LA 6910 - Design of Landscapes

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Enrollment limited to: sophomore, junior, senior or graduate students.

K. Gleason.

Introductory survey of the history and theory of planned human intervention in the material environment. Critical themes, sites, and conditions across time, space, and scale, from the paradise garden to the contemporary megacity, are explored through weekly topical lectures, creative exercises, discussions, readings, and essays. Course culminates in an individual research project.

Outcome 1: Acquire knowledge of foundational approaches to the history and theory of formal and informal landscapes.

Outcome 2: Learn to interpret past and present landscapes as primary records of human values, practices, and institutions.

Outcome 3: Develop skills of theorization and argumentation through written and visual assignments.

Outcome 4: Explore how investigation of past design is part of the trajectory toward innovative future landscapes.