Duration: 3 years, full time, 90 credits in-person
Eligibility: Open to students who hold a bachelor’s degree in any field.
STEM designated
Designing the Urban Ecological Future
The Master of Landscape program is a three-year professional degree program — open to students who hold a bachelor’s degree in any field — that prepares students to become leaders in landscape architecture and related fields.
The program aims to reimagine and rethink the profession’s current and future challenges — including rapid urbanization, resource extraction and management, the interface of nature and technology, ongoing species extinctions, and the climate emergency — through the lenses of social, environmental, and multi-species justice.
Classes use New York City as a living laboratory, offering immersive opportunities to explore urban agriculture, coastal engineering, ecology, robotics, and more through interdisciplinary frameworks. With a focus on high-touch teaching, close mentorship, and individualized advising, our program equips graduates for impactful careers in design, planning, policy, academia, and advocacy.
HOW TO APPLY
ACCREDITATION
The Master of Landscape Architecture Program at the City College of New York’s Bernard & Anne Spitzer School of Architecture is fully accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board. Click here for full accreditation details and other public information.
NO PREREQUISITES
The MLA program is open to students from all undergraduate backgrounds and has no formal prerequisites.
STEM DESIGNATION
Landscape Architecture is listed within the U.S. government’s official STEM fields list, meaning graduates with F-1 visas may be eligible for U.S. work authorization for up to three years. See the STEM OPT Hub for more information.
CURRICULUM
Total program credits: 90. Per-semester courseload: 15 credits.
First Year
Fall Term 1
LAAR 61100: Foundation Studio I
6 credits
Basic concepts of contemporary theory, practice, design processes, and principles in landscape architecture are introduced through a series of short analytical and conceptual design exercises. Special emphasis is placed on the landscape medium, site readings, and site-specific design approaches for developing material, spatial, and temporal landscape compositions.
Corequisites: LAAR 61400
LAAR 61400: Representation and Computation I
3 credits
This course introduces representation techniques and computational thinking in the context of long-standing design technologies. Through lectures and workshops, students build a critical understanding of representation and gain fluency in current design software.
Corequisites: LAAR 61100
LAAR 61500: Introduction to Ecology/Plant Identification
3 credits
This course provides an introduction to ecological theory and physical geography by using the environs of New York City as a living laboratory for the study and investigation of plant material and ecological systems. Students identify and observe local flora, seeking to understand relationships among ecological function, plant habitat, plant associations, soils, and hydrology in both natural systems and designed landscapes. The course includes field trips to public parks, botanical gardens, and arboreta.
LAAR 61300: Landscape Technology I
3 credits
This course presents the fundamental principles of site planning: the environmental and ecological factors of siting a building, grading, drainage, site structures, and material selection. Students use the analysis of small sites to evaluate underlying issues of environmentally responsible design, accessibility, zoning requirements, and affordability. Methods of site inventory, site analysis, and site selection are explored. Site grading — an environmental necessity, a functional requisite, and an aesthetic expression — is a key component of the course, and it is used to integrate pragmatic design decision-making into the design process.
Spring Term 2
LAAR 62100: Foundation Studio II
6 credits
The second studio expands the range of landscape scales and deepens understanding of contemporary landscape design in rich urban contexts. Analytical exercises and field visits reveal narratives richly layered with diverse historical, social, and cultural significance. Dynamic environmental processes (soils, hydrology, geology plant communities, and climate), as well as social and economic factors, are deeply examined to inform a schematic design proposal for an urban landscape project.
Prerequisite: LAAR 61100
LAAR 62200: Introduction to Landscape Architecture History
3 credits
This course provides a cultural history of landscape architecture to understand the design, inhabitation, and ecologies of landscapes — including cities, gardens, territories, and the environment — across space and time, with an emphasis on infrastructure, power dynamics, and the urban realm. By critically probing landscape’s histories, narratives, and counter-narratives, students will be better poised to understand and articulate their own contributions to the field as future practitioners. The course follows a loose chronology based in synoptic themes, which will be presented with theoretical texts to provoke critical thinking about the development of landscape form and ideas among world cultures.
LAAR 62700: Urban Ecology
3 credits
This course examines the ways that ecological systems function in the urban environment. The intertwined relationships between humans and so-called natural systems are explored, leading to an understanding of the effects of human activity on the biotic and abiotic components of urban systems. The course includes field trips to urban landscapes that are emblematic of the confluence of social, cultural, and environmental forces in the city. Geospatial analytic mapping is incorporated to spatialize the complex and dynamic systems present in urban ecologies.
Prerequisite: LAAR 61500
LAAR 62300: Landscape Technology II
3 credits
This course is a continuation of the content described in the prerequisite LAAR 61300, with problems increasing in scale, complexity, and application constraints. In addition, the course provokes a deeper understanding of the relationship between urban development and constructed landform. Projects examine large areas and complex sites with multiple human and environmental overlays. Students address complex issues of site grading, drainage, site structures, and material. Site grading continues to be developed as a means of integrating design intent with the practical aspects of site planning and design.
Second Year
Fall Term 3
LAAR 63100: Foundation Studio III
6 credits
This third studio addresses territorial and regional-scale issues in contemporary cities facing urgent environmental, economic, and social challenges. Emphasis is placed on process-based landscape strategies, focusing on climate resiliency and adaptation through systemic interventions.
Prerequisite: LAAR 62100
Corequisite: LAAR 64150
LAAR 64150: Design Research
3 credits
This seminar complements the landscape architecture studio, developing essential methodologies of design research and advanced representational techniques. Students learn to conceptualize and communicate landscape analysis, design, and research techniques through the development of data-based infographics and maps; time-based videos and animations; and three-dimensional digital and physical terrain modeling. The Design Research seminar supports the development of students’ design studio concepts and spatial propositions.
Corequisite: LAAR 63100 or LAAR 64100
LAAR 63300: Environmental Planning
3 credits
Theoretical texts frame an examination of techniques for mapping the physical environment of the New York City metropolitan region, including geology, soils, surface water, plant communities, and climate change impacts. These serve as the basis for an examination of urban infrastructure systems, including circulation, energy, water, and waste. Large-scale planning initiatives in the New York area are examined from the perspective of complex social and environmental ecologies. Students prepare geospatial mapping analyses that explore past, current, and future urban conditions in the urban environment.
Prerequisite: LAAR 62700
LAAR 65160: Urban Plants
3 credits
This course investigates plants as the quintessential material of urban landscape architecture. By building skills and knowledge drawn from the expertise of botanists, professional gardeners, and horticulturists, the course connects plant knowledge with the workings of the larger urban ecosystem, including urban design, policy, civic infrastructure, funding, phasing, and maintenance. Students will develop analytic drawings that explore the multifaceted ways in which plants and humans connect in the urban ecosystem.
Spring Term 4
LAAR 64100: Foundation Studio IV
6 credits
The last foundation studio tackles “wicked problems” in landscape architecture, with topics varying each year to reflect current discourses. students analyze cultural and ecological dynamics in contemporary cities, addressing issues such as social, environmental, and multispecies inequities; pollution and the climate crisis; the health of human and nonhuman communities; and the challenges and opportunities of adaptation, mitigation, and remediation.
Prerequisite: LAAR 63100
Corequisite: LAAR 64150
LAAR 64150: Design Research
3 credits
This seminar complements the landscape architecture studio, developing essential methodologies of design research and advanced representational techniques. Students learn to conceptualize and communicate landscape analysis, design, and research techniques through the development of data-based infographics and maps; time-based videos and animations; and three-dimensional digital and physical terrain modeling. The Design Research seminar supports the development of students’ design studio concepts and spatial propositions.
Corequisite: LAAR 63100 or LAAR 64100
LAAR 64400: Planting Design
3 credits
Students explore the aesthetic potential of plant material to create compelling spaces, with attention to techniques for anticipating growth rates, projecting mature form, and predicting seasonal character changes. Environmental tolerances of plants in the designed landscape, particularly in constructed urban soil conditions, are an important focus of the course. Technical aspects of plant material selection, nursery practices, planting plan production, and plant specification are discussed, as well as the implications of plant selection on landscape management practices.
Prerequisite: LAAR 65160
LAAR 00000: Elective
Elective offerings change each semester. For a sampling of recent electives, refer to the school schedule. In addition to landscape architecture electives, certain classes within architecture, urban design, and sustainability may fulfill elective requirements.
Third Year
Fall Term 5
LAAR 65100: Research Studio I
6 credits
This advanced research studio explores complex issues and sites through interdisciplinary design research. Students often take the initiative to define the research question and scope. Independent research methodologies are supported by the co-required Research Workshop. Some sections may include embedded travel opportunities to enhance site-specific learning and exploration.
Prerequisite: LAAR 64100
Corequisites: LAAR 65500
LAAR 65500: Research Workshop
3 credits
This seminar course focuses on special topics of study that support and broaden the design studio curriculum in the third year. Students co-enroll in this course with their research studios.
Corequisite: LAAR 65100 or LAAR 66100
LAAR 64700: Landscape Restoration
3 credits
This advanced course examines histories and theories of restoration, the question of preservation versus conservation, and novel strategies for both mitigation and adaptation to address ecological health in the current climate crisis. The course focuses on the terrestrial and aquatic biomes of North America. Students will question and rethink conceptions of restoration as a return to a past condition, and they will attempt to constitute a theory of dynamic ecological health that embraces novel ecosystems and natural disturbance regimes.
LAAR 65300: Professional Practice
3 credits
This course introduces the range of professional practice undertaken by qualified landscape architects at the site and planning scale in both the public and private sectors. The course familiarizes students with the range of legal and administrative requirements of practice and office projects. Topics explored include the pursuit of work, preparation of proposals, contracting of services, design and construction documentation, specifications, bidding, and construction administration. Final project hand-over to clients, project maintenance, and the ongoing management of liability are also discussed.
Prerequisite: LAAR 62300
Spring Term 6
LAAR 66100: Research Studio II
6 credits
This culminating research studio explores complex issues and sites through interdisciplinary design research. Students take the initiative to define the research question and scope. Independent research methodologies are supported by the co-required Research Workshop. Some sections may include embedded travel opportunities to enhance site-specific learning and exploration.
Prerequisite: LAAR 65100
Corequisite: LAAR 65500
LAAR 65500: Research Workshop
This seminar course focuses on special topics of study that support and broaden the design studio curriculum in the third year. Students co-enroll in this course with their research studios.
Corequisite: LAAR 65100 or LAAR 66100
LAAR 00000: Elective
Elective offerings change each semester. For a sampling of recent electives, refer to the school schedule. In addition to landscape architecture electives, certain classes within architecture, urban design, and sustainability may fulfill elective requirements.
LAAR 00000: Elective
Elective offerings change each semester. For a sampling of recent electives, refer to the school schedule. In addition to landscape architecture electives, certain classes within architecture, urban design, and sustainability may fulfill elective requirements.
