Bachelor of Environments

Landscape Architecture

Landscape Architecture (LA) provides a unique bridge between the design professions and the environmental sciences. This situation places LA at the forefront of 21st century careers, offering creative opportunities to engage in core ecological, cultural, and social issues faced today. This major explores the practice, theory, history, and long-standing ecological sensibilities of the discipline.

Students of LA are attracted to its creativity and diversity, its challenges and demands. LA practice ranges across all scales of design encompassing large-scale public projects such as the Olympic Parks in Sydney and Beijing, to suburban development, to smaller urban spaces and gardens – plus there is currently a world-wide shortage of Landscape Architects.

 

Course Planning for a Landscape Architecture Major

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Environments should take no more than 125 points of 1st year level subjects. Students must complete at least 75 points worth of 3rd year level subjects, including at least one 3rd year level breadth subject. Students will need to be mindful of this when course planning.

In order to complete a major in Landscape Architecture, you will need to undertake the following subjects:

1st year level

2nd year level

And at least two of the following 2nd year level subjects:

3rd year level

#  students who have completed 207-250 Greening Landscapes in 2009, do not need to enrol in Ecology of Urban Landscapes.

Students should familiarise themselves with the Bachelor of Environments Course Structure.

 

Breadth information for Landscape Architecture major

The Melbourne Model aims to produce graduates who are trained in a particular discipline (depth) as well as knowledgeable across disciplines (breadth). The breadth component of the new degrees aims to build multiple competencies in students by exposing them to different ways of knowing through cross-disciplinary learning and teaching. 

In the first year of the Bachelor of Environments, students can take any two 100-Level subjects from the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Science as well as the University Breadth Subjects and the non core subjects available as breadth.

In the second and third years of the Bachelor of Environments, students will choose their major field of study and they must choose breadth studies that contrast with their major. The eleven major areas of study are grouped into four clusters based on the types of knowledge they represent: scientific, socio-cultural, design and business.

For example, a student taking a Design major such as Landscape Architecture will take breadth studies that contrast with the design way of knowing, such as commerce, languages, politics, maths, science or psychology. Due to the nature of the Landscape Architecture major, students are not permitted to take horticulture, ecology, plant science or design subjects as breadth.

A search engine of breadth subjects available to Bachelor of Environments students may be found here.  Some students may also choose to take breadth study from within the Bachelor of Environments as long as these subjects come from a different cluster to their major area of study – see breadth elective subjects for a list of approved subjects.

 

Environments Electives

Bachelor of Environments students will undertake 37.5 (3 subjects) of Environments electives within their degree. A list of possible Environments Electives can be found here.

 

* Available 2010

Sample course plan for students commencing in semester 1 – Keeping Options Open

Semester 1, Year 1 Reshaping Environments
880-102		 Virtual Environments
880-108		 880-104 Designing Environments (Highly Recommended) Breadth
Semester 2, Year 1 Natural Environments
880-101		 Mapping Environments
880-106 (Recommended)		 First Year Bachelor of Environments Subject Breadth
Semester 1, Year 2 Explorations (Landscape Studio 1)
702-249 		Bachelor of Environments Elective Bachelor of Environments Elective Breadth
Semester 2, Year 2 Site Planning and Design (Landscape Studio 2)
702-251 		Designing with Plants
207-298 		Bachelor of Environments Elective Breadth
Semester 1, Year 3 Landscape Studio 3: Open Space
702-365		 Ecology of Urban Landscapes 207-350 Site Tectonics
702-363 		Breadth
Semester 2, Year 3 Landscape Studio 4: Designed Ecologies (capstone) 702-371 History of Designed Landscapes 702-250 Case Studies in Landscape Architecture

Breadth
 

Sample course plan for students commencing in semester 1 – Recommended Sequence

Semester 1, Year 1 Reshaping Environments
880-102		 Virtual Environments
880-108		 880-104 Designing Environments (Highly Recommended) Breadth
Semester 2, Year 1 Natural Environments
880-101		 Mapping Environments
880-106 (Recommended)		 First Year Bachelor of Environments Subject Breadth
Semester 1, Year 2 Explorations (Landscape Studio 1)
702-249 		Site Tectonics
702-263		 Bachelor of Environments Elective Breadth
Semester 2, Year 2 Site Planning and Design (Landscape Studio 2)
702-251 		Designing with Plants
207-298		 Greening Landscapes
207-250		 Breadth
Semester 1, Year 3 Landscape Studio 3: Open Space 702-365 Ecology of Urban Landscapes 207-350 Bachelor of Environments Elective Breadth
Semester 2, Year 3 Landscape Studio 4: Designed Ecologies (capstone) 702-371 Case Studies in Landscape Architecture History of Designed Landscapes 702-250

Breadth

 

  First year subjects
  Bachelor of Environments elective subjects
  Breadth subjects
  Major subjects

 

Landscape Architecture

Sample course plan for students commencing mid-year

Semester 2, Year 1 Reshaping Environments
880-102		 Virtual Environments
880-108		 Mapping Environments
880-106 (Recommended)		 880-104 Designing Environments (Highly Recommended)
Semester 1, Year 1 Natural Environments
880-101		 Explorations (Studio 1) 702-249 First Year Bachelor of Environments Subject Breadth
Semester 2, Year 2 Site Planning and Design (Landscape Studio 2)
702-251 		Site Planning and Design (Studio 2) 702-251 Bachelor of Environments Elective Breadth
Semester 1, Year 2 Landscape Studio 3: Open Space 702-365 Site Tectonics
702-263		 Ecology of Urban Landscapes 207-350 Breadth
Semester 2, Year 3 Landscape Studio 4: Designed Ecologies (capstone) 702-371 History of Designed Landscapes 702-250 Case Studies in Landscape Architecture 702-301 Breadth
Semester 1, Year 3 Bachelor of Environments Elective Bachelor of Environments Elective Breadth

Breadth

 

  First year subjects
  Bachelor of Environments elective subjects
  Breadth subjects
  Major subjects

 

Careers and Further Study

By the end of the three-year Bachelor of Environments degree with an LA major, you will have developed a strong base of design knowledge and technical skills across the landscape architecture discipline. You will be well prepared either for employment or for the two-year Master of Landscape Architecture program to become an accredited landscape architect.

 

Master of Landscape Architecture

The Master of Landscape Architecture is a two-year professional degree that teaches design and practice, underpinned by strengths in theory and technology and a focus on sustainability. It provides graduates with:

 

Master of Landscape Architecture – Career Outcomes

Landscape Architects are in demand at all levels of government, in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, and in landscape architectural, planning, engineering and multidisciplinary consultancy firms. Graduates also find employment with groups such as conservation agencies and land development companies, while others run their own landscape architectural practices.

 

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact the Environments Student Centre on:

Ph: 8344 6432 | 8344 6417 | 8344 8150

Web: envs-courseadvice@unimelb.edu.au

Visit: Environments Student Centre

Ground Floor, Old Commerce Building

University of Melbourne

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