Cities
4 units
This course is an introduction to issues of sustainability in the designed landscape and in our cities. It includes environmental history as well as contemporary social, environmental and political issues surrounding sustainable design and activism. The course stresses motives and values expressed through environmental design at various scales – from neighborhood to global and examines problems affecting healthy environments and their solutions. Students study the need for protection and restoration of healthy ecological systems within the design of cities and landscapes and discuss ways to enable these systems to thrive. Readings and discussions focus on means to evaluate, create and advocate for healthy, sustainable environments.
LDARCH 135
Sacred Landscapes
3 units
This course is a laboratory for invention and visual perception. A designed landscape has the potential to induce a powerful emotional experience. The premise of this course is based on the idea that highly valued places are works of art, as well as places of enlightenment and transformation. This class will explore ideas of ‘sacredness’ in the landscape through a series of design explorations and a summation project. Our journey of discovery aspires to provide future landscape architects with a new and unique perspective to help them recognize and generate Sacred Landscapes.
LDARCH 154
Special Topics in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
1-3 units
Designed to be a forum for presentation of student research, discussions with faculty researchers and practitioners, and examination of topical issues in landscape architecture and environmental planning. Topics will be announced at the beginning of each semester.
LDARCH 160
Professional Practice Seminar
2-3 units
This course provides instruction and guidance in the professional practice aspect of landscape architecture in the United States. Covering the breadth of the profession, we will learn the professional duties of a landscape architect, and the process of completing a real-life landscape architectural project. The goal of this class will be to learn what it means to be a practicing, licensed landscape architect, with the understanding that this is ultimately a construction based, service-oriented industry.
LDARCH 170
History and Literature of Landscape Architecture
3 units
This course surveys the history of landscape architecture in four realms: 1) gardens; 2) urban open space, that is, plazas, parks, and recreation systems; 3) urban and suburban design; and 4) regional and environmental planning. The course will review the cultural and social contexts which have shaped and informed landscape architecture practice and aesthetics, as well as the environmental concerns, horticultural practices, and technological innovations of historic landscapes.
LDARCH 200B
Case Studies in Landscape Design
5 units
This studio stresses the shaping and coordination of ideas from initial concept to complete design product. A product(s) of intermediate scale and complexity (such as a garden, small park, plaza, or campus courtyard) will be developed in detail including the selection of planting, selection of construction materials, and topographic design. Lecture modules on selected professional topics are integrated into this course.
LDARCH 202
Design of Landscape Sites
5 units
A site design studio stressing the shaping and coordination of ideas from initial concept to complete design of open space in various contexts. Typical projects will be of an intermediate scale and might include a park, plaza, museum sculpture garden, playground, office park, or housing project. Modules on social factors and planting design are included.
LDARCH 205
Environmental Planning Studio
5 units
Application of environmental planning principles to a complex problem involving a variety of environmental criteria and desired land uses in a complex institutional and political setting. Student teams will identify needed data, assess environmental developmental problems, weigh competing uses, and prepare an environmental management plan.
LDARCH 221
Quantitative Methods in Environmental Planning
Discussion and critique of the application of quantitative methods to environmental assessment, analysis, and evaluation in environmental planning. Topics to include geographical information systems and databases, remote sensing, and multivariate analysis. This course emphasizes computer applications and data analysis.
LDARCH 222
Hydrology for Planners
4 units
This course presents an overview of relevant hydrologic, hydraulic, and geomorphic processes, to provide the planner and ecologist with insight sufficient to coordinate with technical specialists in the field of hydrology. In addition, relevant regulations and policies are reviewed.
LDARCH 226
Landscape Design Construction
2 units
The course investigates the process of developing schematic landscape design proposals into constructed landscapes. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the durability of materials and design details, the efficient use of materials, and the ability to evaluate how material selection and detailing can impact the environment. Field trips to construction sites, manufacturing facilities, and built landscapes will be included.
LDARCH 23AB
Landscape Processes through Drawing and Modeling
3 units
This course will explore landscape representation through a variety of drawing types and conventions, across a range of scales, and through a deep engagement with digital media. This course builds on the foundational methods developed in LA 234A, incorporating new methods, tools, and techniques for digital visualization. The course is structured through lectures and discussions about the historical and theoretical relevance of the theme, as well as, lab sessions focused on demonstrating representational tools and techniques. Simultaneous to these units, continued development of analog sketching will be expected.
LDARCH 237
The Process of Environmental Planning
3 units
A review of the techniques used in environmental planning, and evaluation of alternate means of implementation in varying environmental and political circumstances. The class will examine and critique a number of well-known environmental planning programs and plans. Lectures and discussion will address recurrent planning problems, such as the limitations of available data, legal and political constraints on plans, conflicts among specialists.
LDARCH C241
Research Methods in Environmental Design
4 units
The components, structure, and meaning of the urban environment. Environmental problems, attitudes, and criteria. Environmental survey, analysis, and interview techniques. Methods of addressing environmental quality. Environmental simulation.
LDARCH C250
Theories of Urban Form and Design
3 units
Theories and patterns of urban form throughout history are studied with emphasis on the role of planning and design in shaping cities and the relationship between urban form and social, economic, and geographic factors. Using a case study approach, cities are evaluated in terms of various theories and performance dimensions.
LDARCH 251
Theories of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design
2 units
Theories and patterns of urban form throughout history are studied with emphasis on the role of planning and design in shaping cities and the relationship between urban form and social, economic, and geographic factors. Using a case study approach, cities are evaluated in terms of various theories and performance dimensions.