The first course of the History + Theory track will offer an introduction to a select range of ideas, practices and systems of landscape. The seminar will begin with discussions on theory and history, their types and uses, and examine the different, and often conflicting, definitions of landscape that have emerged from within and without the field of landscape architecture. As we explore the relationship between nature and culture, we will consider the relationship of history and theory to the contexts in which they are generated, while at the same time examining their relationship to praxis. While focusing on issues that are core to a critical understanding of the discipline, this course will also begin to expand the study of landscapes beyond historical Western-centric cannons, with an explicit attempt to decolonize the ways in which we know and practice in landscape architecture. 
 
The course will examine readings taken from diverse sources that have informed landscape architecture – philosophy, geography, architecture, art history, ecology – as well as sources that have emerged from practitioners of the comparatively young discipline. The readings are grouped by themes that relate and distinguish landscape architecture from its allied fields and reflect the discourse that has influenced the character and objectives of the discipline today. 

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I Landscape Architecture

Liminal Landscapes: Gradient of change within your own landscape. What captivates us about a sunset? Most likely, you’ve enjoyed the sunlight distorted by our atmosphere’s gases and how compelling that transition is. The gradient in the sky, the border between day and night, is a liminal threshold we encounter daily. Like vestibules on buildings, beaches between land and water, marginal vegetation between forest and outside, adolescence is a liminal stage between childhood and adulthood. Liminality can be a gradient from a lesser to most change. Liminality in landscape architecture primes us to understand the change of seasons and the effects of climate change. Applications span ecological, social, cultural, and political topics. In this complex contemporary world, we must break from the binary constraints and embrace the nuances for a more empathetic existence.

The studio will examine experiences, recognize thresholds, and the implications of crossing physical or psychological landscapes. We will achieve this with three short exercises, creating artifacts to detect liminality. We will employ technical drawing methods, texture generation, pinball site analysis, and model-making, among other forms of representation. Readings from Anthropologist Victor Turner, Urban Planner Michel Dear, Landscape Architects like Chip Sullivan and James Corner, Architects like Dilip Da Cuna, and American scholar Gloria Anzaldua, among others, will inform our making practice, applied in a site case study. Short lectures, meditation exercises, field trips, and work sessions will compose our class experiences, culminating in a final presentation and conversation to understand the magnitude of our inhabitance within liminal landscapes.

Elective

What do these words mean and what is their relationship to each other in the architectural design disciplines? Each word is packed with complex and evolving meanings that reflect the state of human knowledge about the environments in which we live and in which we intervene. Each word reflects our understanding of systems, physical, cultural and social, biotic and abiotic, as well as our aspirations to conserve, restore, or reshape those systems. Each word is ubiquitous in the contemporary quest to construct a sustainable, resilient future. But do we really understand what they mean? Are they critically interdependent or can they be considered separately? This studio will examine these questions with the twin objectives of establishing an evolving and dynamic understanding of the terms and generating working methods that respond to the complexities of scale encountered in the landscape.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

What do these words mean and what is their relationship to each other in the architectural design disciplines? Each word is packed with complex and evolving meanings that reflect the state of human knowledge about the environments in which we live and in which we intervene. Each word reflects our understanding of systems, physical, cultural and social, biotic and abiotic, as well as our aspirations to conserve, restore, or reshape those systems. Each word is ubiquitous in the contemporary quest to construct a sustainable, resilient future. But do we really understand what they mean? Are they critically interdependent or can they be considered separately? This studio will examine these questions with the twin objectives of establishing an evolving and dynamic understanding of the terms and generating working methods that respond to the complexities of scale encountered in the landscape.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

This final core studio stresses large-scale and planning issues, complex sites, and urban conditions. The city is a living organism which evolves in a particular locale with a particular form due to a combination of environmental and cultural factors. These factors, the forces they represent and the material results of their interaction form, in their interrelated state, what can be called urban systems. The many forces at play within cities-social, cultural, economic, ideological, ecological, infra structural, morphological and visual-combine in various ways to created both an identifiable urban realm and the many sub zones within this. Yet, none of these factors is static and unchanging; and, as a result, urban systems, urban dynamics, and urban identity are likewise in a continuous state of flux. This studio will explore these systems and the complex issues at play in our urban areas and the potential for positive change. Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

As the scope and objectives of the design disciplines expand and diversify, the ability to implement effective research methodologies has become increasingly critical to position designers to generate and validate new knowledge. This course will survey research methods relevant to the design disciplines that have emerged from the sciences, the social sciences and the arts with special focus on those utilized by landscape architects. Methods we will examine include case studies, descriptive strategies, classification schemes, interpretive strategies, evaluation and diagnosis, engaged action research, projective design and arts-based practices. Students will work individually and in teams to analyze and compare different research strategies, understand their procedures and sequences, the types of data required, projected outcomes, and value by examining a set of projects of diverse scales. Visiting lecturers will present research based design projects. The goal of the course is to provide students with a framework of research methodologies with which they can begin to build their own research based practices.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

This seminar focuses on the ecology, policy and design of freshwater and coastal systems. Through the study of water from the top of the watershed to the coast, this class focuses on the role of designers and allied professionals in the design and management of the dynamic interface between land and water. Through a multi-scalar approach, students will learn about the impacts of urbanization on water quality and coastal ecosystems, current approaches to the restoration of freshwater and coastal ecosystems, storm water management techniques and calculations, and the impact of climate change on water resources.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Preference is given to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

As the third course in the History + Theory track, this class will build upon the theoretical foundation and research methods established in previous history and theory courses. Having explored critical approaches to studying the field of landscape architecture, past and present, this course will dive into a more focused throughline within the landscape discipline.
 
Throughout the course, students will be asked to engage with perspectives from within the landscape discipline and adjacent disciplines, such as environmental history, cultural geographies, anthropology, and Native American & Indigenous studies. Then, through group discussion and individual assignments, students will explore how these theoretical frameworks of landscape might be applied to landscape architecture practice and design in urban environments today. Ultimately, the course explores theory as a way to ask: how can landscape architects assert power, what existing structural systems must we engage with as designers, and how can we operate to subvert or change systems of power that we find unjust? Throughout the semester, the seminar will focus on specific themes arranged in thematic groups as explained in more detail in the Course Schedule section.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

The advanced course studies multimedia drawing It explores the possibilities with the material and content of two dimensional expression. The class encourages greater connections with the design studios by testing and reevaluating design work through the lens of phenomenology and seriality. Scale and composition are emphasized in the detailed and constructed drawings that are required in class. Individual investigations are developed throughout this advanced course to encourage a way of making marks that connect with the various modes of exploration in their studio work.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $225.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I Landscape Architecture

Students will work within a guided research topic to develop a design investigation with defined objectives, methods, and outcomes. As a 9-credit studio, this course will also require that students design and execute a material, representational, or theoretical experiment tied to a design detail within their investigations. In this thesis studio, students will have periodic formal reviews with an advisory panel, and will use feedback from the panel to produce a book that gives a written and graphic presentation of the research context, process, and findings as well as a final assessment of the outcomes.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

Students will work within a guided research topic to develop a design investigation with defined objectives, methods, and outcomes. As a 9-credit studio, this course will also require that students design and execute a material, representational, or theoretical experiment tied to a design detail within their investigations. In this thesis studio, students will have periodic formal reviews with an advisory panel, and will use feedback from the panel to produce a book that gives a written and graphic presentation of the research context, process, and findings as well as a final assessment of the outcomes.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

Since it's creation over 100 years ago, landscape architecture has expanded beyond horticultural preoccupations to a discipline that engages natural, political and cultural systems to build ecological and social resilience. This professional practice seminar explores contemporary practices of landscape architecture through the exploration of six current trends in practice: operating, researching, engaging, constructing, programming, and sustaining. These topics are explored and discussed through student research initiatives, in-class lectures, readings, case study presentations from a wide range of practitioners, office visits, and site visits. The goal of the course is to expose students to the variety of ways to practice landscape architecture today. Students are encouraged to ask questions, bring their own experiences to class, and be open to new ideas and perspectives.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

Since it's creation over 100 years ago, landscape architecture has expanded beyond horticultural preoccupations to a discipline that engages natural, political and cultural systems to build ecological and social resilience. This professional practice seminar explores contemporary practices of landscape architecture through the exploration of six current trends in practice: operating, researching, engaging, constructing, programming, and sustaining. These topics are explored and discussed through student research initiatives, in-class lectures, readings, case study presentations from a wide range of practitioners, office visits, and site visits. The goal of the course is to expose students to the variety of ways to practice landscape architecture today. Students are encouraged to ask questions, bring their own experiences to class, and be open to new ideas and perspectives.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

All Landscape Architecture graduate students at RISD are required to submit a Thesis Book that is the culmination of the work undertaken in the Advanced Design Research Studio (Thesis). The Thesis Book class is designed to support the written and graphic component of the Thesis Book. The course will provide resources to support the framing and reflection of the thesis work through writing. In addition, the graphic layout of the book will be used as a tool to help structure the inquiry into student's thesis topics.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

Spring Site works is a grounded, creative space for a more attentive and reciprocal relationship between people and local biodiversity. Our weekly classroom will be an outdoor test plot at RISD’s Tillinghast Farm, where we will listen to visiting speakers, tend to plants and soil with our hands, and draw our close attention to the many life forms, forces, and surprises in the landscape. Each student will have the creative freedom to design an experimental land-based practice, installation, or event within the plot. Our work will be respectful of diverse ethics, from climate resilience to symbiosis and beauty. However, our learning direction will be focused on topics like the labor of caring for a landscape rich with relationships, local material sourcing for habitat creation, and community stewardship building.

Elective

The course delves into the world of maps through a critical lens, examining the role of maps beyond the conventional utilitarian purpose of navigation and exploring them as tools of representation of power, space, and society within the built environment. Drawing from history, theory, and contemporary scholarship the seminar explores key concepts and methodologies of critical cartography, including power and representation, semiotics and symbolism, spatial narratives, countermapping, and the role of technology. From traditional hand-drawn maps to contemporary digital mapping technologies, the course interrogates how maps mediate architectural knowledge production, design, and social interaction.

The course examines maps as sites of contestation, imagination, and social transformation. Moreover, it also explores contemporary representational tools of mapping and data visualization. The students will engage in directed research project and produce story maps as final outputs for the course.

Elective

It is estimated that since the early 1600’s, North American land in the United States has lost half of the wetland habitat that provided essential areas for wildlife, held water on the land, hydrated soils, and supported vast areas of wetland vegetation. Wetlands provide essential fish and wildlife habitat, supporting rare plants, animals, and birds. Wetlands also store carbon, filter pollutants from water, and retain floodwaters. However, the legacy of viewing marshes and swamps as wasteland, continues to result in the degradation and destruction of many freshwater wetlands by human activity. In this field-oriented seminar students will spend class time within these important habitats, learning to understand them for their varied forms, their biodiversity, and their ability to store carbon and water with the potential of ameliorating on-going climate changes. Through field emersion, students will learn to see the landscape for the evidence it holds of what wetland habitat once was. They will identify the plant species that depend on wetlands for their survival, and will become intimately familiar with the water and soil that support these plant species. Extensive reading will support field observations and conversation in the field. The policies that brought about wetland destruction as well as protection, will be topics covered, along with wetland banking and restoration. Final projects for this class will offer students an opportunity to explore how their studio work can inform salient aspects of these watery worlds.  

Estimated Cost of Materials: $75.00

Elective

This seminar explores the parallels between designing and constructing the ground. It's focus is on landform - analyzing it as part of a larger natural system; understanding its inherent opportunities and limitations; altering it for human use & occupation; and building it with varying construction methodologies. The means for this exploration will primarily be through three-dimensional representations with two dimensional contour plans; however, diagrams, sketches, sections, and narratives will be necessary throughout the semester.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Landscape Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MLA-I, MLA-II Landscape Architecture

Building on the work completed this fall, this seminar will support the advancement of the design thesis. Through hands-on making, students will refine their design research investigations by establishing clear objectives, methods, and outcomes for their Thesis work.