PROGRAMS & RESEARCH

The Department of Landscape Architecture offers two professional degree programs:

Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) undergraduate program

Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) graduate program.

Both degrees are fully accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

The BLA is a five-year program focusing on liberal arts, a traditional core of codified design knowledge and traditional project types. The MLA is a three-year program emphasizing the connection between design and research, and focusing on environmental issues, emerging design subject areas, and projects typically new to the profession. In addition, opportunities for foreign study are available through the Department, and through the College of Architecture and Urban Planning for both degree programs.

	Alison Maitland-Sheet and Phoebe Bogert, MLA 06, watercolor while canoeing in the Arboretum. Jones and Jones Field School, Su. 2004. Photo by Nancy Rottle.

The future holds our fascination. What will the world look like? What will be our role? How will society change? What will be important for our children? Yet, the future is now. All our current decisions and actions help make tomorrow. As we try to find ways to fit human needs with the limitations of our environmental resources, the challenge to create a livable environment will become even more imperative. As we learn more and our society recognizes how human health and well-being are related to the landscape, the quest for design excellence becomes even more exciting. Landscape Architecture is a profession committed to creating a healthy, enjoyable and secure future. It is the profession of the future.

We invite you to learn more about our profession. Think about the website's description of the landscape architecture program at the University of Washington; review the magazine, Landscape Architecture, or the scholarly periodical, Landscape Journal; talk to landscape architects in agencies and offices and read a few of the books on landscape architecture from our suggested reading list. Ask questions and plan your future. Help us design a better tomorrow.