A Response To: Kellean Foster 'Becoming a Landscape Architect'

 "The profession of landscape architecture has a client, the earth and its creatures." - Ian L. McHarg

The first few pages of this extract really spoke to me, as I am in my third year studying landscape architecture I do find it hard to define exactly what I do to friends and family. A lot of them see it as garden design, or just planting trees and designing paving. But when I read the American Society of Landscape Architects definition I realised just how much we actually do.

"Landscape architects receive training in site design, historic preservation, and planning, as well as in technical and scientific areas such as grading, drainage, horticulture, and environmental sciences." 

This definition also made me realise why I feel so anxious about going into practice, we are responsible for so many aspects within landscape architecture, and there are some parts which I definitely feel I do not know enough about, for example, environmental sciences. I understand the basics, soil types and the process of testing them or neutralising them, but I still feel like there is so much more for me to learn. Part of me is excited to go into practice, for there is only so much university can teach you, you have to experience it to fully understand it. 

Another definition that I think defines what I perceive my landscape designs to be like is...

"Landscape architecture is the coming together of the arts, natural sciences, and culture. It is a design of place that connects land and culture. And, it has many applications, from small-scale design projects to more large-scale urban design and regional planning." 

The projects that I have completed at university have mostly been about connectivity, and how I as a designer will connect a derelict space back into the surrounding city. Or how I can be sensitive to the culture of the site, whilst also incorporating the arts and making the space an enjoyable place for visitors. 

Reading the different definitions from different landscape architects has made me feel more excited to go into practice. Each designer has their own sense of style, but also their own sense as to what a landscape architect actually is.