Program Descriptions

School of Environmental Design

Master of Landscape Architecture (M.L.Arch.)

The Temple University School of Environmental Design is pleased to offer the Master of Landscape Architecture (M.L.Arch.) with an emphasis in ecological landscape restoration. Applications are being accepted now.

Admissions and General Information:

Linda Palmarozza

Dixon Hall 201

Ambler Campus
mlarch@temple.edu
267-468-8181

Chairperson:
Pauline Hurley-Kurtz

Dixon Hall 201

Ambler Campus
mlarch@temple.edu
267-468-8181

Note: Applications for admission for Spring 2013 are being accepted for students who have an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture AND for those who do not.

For information contact:

Office of Academic Advising and Career Development

West Hall 109

Temple University Ambler

267-468-8200

tuaadvis@temple.edu
www.temple.edu/ambler/advising

DOWNLOAD INFORMATION ON THE MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE HERE.

Program Mission

The Landscape Architecture and Horticulture programs at Temple University are committed to excellence in ecologically based education. The Master of Landscape Architecture (MLARCH) program aims to integrate ecosystem and design principles in order to restore degraded landscapes.

Students apply scientific knowledge of landscape restoration, native plant communities and local ecosystems to transform vacant lots, brown fields and suburban sprawl into creatively designed parks, campuses, gardens, and neighborhoods.

Program Description

The Master of Landscape Architecture in the School of Environmental Design has an emphasis in ecological landscape restoration. It provides graduates with the knowledge to make informed and creative environmental design decisions. Graduates are highly marketable and have the basic skills required of professional landscape architects, including design, computer graphics, horticultural knowledge, technical competence, and knowledge of restoration.

The Master of Landscape Architecture in the School of Environmental Design has an emphasis in ecological landscape restoration. It provides graduates with the knowledge to make informed and creative environmental design decisions. Graduates are highly marketable and have the basic skills required of professional landscape architects, including design, computer graphics, horticultural knowledge, technical competence, and knowledge of restoration.  

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) describes landscape architecture as a profession encompassing “the analysis, planning, design, management, and stewardship of the natural and built environments.” Program objectives are to educate students to become capable practitioners with knowledge of a specialty area of the discipline; educate practitioners who are trained to think critically and creatively about each ecological situation; and develop a body of knowledge through research, long-term monitoring of restored landscapes, and comparison of methods upon which current and future professionals can draw. (Note: For information on licensure and professional practice as a landscape architect, go to asla.org)

Landscape architecture is a professional discipline that is receiving wider recognition as an environmentally focused profession whose mission is to promote environmental balance and human well-being through sustainable design. Ecological landscape restoration, the emphasis of this Master of Landscape Architecture degree, has emerged as a critical dimension of landscape architecture over the past few decades.  This is in response to the enormous negative impact that human activity has had on our environment resulting in ecosystem degradation. Landscape restoration increases local and regional biodiversity and mitigates potentially dangerous consequences of degradation through projects such as stream bank stabilization, created wetlands to help infiltrate storm water, mine reclamation, industrial brown field remediation, and reforestation of urban land. Understanding the ecological processes and natural history that constitute a site is fundamental to the design process.

The U.S. Department of Labor cited landscape architecture as a top growth profession through 2016. Organizations related to the profession indicate that the number of graduates from professional degree programs is insufficient to meet current or projected demand.  Temple University's location in the tri-state region supports professional opportunities for graduates. This area has a very high concentration of prominent landscape architecture firms, public agencies, and ecological restorationists.

Temple University is ideally situated to sponsor a program in Landscape Architecture. The Temple University program can draw upon the repository of local ecological landscape restoration examples and practitioners existing in the Philadelphia region.  Furthermore, the undergraduate programs in horticulture and landscape architecture at Temple have been intertwined since their establishment and emphasize field knowledge, hands-on experience, and application of science in the landscape setting. 

Likewise, the master’s program is distinguished from other graduate landscape architecture programs by integrating ecosystem knowledge directly with design: The program’s curriculum is modular, integrating scientific knowledge of ecosystems with design and field experience. Each semester has a particular ecosystem focus and application. For example, the woodland ecosystem semester includes an ecology course on northeastern forests and a woodland design studio in which the scientific concepts are applied to a design project.

Accreditation by the National Landscape Architecture Board: The Master’s program has been structured to be an accredited program from the licensing body of the discipline, Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB). This provides more credibility and job opportunities for its graduates. The Master of Landscape Architecture program received full accreditation for six years in March 2013. 

Curriculum

A 44-credit post-professional degree is offered to students who already have an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture. Students who do not have the undergraduate degree must take up to an additional 26 credits (maximum total of 70 credits).

Post-Professional Degree

(for students WITH an undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture)    

Total Number of Credits Required to Earn the Degree: 44

First Professional Degree  

(for students WITHOUT an undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture)

Total Number of Credits Required to Earn the Degree: 47-70           

In addition to the required Core Courses (38 credits), Capstone Course (3 credits), and 3-credit elective identified above, the student may be required to take the following prerequisite courses as determined by a Landscape Architecture advisor upon review of the student's previously completed coursework.