About the Program
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Berkeley's undergraduate curriculum in Landscape Architecture centers upon creative and ecologically-tuned design and introduces students to the breadth of knowledge common to the profession. This program leads to the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Landscape Architecture and provides the necessary education for students interested in entry-level professional practice.
At the heart of the undergraduate curriculum are three core studios: LDARCH101, LDARCH102, and LDARCH103. The core studios ensure that undergraduate students benefit from the department's full range of interests and expertise.
Licensure and Accreditation
The BA degree is certified by the State of California and counts as part of the education/experience requirement of the Uniform National Examination (U.N.E.) as well as for the Landscape Architects Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.) for licensure. Please visit theLandscape Architects Technical Committeeand theCouncil of Landscape Architectural Registration Boardsfor more information about licensure in California.
Admission to the Major
Students must declare one of the CED majors at the time of application to the college; however, current UC Berkeley students may apply to change colleges into CED.Transfer applicants must complete two years worth of lower division coursework to be considered for admission to CED.For information regarding admission to the major for first-year, transfer students, and current students who wish to change majors or colleges, please see theCollege of Environmental Design (CED) pagein this Guide or theCED website.
History and Theory of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design Minor Program
This programintroduces students to conceptual issues of landscape architecture. A letter grade of C- or higher in ENVDES1,LDARCH1, orLDARCH12is required to declare the minor. To declare, students must submit the CED Request to Add Minor Form, available on the CED website. Open to all majors at UC Berkeley except Landscape Architecture.
Other Minors Offered by the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
The Department sponsors a minor in Sustainable Design, in conjunction with the Department of Architecture. For further information regarding this minor program, please see the program's page in this Guide.
Visit Department Website
Major Requirements
In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements, listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.
The Landscape Architecture major requirements differ by students’ admit year to UC Berkeley. The major requirements listed below are the most recent. In theBerkeley Academic Guide Archive, refer to the year you were admitted to UC Berkeley for your major requirements.
General Guidelines
- All lower division courses taken in fulfillment of major requirements must be completed with a grade of C- or better.
- Courses taken to fulfill lower division major requirements may also be used to fulfill Seven-Course Breadth.
- A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.
- A minimum overall GPA of 2.0 for all courses taken at UC Berkeley is required for graduation.
- Courses used to fulfill an upper division major requirement may not simultaneously fulfill a breadth requirement.
- Up to two upper division courses taken at another institution, including an approved study abroad program, may be applied to the major requirements below (if transferable and approved in advance).
For information regarding residence and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.
Lower Division Major Requirements
Three courses
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| LDARCH1 | Drawing a Green Future: Fundamentals of Visual Representation and Creativity | 4 |
| Physical Science: Select one course from the following 1 | ||
CHEM1A | General Chemistry [3] | |
EPS3 | The Water Planet [3] | |
EPS7 | Introduction to Climate Change [3] | |
EPS10 | Earth's Greatest Volcanic Eruptions [3] | |
EPS20 | Earthquakes in Your Backyard [3] | |
EPSC20 | Earthquakes in Your Backyard [3] | |
EPS50 | The Planet Earth [4] | |
EPS80 | Environmental Earth Sciences [3] | |
EPS81 | Extreme Weather and Climate [3] | |
EPS82 | Oceans [3] (This course can be used for either Phys Sci or Bio Sci but not both.) | |
EPSN82 | Introduction to Oceans [3] (This course can be used for either Phys Sci or Bio Sci but not both.) | |
ESPM15 | Introduction to Environmental Sciences [3] (This course can be used for either Phys Sci or Bio Sci but not both.) | |
GEOG40 | Introduction to Earth System Science [4] (This course can be used for either Phys Sci or Bio Sci but not both.) | |
| Earthquakes in Your Backyard [3] | ||
PHYSICS7A | Physics for Scientists and Engineers [4] | |
PHYSICS8A | Introductory Physics [4] | |
PHYSICS10 | Descriptive Introduction to Physics [3] | |
PHYSICSC10 | Descriptive Introduction to Physics [3] (Also listed as L & S C70V) | |
| Biological Science: Select one course from the following (Note: courses from the above PS breadth list that can be used for BS breadth instead include EPS82, EPSN82, ESPM15, and GEOG40): 2 | ||
ANTHRO1 | Introduction to Biological Anthropology [4] | |
BIOLOGY1B | General Biology Lecture and Laboratory [4] | |
ESPM2 | The Biosphere [3] | |
ESPM6 | Environmental Biology [3] | |
ESPMC10 | Environmental Issues [4] (Also listed as L & S C30V) | |
ESPM40 | Insects and Human Society [3] | |
ESPM42 | Natural History of Insects [3] | |
ESPM105A | Sierra Nevada Ecology [4] | |
INTEGBIC32 | Bioinspired Design [3] (Also listed as L & S C30Z) | |
INTEGBI42 | Primate Biology [3] | |
LDARCH12 | Environmental Science for Sustainable Development [4] | |
NUSCTX11 | Introduction to Toxicology [3] | |
PLANTBI40 | The (Secret) Life of Plants [3] | |
Upper Division Major Requirements
Eleven courses.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| LDARCH101 | Fundamentals of Landscape Design | 5 |
| LDARCH102 | Case Studies in Landscape Design | 5 |
| LDARCH103 | Energy, Fantasy, and Form | 5 |
| LDARCHC110A | Ecological Analysis | 4 |
| LDARCH112 | Landscape Plants: Identification and Use | 4 |
| LDARCH120 | Topographic Form and Design Technology | 3 |
| LDARCH121 | Design in Detail: Introduction to Landscape Materials and Construction | 4 |
| LDARCH133 | Drawn from the Field (Formerly 134A) 3 | 3 |
| LDARCH134B | Drawing Workshop II | 3 |
| LDARCH135 | Sacred Landscapes | 3 |
| LDARCH170 | History and Literature of Landscape Architecture | 3 |
- 1
This course simultaneously satisfies the Physical Science breadth requirement (see the College Requirements tab).
- 2
This course simultaneously satisfies the Biological Science breadth requirement (see the College Requirements tab).
- 3
LD ARCH 133 can be waived for students who complete LD ARCH 1 at UC Berkeley
Minor Requirements
Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program.
General Guidelines
- All minors must be declared no later than one semester before a student's Expected Graduation Term (EGT).
- A letter grade of C- or higher in ENVDES1, LDARCH1, or LDARCH12 is required to declare the minor. To declare, students must submit theCED Minor Declaration Form, available on the CED website.
- DEADLINE TO SUBMIT FORM: Prior to the start of a student's final semester.
- Each course used to fulfill minor requirements must be completed with a letter grade of C- or above.
- Students must earn a 2.0 GPA in the upper division requirements for the minor.
- Any course used in fulfillment of minor requirements may also be used to fulfill major and upper division CED non-major requirements.
- Courses used to fulfill a breadth requirement may also be used to satisfy minor requirements.
- Students may apply the non-CED version of a CED cross-listed course towards the minor.
- Students may use up to two courses taken abroad to fulfill upper division minor requirements, with faculty approval of the individual courses.
History and Theory of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Minor Requirements
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Division (Choose one from list) | ||
| ENVDES1 | Introduction to Environmental Design | 3 |
| LDARCH1 | Drawing a Green Future: Fundamentals of Visual Representation and Creativity | 4 |
| LDARCH12 | Environmental Science for Sustainable Development | 4 |
| Upper Division (Choose five from list) | ||
| LDARCHC110A | Ecological Analysis (formerly LDARCH110) | 4 |
| LDARCH111 | Plants in Design | 3 |
| LDARCH119 | Flood Risk Management | 3 |
| LDARCH122 | Hydrology for Planners | 4 |
| LDARCH130 | Sustainable Landscapes and Cities | 4 |
| LDARCH140 | Social and Psychological Factors in Open Space Design | 3 |
| LDARCH154 | Special Topics in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (Must be taken for 3 units) | 3 |
| LDARCH170 | History and Literature of Landscape Architecture | 3 |
| LD ARCH/AMERSTD C171 | The American Designed Landscape Since 1850 | 3 |
| LDARCHC177 | GIS and Environmental Spatial Data Analysis | 4 |
| LDARCHC188 | Geographic Information Science | 4 |
College Requirements
For College Requirements, please refer to the College of Environmental Design.
Plan of Study
Each student’s plan will vary, depending on interests. Students should see their advisor if they are interested in applying for graduate school, studying abroad, attending summer school, pursuing a minor or second major, or anything else.
For more detailed information regarding the courses listed below (e.g., elective information, GPA requirements, etc.), please see the Major Requirements tab.
| Freshman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Units | Spring | Units |
| ENVDES1 | 3 | ENVDES5 | 4 |
| Bio Sci for Major (Breadth #1: BIO SCI) | 3-4 | Reading & Composition A | 4-6 |
| Breadth #2 | 3-4 | Phys Sci for Major (Breadth #3: PHYS SCI) | 3-4 |
| University Elective (if needed to reach 12 units) | 3-4 | University Elective (if needed to reach 12 units) | 1-2 |
| 12-15 | 12-16 | ||
| Sophom*ore | |||
| Fall | Units | Spring | Units |
| Reading & Composition B | 4 | LDARCH1 | 4 |
| Breadth #4 | 3-4 | Breadth #6 | 3-4 |
| Breadth #5 | 3-4 | Breadth #7 | 3-4 |
| University Elective (if needed to reach 12 units) | 2 | University Elective, if needed | 2-3 |
| 12-14 | 12-15 | ||
| Junior | |||
| Fall | Units | Spring | Units |
| LDARCH101 | 5 | LDARCH102 | 5 |
| LDARCHC110A | 4 | LDARCH112 | 4 |
| LDARCH1331 | 3 | LDARCH170 | 3 |
| LDARCH134B | 3 | CED Upper Div Non-Major #1 | 2-4 |
| 15 | 14-16 | ||
| Senior | |||
| Fall | Units | Spring | Units |
| LDARCH103 | 5 | LDARCH121 | 4 |
| LDARCH120 | 3 | LDARCH135 | 3 |
| CED Upper Div Non-Major #2 | 2-4 | CED Upper Div Non-Major #3 | 2-4 |
| American Cultures (or university elective, if needed to reach 12 units) | 2-4 | LDARCH160 or 111 (recommended) | 3 |
| 12-16 | 12-14 | ||
| Total Units: 101-121 | |||
1LD ARCH 1 at UCB satisfies LDARCH 133.
2Students must complete 120 units to graduate.
Student Learning Goals
Learning Goals of the Major
- To communicate effectively in graphic, written, and verbal formats.
- To understand the relationship of the history and theory of landscape architecture.
- To acquire knowledge of the basic fundamentals of environmental design, particularly the implications of social and natural factors.
- To apply design principles in a range of sites and scales.
Major Map
Major Maps help undergraduate students discover academic, co-curricular, and discovery opportunities at UC Berkeley based on intended major or field of interest. Developed by the Division of Undergraduate Education in collaboration with academic departments, these experience maps will help you:
Explore your major and gain a better understanding of your field of study
Connect with people and programs that inspire and sustain your creativity, drive, curiosity and success
Discover opportunities for independent inquiry, enterprise, and creative expression
Engage locally and globally to broaden your perspectives and change the world
- Reflect on your academic career and prepare for life after Berkeley
Use the major map below as a guide to planning your undergraduate journey and designing your own unique Berkeley experience.
View the Landscape Architecture Major Map PDF.
Advising
The CED Office of Undergraduate Advising provides a wide array of programmatic and individual advising services to prospective and current students as well as to students in other colleges who are pursuing CED minors or taking CED courses. The professional advising team assists students with a range of issues including course selection, academic decision-making, achieving personal and academic goals, and maximizing the Berkeley experience.
Advising Staff
Architecture Major Advisor:Mel Barbers
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
mbarbers@berkeley.edu
Landscape Architecture Major Advisor:Kristian Dawson
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
kristian.dawson@berkeley.edu
Sustainable Environmental Design Major Advisor:Heather Grothjan
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
heather.grothjan@berkeley.edu
Urban Studies Major Advisor:Kristian Dawson
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
kristian.dawson@berkeley.edu
College Evaluator:Heather Grothjan
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
heather.grothjan@berkeley.edu
Undergraduate Advising Director:Omar Ramirez
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
oramirez@berkeley.edu
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies:Kyle Steinfeld
345 Bauer Wurster Hall
ksteinfe@berkeley.edu
Advising Office
Fall/spring: Monday through Friday, 10 to noon (office opens at 9 a.m.) & 1 to 4 p.m.
Summer: Monday through Friday, 10 to noon & 1 to 3 p.m.
Address
Office of Undergraduate Advising
College of Environmental Design
250 Bauer Wurster Hall #1800
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-1800
cedadvising@berkeley.edu
CED Career Services
The CED Career Services Center (CSC) offers personalized career counseling, a yearly CED Career Fair, and a wide variety of professional development workshops on topics such as licensure, internships, and applying for graduate school. To schedule an appointment with the Career Counselor or for more information on CED CSC, please clickhere.
Office of Undergraduate Advising
- Current Students
- Newly-Admitted Students
- Graduation and Commencement
- Undergraduate Advising Services
- Articulation
- CED Undergraduate Program Policies
- Forms and Documents
Mission
The College of Environmental Design (CED) Office of Undergraduate Advising:
- Supportsstudents holistically as they earn their degree,
- Advocatesfor just and equitable policies and practices,
- Connectscurrent and prospective students with resources and opportunities,
- Fostersa sense of belonging and community.
Advising Values
The CED Office of Undergraduate Advising aspires to the following core values:
Student-Centered
We provide support services centered on student self-actualization. We aim to hold a welcoming space in which students are encouraged to explore their minds and their hearts, do their best work, realize their talents and passions, and achieve their goals. We put the student voice and experience first.
Justice & Equity
We actively seek to eradicate all forms of individual and institutionalized discrimination and oppression. We aim to provide students with an equitable experience in complete appreciation of their identities, economic status, and immigration status.
Health & Well-Being
We strive to build and sustain a culture in which our community can thrive in all aspects of life: intellectual, emotional, social, physical, occupational, spiritual and environmental.
Courage & Vulnerability
By learning from our own experiences, educating ourselves on developments in the field, collaborating with our communities, and taking strategic risks, we aim to improve our advising services and the student experience. We are committed to continuous self-reflection, growth, and development.
Academic Opportunities
Student Groups and Organizations
The college provides opportunities for students to be involved in student chapters of professional organizations, such as the American Institute of Architects (AIAS), the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), as well as other student groups like the Chican@/Latin@ Architecture Student Association (CASA), Global Architecture Brigades, and more. For information regarding student groups, please see the Student Organizations page of the CED website.
Study Abroad
The College of Environmental Design (CED) encourages all undergraduates in the college to study abroad. Whether students are interested in fulfilling general education requirements, taking courses related to their major/career, or simply living and studying in a country that is of interest to them, Berkeley Study Abroad will work with students to make it happen. For information about Study Abroad programs, please see theBerkeley Study Abroad website.
CED Career Services
The CED Career Services Center (CSC) offers personalized career counseling, a yearly CED Career Fair, and a wide variety of professional-development workshops on topics such as licensure, internships, and applying for graduate school. For further information, please see theCED Career Services website.
Prizes and Awards
CED offers a number of annual prizes, awards, scholarships, fellowships, and grants to its currently enrolled students. Some of these prizes and awards are college-wide, and some are geared toward students in specific majors. For general information regarding CED prizes and awards, including application instructions and a deadline calendar, please clickhere.
CED Events and Exhibits Calendar
CED and Wurster Hall is home to a variety of events, lectures, and exhibitions that welcome professors, professionals, and friends to the college to discuss and celebrate the community and professions. Through events and media CED is constantly creating ways to keep the college connected and up-to-date. To view this calendar, please clickhere.
CED on Facebook
CED Lecture Series
The departments of Architecture, City and Regional Planning, and Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning each sponsor lecture series, which offers students the opportunity to hear internationally-acclaimed speakers. These speakers often also participate in classes and seminars as part of their visit to campus. For a schedule of speakers and events in these lecture series, please see theCED website.
WursterLife
WursterLife is a closed-network platform that enables CED students and alumni from across the globe to connect with classmates, find alumni by practice area, geographic region, affinity group, or shared interest, share professional updates, news, photos, events, and jobs, enhance your career through your alumni connections, and find ways to stay engaged with the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design.
Research Opportunities, Internships, Public Service, and Volunteer Opportunities
Check out the CED Office of Undergraduate Advising website for additional opportunities.
Courses
Landscape Architecture
Terms offered: Summer 2024 8 Week Session, Spring 2024, Summer 2023 8 Week Session
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.
Drawing a Green Future: Fundamentals of Visual Representation and Creativity: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Instructor: Sullivan
Drawing a Green Future: Fundamentals of Visual Representation and Creativity: Read Less [-]
Terms offered: Summer 2024 8 Week Session, Fall 2023, Summer 2023 8 Week Session
The scientific basis of sustainability, explored through study of energy, water, food, natural resources, and built environment. Physical/ecological processes and systems, and human impacts from the global scale to local energy/resource use. Energy and water audits, opportunities to increase sustainability of processes/practices. Discussion/lab section involves field data collection/analysis (e.g., habitat characteristics and macroinvertebrate communities in local streams, measurement of atmospheric particulate matter concentrations, measurement of water savings from updated irrigation technologies) and a final, integrative sustainability assessment project.
Environmental Science for Sustainable Development: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Environmental Science for Sustainable Development: Read Less [-]
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2013, Spring 2012
Supervised group studies of various topics relevant to department that are not covered in depth by other courses. Topics may be initiated by students. Open to students in good standing who, in consultation with a faculty sponsor, present a proposal with clearly formulated objectives and means of implementation. Intended for exceptional students. Topics vary from semester to semester.
Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophom*ores: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Department chair must approve written proposal
Credit Restrictions: Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of directed group study per week
Summer:
6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of directed group study per week
8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of directed group study per week
10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of directed group study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophom*ores: Read Less [-]
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
This studio introduces students to the programmatic, artistic, and technical aspects of land form and topographic adjustments to accommodate human use. Topics include pedestrian and vehicular circulation, conservation and addition of plant materials, movement of water, recreation use, and creation of views. Sculptural land forms will be emphasized through the use of topographic plans, sections, and contour models.
Fundamentals of Landscape Design: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Environmental Design 11A-11B or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
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.
Case Studies in Landscape Design: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Instructor: Kullmann
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
This is an undergraduate studio with a central focus on climate modification for energy conservation. We will research historical precedents in order to develop new garden forms for passive green designs. We will also explore how past cultures integrated metaphysics into their gardens as an adjunct to microclimate and habitat design. The contemporary landscape should be a balanced interweaving of proportion, function, comfort, energy conservation, and enlightenment. Additionally, we will study the choreography of space and investigate how to animate the landscape through the creative interpretation of text and film. Many new and exciting opportunities lie ahead for the creation of garden forms that not only conserve energy, but are also works of art and places of spiritual renewal.
Energy, Fantasy, and Form: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101, 102, Environmental Design 11A-11B, (Arch 100A or 100B for Architecture students) or by consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 8 units.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Instructor: Sullivan
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
Analysis of environmental factors, ecosystem functions, and ecosystem dynamics, as related to decision-making for landscape planning and design.
Ecological Analysis: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: McBride
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
Introduction to field techniques for assessment of landscape factors. Factors include topography, geology, climate, soil, hydrology, flora, vegetation, and wildlife.
Ecological Analysis Laboratory: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Landscape Architecture 110 (may be taken concurrently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: McBride
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
This course focuses on natural factors of the environment that are fundamental to ecosystem management, land use planning and landscape design and their relationships to one another in different terrestrial ecosystems, from predominantly natural to predominantly anthropogenic. Lectures explore the key concepts on ecosystem structure, function and dynamics and discuss different types of ecological data, their interpretation and visualization that can aid in landscape research, planning and design workflow. Laboratory sections advance lecture topics by providing hands-on training in common types of ecosystem analyses using quantitative methods and geospatial tools.
Ecological Analysis: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Develop an understanding of natural factors of the environment that are fundamental to ecosystem management, landscape design and land use planning and common approaches for their assessment and analysis of their relationships to one another.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Also listed as: ESPMC110A
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2019
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.
Plants in Design: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
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.
Landscape Plants: Identification and Use: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 6 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023
This course explains fundamental concepts in flood risk management, summarizes the history
of flood management in California, the US, and globally, and tracks the development of state-
of-the art approaches to assessing flood risk, equity implications, and utilizing nature-based
solutions to sustainably manage floods. The course is offered at both the upper-division undergraduate (LA119) and graduate (LA229)
levels. Lectures are the same for both undergrad and grad courses, but there are separate
discussion sections and requirements.
Flood Risk Management: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: The objective of the course is to provide students with an understanding of the physical
processes giving rise to floods, and also the social and institutional response to flood risk.
Student Learning Outcomes: Students will learn the fundamental hydrologic processes behind flooding, the models
commonly employed to assess the extent of flood hazard, the limitations of extrapolating short
hydrologic records to estimate long-return period floods such as the 100-year flood, limitations
of structural measures to control flood hazard, and increase in flood hazard arising from climate
change.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: Kondolf
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
Technical, graphic and computational exercises, and studio problems in topographic site design and the shaping of the site for surface drainage.
Topographic Form and Design Technology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 102 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 2 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Instructor: Jewell
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
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.
Design in Detail: Introduction to Landscape Materials and Construction: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101, Architecture 100A, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Design in Detail: Introduction to Landscape Materials and Construction: Read Less [-]
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
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.
Hydrology for Planners: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).
Instructor: Kondolf
Terms offered: Summer 2024 8 Week Session, Spring 2024, Summer 2023 8 Week Session
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.
Sustainable Landscapes and Cities: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: This course is an important elective to majors in the College of Natural Resources and CED students who have Architecture and City Planning majors. A new CED major, Sustainable Environmental Design (SED), has increased the number of students who require this class. It also fulfills the Social and Behavioral breadth requirement. Therefore, it is clear that the course enrollment should be increased to accommodate students from both inside and outside the CED.
This course offers students the opportunity to examine a specific range of sustainable design interventions that attempt to address primary problems related to climate change, the need for healthy watersheds, adequate food security and socially resilient communities in the face of rapid environmental change. Students will see the complexity of various aspects and approaches required of sustainable design and occasionally competing goals of a project.
Student Learning Outcomes: On the required field trip to San Francisco, students will be able to see and critique the efficacy of policy; of existing and emerging landscape design technology; to observe interventions intended to assist existing natural systems in urban environments and promote their viability; to see the value of community building to help establish resilient neighborhoods; to become verbally articulate about these issues.
Students will learn about and discuss the inter-connectedness of natural systems overlapped by human habitation. They will learn about design that can facilitate positive social systems and how the combination of ecological and social communities can present answers to some of the pressing environmental problems we face. Students will learn how various design strategies involve land preservation, watershed protection and restoration; local food production networks; resilient neighborhood design through community participation in open space design; pedestrian and bicycle friendly streets, urban forestry; reducing the waste stream.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: McRae
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
This course will provide students an opportunity to analyze and interpret the iconic built landscapes of the Bay Area through direct observation and field sketching. The vision for the course is influenced by the global popularity of the Urban Sketchers movement, a phenomenon based on personal engagement with one’s environment. The annotated sketchbook will be used as the primary tool for investigation and documentation of core fundamental principles and elements of landscape and urban design. Lectures and hands-on demonstrations will give students the tools to respond to and construct meaning from their on-site observations.
Drawn from the Field: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture and 2 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Instructor: Sullivan
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This studio will elaborate on a number of studio themes while introducing the students to a variety of graphic mediums and drawing techniques. Measured drawing procedures (including orthographic projections) will be augmented by figure-ground principles and themes of contrast, color, chiaroscuro, and compositions. On-site and visits to galleries and museums will complement the studio sessions.
Drawing Workshop 1: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Environmental Design 11A-11B or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 3 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Instructor: Hood
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
This course introduces students to digital tools relevant to the discipline of landscape architecture. The course encompasses a series of lectures, lab exercises and projects designed to equip students with a foundational and expandable computing skill set relevant to the education and practice of landscape architecture. In addition to establishing technical competency, the course emphasizes establishing creative workflows between software applications.
Drawing Workshop II: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Instructor: Kullmann
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
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.
Sacred Landscapes: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: LDARCH134A, LDARCH201 or consent of Instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture and 2 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Instructor: Sullivan
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021
User-oriented approach to design. Post-occupancy evaluation as a tool for understanding use of designed open spaces. Design as a communication process. Environmental needs of vulnerable populations--children, elderly, disabled, low-income families. Personal and societal environmental values.
Social and Psychological Factors in Open Space Design: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1.5 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Social and Psychological Factors in Open Space Design: Read Less [-]
Terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020
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.
Special Topics in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Special Topics in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning: Read Less [-]
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
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.
Professional Practice Seminar: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
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.
History and Literature of Landscape Architecture: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: Mozingo
History and Literature of Landscape Architecture: Read Less [-]
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
This course surveys the history of American landscape architecture since 1850 in four realms: 1) urban open spaces--that is squares, plazas, parks, and recreation systems; 2) urban and suburban design; 3) regional and environmental planning; 4) gardens. The course will review the cultural and social contexts which have shaped and informed landscape architecture in the United States since the advent of the public parks movement, as well as, the aesthetic precepts, environmental concerns, horticultural practices, and technological innovations of American landscapes. Students will complete a midterm, final, and a research assignment.
The American Designed Landscape Since 1850: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: Mozingo
Also listed as: AMERSTDC171
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
This course offers an introduction to spatial data analysis. It integrates ArcGIS analysis with spatial statistical analysis for the study of pattern and process applicable to a wide variety of fields. Major topics covered include: spatial sampling, processing data with ARC Info, exploratory GIS analysis, spatial decomposition, spatial point patterns and Ripley's K function, spatial autocorrelation, geostatistics, spatially weighted regression, spatial autoregression, generalized linear models and generalized linear mixed models.
GIS and Environmental Spatial Data Analysis: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Requirements are course in GIS and a course in probability and statistics. We invite participation of undergraduates and graduate students from: ESPM, Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning, City and Regional Planning, IB, Civil Engineering, Energy and Resources Group, Public Health, Earth and Planetary Science, and other campus departments or units with students interested in learning and using spatial analysis for the environment- both natural and built
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Instructors: Biging, Radke
Also listed as: ESPMC177
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Representations typically demonstrate two different forms of landscape analysis—empirical data and personal perception/aesthetics—but landscape provides opportunities for their overlaps in order to advance and synthesize robust research. Through lectures, technical tutorials, and reading discussions, this course will profile contemporary landscape research practices and representational techniques. We will use visualization to advance landscape research, theory, and site analysis, focusing specifically on methods that tackle issues of temporality and ephemerality. We will generate original media that communicates spatial, ecological, and cultural complexities.
Representation as Research: Contemporary Topics in Landscape Visualization: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Working knowledge of Rhino, AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of laboratory and 1 hour of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Instructor: Cooper
Formerly known as: Landscape Architecture 189
Representation as Research: Contemporary Topics in Landscape Visualization: Read Less [-]
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
This course introduces the student to the rapidly expanding field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It addresses both theory and application and provides the student with a dynamic analytical framework within which temporal and spatial data and information is gathered, integrated, interpreted, and manipulated. It emphasizes a conceptual appreciation of GIS and offers an opportunity to apply some of those concepts to contemporary geographical and planning issues.
Geographic Information Science: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Some computer experience
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 1-2 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: Kim
Also listed as: GEOGC188
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
See departmental information sheet for limitations. Supervised experience relative to specific aspects of landscape architecture. Regular individual meetings with faculty and outside sponsor. Reports required.
Field Study in Landscape Architecture: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Upper division standing and consent of instructor and sponsor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-3 hours of fieldwork per week
Summer:
6 weeks - 5-7.5 hours of fieldwork per week
8 weeks - 3.5-5.5 hours of fieldwork per week
10 weeks - 3-4.5 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
Enrollment restrictions apply.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of directed group study per week
Summer:
6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of directed group study per week
8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of directed group study per week
10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of directed group study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2013
Enrollment restrictions apply.
Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of independent study per week
Summer:
6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of independent study per week
8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of independent study per week
10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Landscape Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Contact Information
Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
202 Wurster Hall
Phone: 510-643-9335
Visit Department Website
Department Chair
Louise Mozingo
202 Bauer Wurster Hall
lmozingo@berkeley.edu
Minor Program Faculty Advisor
Karl Kullmann
202 Bauer Wurster Hall
karl.kullmann@berkeley.edu
Undergraduate Major Head
Chip Sullivan
302 Bauer Wurster Hall
Phone: 510-642-2938
csully@berkeley.edu
Landscape Architecture Major/Minor Advisor
Kristian Dawson
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
kristian.dawson@berkeley.edu
College Evaluator
Heather Grothjan (Peng)
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
Phone: 510-642-0928
heather.grothjan@berkeley.edu
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies
Kyle Steinfeld
345 Bauer Wurster Hall
ksteinfe@berkeley.edu
Director, Office of Undergraduate Advising
Omar Ramirez
250 Bauer Wurster Hall
oramirez@berkeley.edu
CED Career Services
Dinorah Meyer
http://ced.berkeley.edu/ced/students/career/
