Landscape Architecture: A Terminal Case?
Late last year, two faculty members at Iowa State University circulated a manifesto to other departments of landscape architecture, charging that the field has outlived its historic purpose. Read excerpts from the manifesto below, then read what Gary Hilderbrand, FASLA; Peter Jacobs, fasla; Elizabeth Meyer, FASLA; Patrick A. Miller, FASLA; James Palmer, FASLA; Steven Velegrinis; and Peter Walker, FASLA, and Jane Gillette had to say in response.

An Apocalyptic Manifesto
By Heidi Hohmann, ASLA, and Joern Langhorst

Frank Renlie/Images.com

At the start of the twenty-first century, landscape architecture is a troubled profession, more distinguished by what it lacks than the qualities that it actually possesses. It has no historiography, no formal theory, and no definition, direction, or focus. A vast schism currently exists between its academics and its professional practitioners. In universities across the nation, researchers poach methodologies from other, more vibrant disciplines. Meanwhile, in professional offices, designers yoked to the bottom line crank out pedestrian design.

We believe these problems are pervasive and chronic. They indicate that landscape architecture is not just troubled, but sick. The condition of the patient is critical, requiring immediate attention.

What's New | LAND | Annual Meeting
Product Profiles & Directory
ASLA Online